We have just returned from a four day road trip over to Coer d'Alene with our oldest son and his family. The drive from our home takes about six hours traveling over the Cascades and across to the state of Idaho.
Looking out from our car windows, the east side of our state is completely different from the west side of the mountains. Once you make your way through the mountain pass and leave the the dampness of lush evergreen Douglas Firs behind, the air slowly becomes dryer. The hillsides become dotted with long needled pine trees which scent the air with their own special freshness. Eventually, even the hills are left behind, and you will find yourself in wide open spaces. This is farm and ranch country, filled with golden fields of hay, corn or wheat.
While traveling is still limited, Idaho is much more opened up than our state is, as the number of virus cases is much lower than ours have been. There are still precautions, of course, and we always had our masks with us to use when needed. We spent a couple of days visiting the Silverwood Theme Amusement Park located in the Coeur d'Alene area. We have never been before and it reminded us a bit of Knott's Berry Farm in Southern California. The flower baskets and plants along the walkways of the park were stunning!
We played with the kids in the water park, took a ride around the park on a train, and went on dozens of rides, including my childhood favorite, the merry-go-round! There were lots of fun spots to enjoy and explore.
It was so nice to get away from all the turmoil of the daily news reports and spend some time in a place that seemed almost normal.
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All too soon, it was time to begin the journey back home again. On the way back we stopped to enjoy a short walk at the Columbia River Gorge overlook. It felt like we had stepped into the deserts of the Southwest.
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest Area. It begins in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada and flows down through Washington State. It turns west along the Washington and Oregon border and eventually empties into the Pacific Ocean. We have often crossed it at the mouth of the river in Astoria on our way to Seaside Oregon but it's not often that we get to see it like this. I couldn't even begin to capture just how magnificent it looked flowing through the gorge.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.
Isaiah 41:18
Adieu!
That looks like a lovely trip! I enjoyed the pictures 🥰❣
ReplyDeleteIt really was lovely to get out and do something normal again.
DeleteHow nice to be able to enjoy time in the panhandle of Idaho. As soon as I can work around our concrete guys (don't know exactly what day this week they'll show up), we are planning an overnight to Coeur d'Alene for a birthday dinner for Dear. It's only a couple hours from us but we want to do a little exploring while we are there. Your photos are beautiful and that drive is so familiar to us. It was fun to see it through your lens.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ellen. I don't know why we don't go this direction more often. There is so much to see on the other side of the mountains. Once things open up a bit more I think we will do some more exploring.
DeleteWhat an absolutely gorgeous area in Idaho to visit - and those flowers and all the other plants are STUNNING! // I have a friend who moved several years ago to an area very near the Columbia River. She'd sent some beautiful photos of the area and said she'd fallen in love with the area immediately. // Thank you for sharing your photos - I always enjoy seeing what you have to share where you live! Blessings for a lovely week, Gloriade!
ReplyDeleteThank you Diana. We have visited many different states over the years and while each one has it own beauty, I believe the Northwest has some of the most magnificent.
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