Day 48 - Back Into Idaho

Never been to Idaho, but here we are: second time in a month. This time we rolled east from Bend, OR toward Boise (a surprisingly large city at 225,000). On the way through eastern Oregon, we witnessed BEAUTIFUL scenery, unexpected for what is termed ‘high desert country.” Having spent most of our time in western Oregon, this was different. More sagebrush and wide, long views, with the Cascade mountains in the background. We read that the people here are most down home than the Portland and Bend crowd, meaning they’re way more conservative, with agriculture and cattle ranching being the center of the economy and life. We stopped at gas stations along the way to refuel and buy snacks. To a person, these people were salt of the earth. They look you in the eye and say hi and excuse me when you’re walking down the grocery aisle near them. Maybe they’re nice because there just aren’t that many people here…WAY more cattle and sheep. One mom and pop service station had a sign above a bucket in the bathroom asking for donations for their toilet supplies. In Pittsburgh, I may have thought it a scam…here? I contributed.
The pictures, as usual, do not do the scenery of eastern Oregon justice. But you get an idea.

We were slated to stay at a vineyard (for free with the ‘Harvest Hosts’ winery program, where you can stay overnight without any amenities) in Caldwell, Idaho. We decided against that as temperatures reached 90 degrees today and wouldn’t drop below 80 until midnight. So we instead pulled into a KOA near Boise and dropped anchor, flipped on the AC, poured two drinks and called it a day.

We are on a mission to reach Rocky Mountain National Park in three travel days.

Tomorrow: on to Ogden, Utah.