Almost every night we settle in with a glass of wine and think of the trip we took last year in the tent trailer and several years prior in the penalty box. Both of us our still in awe of the space, heat, and ammenities of our 5th wheel-- 29.5 feet of luxury and best of all, a bed that doesn't roll us both into middle of the bed.
We made a sudden change of route plans in Couer d'Aleine. Faced with dropping temperatures and a route through Montana, South Dakota, and Colorado at elevations of 5,500 feet plus, we decided the best option was to follow the old standby route but because we had traveled so far West, we turned south through Idaho instead of Washington and then continued Nevada and Arizona. We slowed our pace at this point and our plan is to average about 100 miles a day so we can enjoy hiking or biking at the stops we make.
The trip through Idaho included a lot of climbs and steep decents but we saw some beautiful fall scenery and we camped beside the Salmon river at Whitebird and as we climbed through the mountains the following day, we could see the fishermen in their riverboats as they tried their luck at catching steelhead. The were tons of hunters and fisherman but still the road was almost empty. True to our plans to stop along the way, we took a 2 hour bike ride along the abandoned railroad line running up into the Paiyette Forest North of Boise. One hour up and 35 minutes back down. Ideal biking conditions and the Fall colours were in their prime with the trees aflame. We saw a fox cross our path on the way down. He/she was in beautiful shape with a long bushy tale and a thick coat of red that even I could see.
