My new favorite place...

So on the road we were Thursday morning at a chipper 5am.

Down the Payette River scenic byway (hi-way 55).

Trying to get a glimpse of the rapids in the the very early morning light as we rushed by.  It was a bit dark out still but I could still see that the river still had a lot of whitewater and I wouldn't be caught down there.

Then it was through the Cascade Valley area to see the pretty morning fog clearing from the fields.

Past McCall and New Meadows and into uncharted territory for all of us, up towards Riggins which is on the other side of the ridge from Hells Canyon.

Gorgeous!  But a little too rugged for me.

We gassed up and watched tons of people getting ready to raft the river in the early morning before it got to hot.  I'm still not sure if I would be brave enough to go down through the rapids just yet.  Still a chicken.  The girls seem to think that they are ready to do something like that.

Ummmm, NO!

Past the little town of White Bird to climb White Bird Hill (approx. 2700ft.) at a 7% grade in a very short distance.  7 miles I do believe.  I just kept thinking of the trip home and having to go back down the hill.  yea.  It's also the spot where the Battle of White Bird Canyon took place in 1877 between the Nez Perce Indians and the US Army.  The army lost.  From everything I have read in the history books, the government was trying to get the Nez Perce of their land because somewhere in the area gold was found and the government wanted it without any problems from the indians.  

We had to stop for a short bit for road construction outside of Grangeville.  I didn't mind because I was too busy taking in all the sweet, fresh air the breezes were blowing around.  All the wheat and canola fields smelled so good!  I could live there having all that fresh air blowing through the house everyday.  Heaven!!!

Down the road past the old train trestles from the Camas Prairie Railroad.  Hard to believe they are still standing in perfect condition.

About halfway through our trip we came to Lewiston.  It was Idaho's first state capitol from 1863-66 and then the gold rush settled down in the area and the population went down.  Boise's population grew faster because of the gold rush there and in 1866 Boise became the state's capitol.  Big stink over it.  Not at all popular back in the day.  The state seal was even stolen to be brought down to Boise because Lewiston wouldn't give it up.  Lewiston is the lowest point in the state at about 756ft.  And kind of stinky because of the paper mill there.  Did not impress me one bit.

We then had to drive up the 7 mile, 2000ft climb to get up to the Palouse valley and towards Moscow.

Gorgeous!  We drove right by Paradise Ridge that Mary Jane lives on the other side of.  Heaven!  Cute little town I tell you.  Very quiet and peaceful.  I could live there.

About an hour later we finally got a glimpse of our destination.

Lake Coeur d'Alene!

We thought the girls were going to jump out of the truck.

You never heard so much squealing before.

After checking into our room there was some exploring to do down by the lake.

No, we didn't stay at the Coeur d'Alene resort.  Too rich for my blood.  Some rooms are $500 a night!

There was some toe dipping to be done at the city beach.

And some sight seeing of the downtown area.  Which was very cool I might add.  We even found a Mudgy Moose and Millie Mouse statue!  The girls thought that was way cool.  Very cute too!

Still no real moose to be seen yet.  Bummer.  But we were crossing our fingers for a sighting during this trip.

Millie Mouse is on Mudgy's antler.

There was lots of exploring downtown, buying souvenirs, eating, etc. to be done that afternoon.  We sat and watched everything going on by the lake.  

Glenn wants to come back and try the para sailing next time.  Not me.  I'm fine with my feet firmly planted on the ground.  My luck, I would get tangled up into something or get slammed into something near the resort.  No thanks.

At days end we were all tuckered out.  It didn't take much to convince the girls to get showered and go to sleep so we could get an early start in the morning on the next big adventure.