Drove through eastern Oregon towards Boise, more high desert vistas. I was reminded of another result of climate change – there were hardly any bugs on the windshield. Remember back in the day when you would scrape them off at the next gas station? Not anymore.
Arrived at Corey and Lisa’s (nephew and niece) new abode in Star, Idaho, just outside Boise. Their dog Murphy is the same age as Milo, and the two of them had a blast playing in the back yard, while we got all caught up and heard the horror stories of the Boise housing market. Who would have thunk Boise would become one of the hottest markets in the US? Lovely, long hot showers in the AM, and took advantage of the WiFi to update our devices.
Headed north to Moscow, ID. Unreal scenery: the Salmon River carved an enormous canyon unsurprisingly named Salmon Canyon. The Weizer River has an 85-mile Rails to Trails that follows the river through every kind of topography. Lots of climbing and dropping – we dropped from 3400 ft to 1400 ft in 8 miles! And climbed 2000 ft in 5 miles! And every time we crossed a peak, there was a breathtaking green valley with hay, and cattle, and (surprise) rapeseed. The whole verdant landscape looked like a Photoshop.
We went through the Nez Perce National Monument and Reservation. One Historical Monument lookout referenced a battle on the plain below, so I had to look up the story. Stop me if you have heard this one…
Nez Perce live here thousands of years. US government makes a treaty guaranteeing the people eternal rights to the ancestral lands. 5 years later gold is discovered. People flood into the area and complain to the government about the natives resisting the incursion. The government then delivers a new “treaty” re-defining the reservation to 10% of the original. Not all the Nez Perce were content with this and when confronted by the Army, proceeded to whip their ass. Of course, this was unsustainable, and the Nez Perce were finally corralled into the designated reservation area.
On our trip from Maine to California through the Great Plains states, we saw this story told over and over and over again. It is unconscionable what we did to the native people of this land.
Ahem. We made it to the Rant and Rave Brewery in Moscow as it started to rain. And rain. And POUR! Luckily Andy discovered the Garmin has a function that tracks the weather on your route! With real radar coverage in real time, indicating what would be happening up the road. In this case, Garmin was spot on – RAIN!
This was a long-ass day. Never to be duplicated if at all possible.
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