Of course, the weekend after our little trip to Washington, we were right back at Thorn Creek.

At this point, I’m pretty sure the property is where we spend most of our weekends.

This weekend’s big project was moving the sawmill.

Greg used the excavator to move it farther back on the pad so we’d have more room for the cabin and the septic tank. Every time we move something or move some dirt around, I can see the property slowly becoming more like the plan we’ve had in our heads for so long.

Unfortunately, summer in Idaho means the afternoons can get brutally hot.

We worked for a while, but eventually decided it was time to get away from the equipment and the heat.

So we grabbed the paddleboards and headed over to Robie Creek.

It was such a nice way to cool off and relax for a while. After spending the morning working, there was something really nice about just getting out on the water and paddling around.

Eventually we headed back toward our property.

On the way, we came across a couple with a child who were having car trouble. Their car was overheating, and unfortunately there wasn’t much we could do to help them out there.

We stopped and talked with them for a while. They were planning to let the car cool down and then try driving again.

When we got back to the property, we decided we weren’t really in the mood for the dinner we’d planned, so we figured we’d head into Idaho City and grab dinner at Gold Mine.

On the way into town, we passed the family with the overheated car again.

They were getting pretty close to a couple of houses, so we suggested they might be able to stop there and use a phone. We also let them borrow Greg’s phone so they could text someone.

Unfortunately, when you’re out in the mountains, there aren’t a lot of options for helping someone with car trouble.

We told them that if they were still there when we came back, Greg could tow them into town.

Thankfully, by the time we returned, they were gone.

Hopefully that meant they had gotten the car going and made it somewhere safe.

We continued on to Gold Mine and had dinner.

We both had the brisket French dip again because, well, it’s delicious and apparently we’ve decided it’s our official Idaho City meal.

My friend Amy was in town, so I was planning to head home after dinner to spend some time with her.

But when we got back to the property, I spotted something that made me stop.

Stellar’s Jays.

There were so many of them flying around in the trees near the creek.

I love these birds, and naturally I wanted pictures.

Unfortunately, I had the wrong lens on my camera.

I wanted to switch to my longer lens so I could get some better shots, so Greg and I went back to the property. I dropped him off and then drove back down toward the creek.

I was only gone for a few minutes.

The birds were gone.

Of course.

But then I spotted some wild turkeys.

And then…

Wait.

Were those **peacocks**?

Two peacocks were wandering around with the wild turkeys.

I have absolutely no idea what two peacocks were doing out there, or how they ended up following a group of wild turkeys around, but it was one of the strangest and coolest things I’ve seen at the property.

So, naturally, I stayed.

I spent quite a while photographing the turkeys and the two very unexpected peacocks.

I even managed to get some pictures of crows that were hanging around nearby.

The Stellar’s Jays may have gotten away, but somehow I think I ended up with an even better wildlife encounter. When I got back to the camper Greg asked if I got some good photos of the Stellar’s Jays I was pouty and said no they were gone. He asked what the heck I’d been gone so long for. I was like boom look what I saw. After I showed him the pictures of the peacocks I headed back to town.

Sunday was a little less exciting for me.

Greg was at the property to continue working, while I spent the day with Amy and her boys.

I cleaned out my car and patched a couple of tiny holes in our paddleboards. Amy’s boys hung out with me while I worked, and we chatted while Amy went to visit a friend.

Later, we all went to Scheels.

The boys had never been before, and if you’ve never been to the one here, it’s quite a place. It’s basically a giant sports store with just about everything you could imagine—and a Ferris wheel inside.

Because apparently a giant sporting goods store wasn’t enough.

It was a pretty typical Thorn Creek weekend.

A little work.

A little water.

A little helping strangers.

A lot of wildlife.

And, for some completely unexplained reason…

Two peacocks.

You just never know what you’re going to find out there.

On my way out I saw this rabbit.

I also had to stop and check on the Osprey birds. One was out of the nest and on an electric pole, the nest also looked a bit different – had more dirt on it.

There was a beautiful sunset, I had to stop and take a picture above Robie Creek.