First things first, McDonalds for coffee. It is a balmy 47 this morning!
We stop at an Idaho Welcome center just over the border and pick up a state
map. Really haven’t planned this part of
the trip, so we will wing it (even more than usual). We decide to take a detour off the main
highway near Boise and visit the Payette River Scenic Byway, then the Wildlife
Canyon Scenic Byway, followed by the Boise Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway. Once we escape the Boise suburbs and red
lights, it does become a most pleasant ride.
First we travel along the Payette River, while a railroad track travels
along the other side – have seen this set-up often. Hilly with many trees near the river. Then we turn east onto the Wildlife Canyon
Scenic Byway and follow a raucous river through a wild canyon. There are sites where rafters put in, though
not today, and it looks like it would be a wild ride! A ground hog and some birds are the only
wildlife we see – though a write-up says it is thick with deer and elk in the
winter.
We then turn south on the Ponderosa Pine Byway which goes
through some pretty high mountains with “Park and Ski” areas, and Avalanche
area signs. Very windy mountain roads
with lots of the Poderosa Pines in evidence.
A few small patches of snow remain around Beaver Creek Ski Area. We liked the name for this campground:
We see a group of wild turkeys, a deer and another
groundhog/marmot(?). As we get back to
highway 84 it begins to rain, and we decide to stop at another library in
Mountain Home which has all male librarians - possibly related to the nearby military base. Greg does PT while Beth gets caught up on computer stuff.
Greg doesn’t seem to be interested in much in Idaho, so we pass
on the potatoe ice cream, Rudy’s Cooks Paradise, and the remnants of a Japanese
detention camp at Minidoka, and continue on past pastureland, farmland,
hills. There are signs advising of high
wind areas and lots of wind turbines.
We continue on to Jerome, a small
town near Twin Falls, where we spend the night.
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