Arrived in Boise

 5th Annual Tour, Food Network Tours  No Responses »
Sep 032015
 

As expected, we were up bright and early this morning…6:15 to be precise. This was mainly due to the large fire engine, which we found out was from Battle Mountain Nevada, starting up outside our motel room and idling for several minutes. Although I hadn’t planned to get up that early, Mum decided to have a shower and I turned on the television and watched Charmed while I warmed up some of our leftovers for breakfast. By just after eight we were on the road, grabbing gas and coffee and then heading south on US-95.

Again today, we experienced several different topographies. We started out in a ranching area but quickly moved back into a canyon-like topography (I’m sure there is a proper name for the landscape, but I have no idea what it is). We followed the Salmon River for quite a while and it was a beautiful drive despite the on and off rain that we experienced. We stopped by the river in Lucile, near an old gold mine and took a couple of pictures before continuing on.

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Needing a pit stop, we pulled over at a rest area near Midvale and, of course, I had to take some pictures of the surrounding hills. I did take a bit more care than normal, though…the Snake Area sign had that effect on me.

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Lunch ended up being some cheese and nuts that we picked up in Reiser…mainly because it was taking us longer than expected to get to Boise. We finally arrived at the hotel just before three and spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to figure out where we should go to eat. After mulling over several Food Network options, we finally decided on Bar Gernika, a Basque restaurant downtown that we visited for the first time last year. Mum had the bean & bacon soup and a side salad and I had the spicy lamb grinder with fries. I had hoped to finish my meal completely so that we could order something different to take with us for lunch tomorrow, but alas, no such luck. We did luck out in one way, though…the restaurant is closed from Friday to Monday for Labour Day weekend…I would have been so sad if we had missed being able to go.

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After dinner, we stopped at Trader Joe’s to do some shopping – including picking up a 6 pack of beer for $3.99 – did I mention how much I like this store? We then headed back to the hotel for a lazy evening. Mum had a bath to ease her sore back and I spent most of the evening fighting with the intermittent wi-fi signal as I tried to upload my pictures.

Tomorrow we are heading to Bend, Oregon, on what will be one of our longest driving days. Hopefully, we will be in town early enough for me to be able to explore the town a bit – I will let you know how it goes when I check in with you all tomorrow.

Thank you for reading and I will talk to you tomorrow.

L

Arrived in Grangeville

 5th Annual Tour, Food Network Tours  No Responses »
Sep 022015
 

This morning we had coffee and orange juice at the hotel while we waited for morning rush hour to end, then we headed the 30 minutes or so east to Coeur d’Alene for breakfast. For the third year in a row, we had breakfast at Jimmy’s Down the Street; and for the third year in a row I had the Chicken Fried Steak Skillet. This year, Mum had a smaller breakfast of poached eggs and a biscuit. The food, as always, was phenomenal and we were lucky enough to get not only “our” booth but also, “our” parking spot right out front of the restaurant.

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After breakfast, we gassed up the car and headed south on US-95. Although it was mainly overcast, it was a beautiful drive through the forests and rolling hills west of the Bitterroot Mountains. We passed through Moscow, which is your typical western rancher town and then stopped at the top of Lewiston Hill above where the Clearwater and Snake Rivers meet.

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It is hard to tell from the picture on the left, but, there is a road, called Old Spiral Highway, that is a series of sharp curves that weave back and forth for ten miles down the 2,000 ft hill. We stayed on US-95, but may consider taking that route if we are ever in the area again. You can also see some of the haze in the distance caused by the Clearwater Complex and other fires burning in the Nez Percé Reservation and surrounding National Forests. Thankfully, recent rains have helped firefighters and they are getting the fires contained.

We continued on to Grangeville, arriving just after 4, and checked into our motel. When we arrived the hotel parking lot was completely empty and we were able to park right outside of our room. After a brief rest, we went out and walked around downtown, stopping in the quilt store and department store, where both Mum and I found something.

When we got back to the motel, we noticed a few more vehicles in the parking lot, and as we were eating our dinner of leftovers, noticed more and more vehicles were arriving at the motel. When I went outside to grab something from the car I could smell smoke…that is when I realized that the firefighters that are fighting the nearby fires were staying at our motel and the smell was coming off their vehicles. (The giant yellow fire truck from out of state that was parked next to the hotel on the street was also a dead giveaway).

That is all for today. Tomorrow, due to the firefighters being at the hotel, will probably be an early day so I will bid you all good night and catch up with you again from Boise.

Thank you for reading and I will talk to you soon.

L

 

Exploring Spokane

 5th Annual Tour, Food Network Tours  No Responses »
Sep 012015
 

We started this morning with breakfast at the hotel and then wandered down the few blocks to the mall to do some shopping. We did more browsing than anything else, but Mum lucked out and found something that she had on her to-buy list. Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped for a coffee for Mum and an iced tea lemonade for me at Starbucks. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was almost time for lunch so we chilled for a bit watching the Food Network and eating some leftovers.

After lunch, we drove to Manito Park to browse the gardens. We started with the Japanese Garden, which had a sign stating the rules of the garden…one being, no cameras…needless to say I was unimpressed.

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After the Japanese Garden, we went over to the perennial garden, where we wandered around looking at the flowers (and for seeds) and then headed to the conservatory. We also encountered several species of local wildlife.

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From Manito Park, we drove to Riverfront Park where we took a short walk across to Canada Island and I took a few pictures.

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We spent an hour or so at the hotel before walking to the restaurant for dinner. Tonight was our second Food Network Stop at Hill’s Restaurant. We shared a Scotch Egg as an appy, which was unbelievably good. Mum had the Malaysian Chicken Satay and I had a New York Strip Steak. Although this was one of the pricier Food Network stops we have visited, it was definitely worth the price.

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Tomorrow we will be heading east to Coeur d’Alene and then south to Grangeville. Talk to you soon.

L

P.S. I apologize for the choppiness of tonight’s update, but I have been battling a slow, unreliable wi-fi, an uncooperative WordPress, and an awkward photo workflow. Hopefully tomorrow I will have these issues fixed.

 

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