Advertisement
Published: August 11th 2016
Edit Blog Post
Idaho
Making new mates at the County fair What can we say about Idaho? The people are friendly, the potatoes are famous, and the roads are long and very, very straight.
A crazy cyclist we met heading west had told us about a fair in a town on our route, so on our first afternoon in Idaho we stopped in at the Washington County Fair. Cuteness overload as little fellas in chaps and spurs practised their lassoing on a wooden, pull-along cow. There were prize pigs and fancy corn and award-winning apple pies. We were tempted to indulge in the smoked Bbq for lunch, but we had met Ed in Oregon who had recommended us to his sister's restaurant in a town called Council, so we pushed on.
Unfortunately we discovered that Ed was probably more enthusiastic about his sister's restaurant than she was. Actually we wouldn't really know as she didn't bother coming out of the kitchen to say hi. We sat at our plastic covered tables, with the table numbers written on masking tape stuck to the wall and ate our not home-made chicken and potato salad. Thanks, Ed.
We had intended to make our way across part of the state on a road
County Fair
Prizewinning Corn! winding through the Sawtooth National Park. When we stopped that night we were told the road was closed due to a fire out that way. When we woke in the morning to bikes covered in ash we decided to take the road closed reports seriously. This meant we had to travel further south than we had planned, so we made an early morning getaway.
The day started out well, if a little chilly, and the first hour was beautiful riding along the Payette River, with great canyons and winding roads. Then we hit Boise. Thanks to Sally (our GPS if you recall) we managed to skirt the main city. In case you were wondering, Andrew and Sally's relationship is strengthening. After a rocky start, they seem to be developing a better understanding, although she has given him the silent treatment on occasion in the last couple of weeks. Mainly I think because he usually ignores her advice and does what he wants anyway. I feel your pain Sally.
We skirted Boise and hit the freeway heading east. The speed limit on this freeway is 140kmh, which was great to churn out a few quick k's, although it started
to rain and at that speed rain hits your legs like needles. At some point we turned off the major freeway and onto a smaller back road for a bit of variety. So much for variety: this road was so long and straight that we pretty much maintained freeway speeds. But without the truck traffic, which was an improvement.
There isn't a lot to see in southern Idaho. I tried playing 'I Spy' but it's not very challenging against yourself. I changed the rules up a bit to name as many things against one letter as I could. It went like this: grass, grass, grass. Barn! Grass, grass.... Andrew and I had a drag race, resulting in him declaring he needs an engine upgrade when he gets home (my bike is bigger). We stopped off at Craters of the Moon National Park, which is one of Idaho's claims to fame. More volcanic activity and geological significance, but to me it looked pretty much like a bunch of mining tailings.
The most exciting part of the day was when we got stuck behind a group of slow-riding BMWs (true story Jim) and we roared past, leaving them in our
dust. I shouted at them to ride like a girl, but they probably didn't hear me.
We ended the day with dinner in a Chinese Restaurant at a small town just past Idaho Falls. It reminded me of the early 80's in Cobar and prospective beaus took me out to the fancy Chinese restaurant in town and we ordered sweet & sour pork or, if we were feeling really adventurous, beef in black bean sauce. The menu was pretty similar and there were even a few mullets on display.
And that was Idaho. We did that sucker in a half hour in a run.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0519s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Tracey
non-member comment
Love ya blog!
LA - I haven't had a chance to read your blog since your first one, and have now just read all the rest. I'M ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT!! I have to be honest - the motor bike part of it sounds like the worst holiday I could ever imagine, but all the rest sounds fantastic!? You are a fabulous writer. Love to you both. ???