We had a wonderful time in Yellowstone, we camped, saw some amazing sites and even had some encounters with beautiful wildlife but it was time to leave. Monday morning we packed up camp and headed out early to beat the rush on our way to Idaho. Its a long haul from one side of Idaho to the other, especially since the road doesn't go straight across, that would be too easy. We didn't stop for gas until we were about an hour and a half out from our destination and man were we in for a big surprise when we got out of the car. The heat hit us like a ton of bricks. We had just come from Yellowstone, where the highest temperature while we were there was maybe 84* (in the sun) to Idaho, where majority of the state is desert, yes I said desert! It was close to 100* when we stopped for gas. We made this stop as quick as possible so we could make it to the Howard's (my godmother's and her family's) house before she had to leave for work. We made it with a few minutes to spare but quickly got settled. For the first few days in Idaho things were relatively low key as we needed time to recover from our adventures at Yellowstone and the trip thus far.
On Tuesday afternoon when Stephanie arrived home from VBS we did have one adventure for the day and that was floating down the Boise River. (in inflatable pool boats and a tube with some oars) The Boise River flows right through the city of Boise and has a few rapids, maybe 3 class 2 and a bunch of little ones maybe class 1 if anything. It was fun but very cold! (in the water that is!, the outside temp was 100*) We only hit one snag when Geri's boat bottomed out in a shallow section and I got swept off in the wrong direction and got a little jostled around in the narrow area of the river before being sent further down stream with Stephanie and Geri nowhere in sight. I successfully managed to pull off to the side and tried to wait for them. After about 5-10 minutes I finally saw them heading down stream so I jumped back into the boat and we continued our journey down the river. All in all it was about 2-2 1/2 hours and it was quite the adventure at times and then relaxing at times as well. It was a great way to cool off in the hot Idaho heat.
The rest of the week wasn't quite so adventurous. But on Friday we were headed up to Clear Creek, near Cascade, Idaho for some family camping. We loaded up and headed out Friday afternoon and made it to camp in the early evening. We set up camp and Brian and Stephanie cooked a yummy dinner. This method of camping was much more luxurious compared to the camping we had just done in SD and Yellowstone. We had air mattresses, a dinner table, delicious hot food (steak, chicken, etc) and a campfire, complete with s'mores. (I didn't make a fire in Yellowstone because you have to buy the wood at $8 a box) It was a wonderful time camping. We went for a hike in and up the mountains and just relaxed for the weekend, knowing we still had quite the journey ahead of us to get home.
We had a wonderful time in Idaho and I am grateful for the time (although limited and never enough) that I got to spend with the Howard family and I look forward to going to back to visit again soon. (hopefully sooner than 12 years this time!)
We are more than halfway through our journey and only have a about 10 days left, but 7 more states to travel through and 3 more destinations along the path. Stay tuned for more updates on our journey as we are about to head south for the first time and then east as we head for home.
-Vickie
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