I have never been to Idaho before so everything has been a new experience so far. I drove out through eastern Oregon yesterday to make my way to Idaho. Eastern Oregon was a lot of high desert country, but there were actually a few large national forests that were quite green and mountainous. The first part of Idaho I drove into was also high desert, though not quite as bleak as parts of Oregon were. When I stopped at the Welcome Center I was told the correct pronunciation of Boise (the 's' is NOT pronounced like a 'z') and I also got some good camping info. I was supposed to meet up with the sister of Carol Davis, a woman I worked with in Germany. She just recently moved to Boise. We had a slight miscommunication on the day I was going to be there and she had already made plans for that night. Luckily, I found out just as I was checking out an RV park in town. Thank God. I was disappointed I didn't get to meet Judy, but very happy that I narrowly averted the horror of staying in an RV park. I've only had to do it once and it was early in the season and there was only 1 other camper there. And it was in a very picturesque setting in the Gila Wilderness in NM, so I don't really count it. Speaking of picturesque, I'm sure Boise is a very nice city, but once you get north of there, Idaho also starts to look pretty nice. It becomes mountainous fairly quickly and even gets a little greener, though it is still pretty dry. That first night I pulled into a campground that didn't look all that nice, but I was tired and it was cheap so we stayed. There was even a hot spring there, but since the temperature was still pretty warm it didn't look real enticing. I didn't mention that when I got to Boise, it was in the mid-90's. This is actually quite normal for Boise in July. Today while I was parked next to a lake I ran into a couple on horseback (not literally) and they said it is normal for it to hit the low 100's in July and August. The climate here is quite moderate for being so far north. I guess it goes along with the desert thing. It doesn't even snow much in town, just up in the mountains. But they told me to tell everyone that Idaho sucks and the people are jerks. They moved out from Michigan 15 years ago. It still isn't that crowded and they want to keep it that way. So, if you ask me, I have to say that Idaho sucks. I sat in the RV while we were at the lake because the flies were pretty bad, but Abbey was having a ball wading in the water looking for whatever it is she looks for. I think anything that moves. On the way into the lake I saw some more elk. 3 big males ran out of the woods and crossed the dirt road we were on only about 50 ft. in front of us. So far the only big animals I've seen have been elk. No moose yet, but I keep looking.
The scenery ain't bad though. I made it to the Sawtooth Wilderness and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area today. It was in the upper 80's but we managed to find a hike that was near water (for Abbey, that is) and was fairly flat so we wouldn't die. Then we found a nice campground near a lake so I went for a swim to cool off afterwards. Well, maybe 'swim' is exaggerating a bit. After standing in the very cold water for several minutes, I finally dove under and nearly lost my breath. I didn't last long in the water but it sure cooled me off.
Sawtooth Mountains
Redfish Lake