We’re on the road again! It is Saturday and we are in Twin Falls, Idaho where we will spend the night before heading for our next stop in Heber City, Utah (near Park City).
What a great week we had in McCall! When we last posted an update, we had played some golf, taken a boat ride, and spent some time with our friends, Tor and Karen Driflot. Wednesday was a trike day and we finally got out for a ride. Our first stop was about an hour or so south and east of McCall at the tiny mountain community of Warm Lake, Idaho (see the panoramic pic above). The ride down there was beautiful as we passed down a broad valley and then turned into the mountains. We lost count of the number of osprey nests we saw on poles beside the road…and most had babies in them!
The road climbed and then dropped down into the Warm Lake area. We rode through an area that was the location for a major wildfire back in 2007. The Cascade Complex burned a total of more than 500,000 acres, starting on July 16 and wasn’t declared out until late September. The biggest of the fires in the complex, the Monumental Fire, burned 300,000 acres and almost completely surrounded the little community of Warm Lake. The fire scars are very obvious as we rode through the forest, but nature is making a comeback!
At Warm Lake, we stopped at the North Shore Lodge where we had lunch on the deck overlooking the lake. It is a beautiful spot with about 10 cabins, boat rentals, and all sorts of stuff to do.
After lunch, we rode a bit further south to the town of Cascade and stopped at a whitewater park they have created on the river right in the center of town. We hung out for a while, just watching folks go down through the rapids in tubes and kayaks. The water looked cold!
Next, we turned back toward McCall and made a detour to take a look at the Tamarack Ski Resort outside Donnelly on the shores of Cascade Lake. A beautiful location and a nice ski hill. Some construction underway on condos (apparently they’ve had a couple of false starts due to the economy). It will be a nice place if they can make a go of it.
A long day of riding, but we had a blast!
Thursday was another golf day with the Driflots. This time they took us to a great course just south of McCall called Jug Mountain Ranch. It is set in the foothills and valley – just a beautiful setting. It reminded us a lot of last summer when we played at Keystone and Breckenridge in Colorado.
Friday (yesterday) was another trike day, although it was a short one since we had to start preparing for our departure today. This time we rode southwest to the town of Council, Idaho and had lunch at the 7 Devils Cafe. Just outside of town is a mountain ridge that is called 7 Devils. We had some great food, learned a bit of local history/myths, and got stared at by a lot of the locals who could tell that we didn’t belong!
After lunch, it was back to the RV to begin our preparations for departure.
We REALLY enjoyed our time at the McCall RV Park and highly recommend it to all of our RVing friends. You won’t regret staying there. There are lots of wildlife right in the park. Large clean sites, friendly staff. Convenient to McCall and all of the recreational opportunities in the area.
The RV park is right next to the McCall Airport. You get a little airplane noise, but not as bad as the Navy jets at Whidbey Island a couple of weeks ago!. The airport is also home to the McCall Smokejumpers base, which is one of the biggest smokejumper bases in the lower 48. A lot of history there and they have a neat little museum. This plane is mounted outside the RV park. It was originally built for the Navy, then transferred to the Army, then transferred to the US Forest Service as a jump plane. She has served her country well.
Sammy is completely recovered and he and Dotty are back to their long morning walks. There is a bike/walking path that goes right past the park that you can use to go into town or several other directions. They made good use of it! Those of you who know Sammy or have been following our blog know that Sammy occasionally has issues with other dogs. We try to avoid putting him in bad situations. He also doesn’t have the best of vision. One of the funniest things to happen on this trip occurred one evening as Sammy was getting his final walk. We rounded a corner and next to an RV was this:
You and I can see that it is a cute little wood carving of a moose. Sammy didn’t know what it was and jumped…..barked….and stared. Finally, we let him get close enough for a sniff and he calmed down. It was funny to see big tough Sammy scared by this little guy 😉
As mentioned at the top, we are moving again. Today (Saturday) we traveled from McCall to Twin Falls. The first half of the drive was just beautiful as Rt 55 followed the Payette River for miles and miles.
The second half of the drive wasn’t very scenic at all after we got through Boise and headed east. We’re set up for the night in Twin Falls and tomorrow we will head for Heber City, Utah where we will stay for the next week.
Having fun on our trip, although we’re starting to get the itch to be home. Just 3 more weeks on the road.
Thanks for following along…
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