We’ve been to Idaho several times and each visit we fall more in love. This time we traveled from Grand Teton National Park in western Wyoming, through southern Idaho, with the goal of reaching Coeur d’Alene for a marathon in Steve’s 35th state.

First we met up with Steve’s cousin Tracy and her husband Mark, near Boise, for a lunch filled with catching up and reminiscing. We hadn’t seen Tracy in Y-E-A-R-S, so it was long overdue and super fun to see them. Traveling in the RV gives us these opportunities from time to time and for that we are grateful.

From Boise we drove north another two hours to the resort town of McCall. This is a popular area for the city folk from Boise, and we quickly saw why. Surrounded by stunning mountains, roaring rivers, and sweeping views, McCall had us enthralled immediately. We explored the area on foot on the Goose Creek Falls trail, which took us down, down, down to the creek that roared below. It snowed a little bit along the way, but wasn’t enough to deter us.

Even though it was still pretty chilly, we got out on the bikes a few times. First we rode on the awesome paved city trails to the nearby Ponderosa State Park. Filled with incredibly beautiful hiking and biking trails, the park is the jewel in McCall’s crown. It wraps around Payette Lake, which just adds to the beauty. The park was almost empty since it was still early in the season and the weather hadn’t yet warmed up. For us, that’s perfect!

On another day we rode the twenty miles around Payette Lake, which took us through enviable lakeside neighborhoods and then into the State Park again to travel just along the lake’s edge. My new e-bike allows me to keep up with Steve and makes these excursions so much fun!

In McCall we stayed at the McCall RV Resort and from there we could walk to the Broken Horn Brewery. This became our hangout, and one evening we even caught the weekly pickers circle, where local musicians gather and jam for the evenings.

After four nights in McCall, it was time to head north for a beautiful drive up Highway 95 to Coeur d’Alene (CDA). We were here a few years ago and happened upon the CDA marathon. That inspired us to return. Our site at Blackwell Island RV Park was very near the shores of the Spokane River and allowed us to easily get into town.

On a cold but clear morning, Steve finished his 26.2 mile run, mostly along the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alene, while I did the 10K. He has now completed a marathon in 35 states. 

We’re making our way to our new RV site in Traverse City, Michigan. On our first road day we stopped at one of the coolest National Park Service sites we’ve visited. Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site, about an hour southeast of Missoula, Montana, celebrates ranching in the west.

It took us about an hour to tour the 175 year old ranch, which was once the largest cattle operation in the country. It is still a working cattle operation, and we visited during calving season. I just kept thinking, “Dad would have loved this!”

We’re now settled in to our campground at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. As you may remember from previous posts, Lewis and Clark are Steve’s favorite explorers.

Tomorrow we’ll take a tour of the caverns and visit a few other historic sites nearby. We’ll keep you up to date on all the fun in our next post.