Caldwell I.D

Caldwell is a small town near Boise the capitol ,a great location to discover the area.

Just 30 miles from the Caldwell is a hidden gem – Jump Creek falls ,a short dirt road Leeds to a parking lot with restrooms and from there a short hike to the bottom of the falls.

Rock formations and a spring is along the way to the pool at the bottom to the high falls,good shoes will be appropriate for this slippery short hike, bring a swimming suite and go ahead.

Weekends this small place might be crowded, so it is suggested to be there in weekdays.

Another attraction we visited is World Center For Birds of Prey , shows,birds of pray, library and a visitor center are located on top of a hill with views 360 of the valley.

Boise the Capitol of Idaho is a beautiful groomed city with a population of 230.000 people living in it.

Except the down town with the restaurants,shops ,breweries and bars there is the Green Belt that runs from both side of the Boise river, it is used for hiking, riding a bicycle or floating in the river down stream where a bus returns people back to the parking lot.

Floating down the Boise river for 3 hours,walking part of  the Green Belt,having a great dinner at the brewery and visiting the Freak Alley here each graffiti has no connection to the other one and makes no sense to me...

....what a day. ..I need a rest..

Hells Canyon OR

One can not be in the area and not get wet in the Hell's Canyon and what is a better way than taking a ride on a jet boat? So here is a problem, you must book it in advance or wait for an opening and this does not fit us as we are on the road and can not stick around for days just for getting a seat on the boat.

By the way the prices for a full day can get between $200-$300 per person ...and the rides are full...

But lucky as we get we found seats on an afternoon Jet Drive from an hour drive from Oxbow OR.

We left the 5W in Cambridge ID in a c.g and drove to the lunch spot.

The ride was just magnificent, stop here and take a picture,look there at the views, this was all I herd from my wife the most portion of the way...and of-course I did what I was told ... 

          

On the way on the jet boat we saw couple of Bald Eagles ,some deer and no bears, but we got wet and it was fun.Excuse the quality of the pictures as my hand was not stable all the time..

New Meadows

>New Meadows is a small town near Mc Call , we settled in a Zims hot springs and RV park for 3 nights.

The C.G has only a few sites but they are all on grass with full hookups,the sceneray is just beautiful and it is close to HWY 95.

They do not have restrooms or showers and the portable potty is not worth a visit, so bare it in mind.

We were charged $25 for a night and if you want to use the hot springs it is another $7 per person per day.

There are 2 pools ,one body temperature and one HOT.

We used the hot springs till the sun went down and except some kids running around and breaking the silence it was a real treat.

On the next day we took of (only with the tow of course) to Riggins and to Seven Devils , it is a long gravel road from Riggins but worth it, there are numerous hikes,camping,horse park and picnic facilities.

The seven Devels are the seven mountain peaks which are sticking out as a tall magnificent monument.

A short trail lead's to the view point where 4 States can be seen on a clear weather, WY,ID,WA, and OR.

On the following day we drove to Mc Cal a beautiful groomed town with nice main streets , great beaches on the lake and all kind of water activities.

It was just relaxing sitting facing the lake with a drink in our hands.

It is so organized that even crossing the road all you have to do is pick a green flag from one end and cross leaving the flag on the other side...great idea.

I did not realize that South Idaho is a dessert and it become HOT during the day, but again we do not control the weather so why wast time and energy on the subject... just go with it and adapt, what other options do we have?

Lewiston Idaho

The stop we made in Lewiston was the most unusual and very fortunate for us, but I have to back up a bit.

After having our 5W since 2006 it is understandable to have some issues even though we are taking good care of the Cruiser but having multi problems at the same time was to much .

The Dometic fridge stopped cooling in the lower part while the freezer worked fine, I found out that the cooling fan decided to quit on me, I called some RV places but non of them had it in stock,so I pulled it out and went to hardware store to try to replace the fan with another 12V fan that would fit in the space ,and the guy came out with a brilliant idea ,it looked exactly as a computer fan....so I popped in a computer store and got 2 fans from an old computer for free, but still I had to wire them correctly to the thermostat..

Another problem happened on the electrical panel behind the fridge .

So I am approaching Lewiston to an Internet friend that I have never met who was very kind to invite us to stay in his property for 2-3 days, on the way I stopped at an RV place and scheduled an appointment for next week, as I am about to pull out a employee in the supply department asked if he could help, so I showed him the electrical panel that went bad, “A new one could coast up to $200 “ he said “but I have an old one and maybe you could use parts from it” ,I thanked him and headed to my Internet friend place.

After meeting him and his family and settling in his yard, I asked if he know any electrician in the area that might help with my issues, he looks at me and says “my son can fix it “, I was so surprised that I did not know what to say except “Some one is looking after us and having the issues happen in the right time and in the right place”

His son comes out ,takes a look and at the same day it was all fixed....not only I saved time but sure enough few hundred dollars....what a guy.

I think they wanted us to stay forever as we were invited to share meals with them and pick vegetables from their beautiful garden,tomatoes,onions and berries.

We shared walks ,talks and non alcoholic drinks....Paradise and good people.

As we were ready to leave I noticed that one tire on the trailer is low on air, so my friend sent me to a tire shop , they removed a nail and refused to be payed ….it might be because my friend send me or because we are foreigners, I really do not know , all I know that Lewiston was a GREAT stop...

Dworshak S.P Idaho

For the next 3 days we we considered Dwashak S.P as our base , there are a few C.G around the Dwashak Resorviour and we chose Dens Acres run by Corps Of Engineer (C.O.E), a lovely C.G with full hookups and many pull-through sites mostly leveled and shady.

It has a boat lunch ,clean bathrooms and a children playground.

The hosts were very helpful and kept the C.G spotless.

The fee is 20$ , and only 10$ for one holding Eagle Pass.

No laundry facilities in the C.G, you have to drive into beautiful Orofino that has all the services.

DO NOT take the gravel road with the trailer from Elk River to Dwoshak S.P , it is long and very dusty.

The area is so beautiful that any road you choose to take it will be a scenic one, but if you have a boat with you you will no want to go anywhere...except maybe visiting the 3rd bigest Dam in the US.