I pulled off I-90, as Liz and I entered the state of Idaho for the traditional “Welcome to this State “ sign. Being silly I began jumping under the sign screaming, I da Ho, I da HO. Next think you know these crazy tatted up, mohak men came ripping out of the woods in jeep with a dog and of course a beer in hand. Meanwhile the 5th guy on a dirt bike did a wheelie on his dirt bike going the wrong way on I-90. What an introduction to IDAHO!
My weekend plan was to camp in Fallagan State Park on the southern shores of the 41 mile long Lake Pend Orrille. Sadly the patrons at this state park reminded me of Riverview Water World in the Dells by that I mean hundreds of trashy, man boobed, and beer belly people. Upon arrival the ranger sent Liz and I to a meadow campground, by meadow I mean a field on a 96 degree day to BAKE! I was crushed because this was not remotely what I had envisioned. Angry and disappointed I marched into the State Park office and demanded my camping fee back and high tailed it back to Cour d’ Alene.
Liz and I both “food snobs” by Montana standards were skeptical to eat in yet another small town. However, when I saw Osso Bucco on the menu of a Tapas and Wine Bar and tons of “plastic” Seattle women my fears were calmed. Although the state park was an utter disappointment the food and charming city of Cour d’ Alene made our Saturday night. At 9:30 we began the search for a new campsite and after making my poor friend car sick trying to find the perfect site we settled on a National Forest land.
Sunday and Monday proved to be the best days of our weekend, and I finally found my PERFECT campsite. We spent the afternoon kayaking, jumping off an abandon pier and acting like 9 year old boy explorers as we followed an overgrown trail to an abandon hilltop lot. After consulting with a drunken boater at the marina bar he suggested camping at Green Bay. As a true Sconnie these two words and his glamorized description of this campsite gave me inspiration. Eight miles of dirt roads later we were in heaven with our free lakeside campsite in national forest under a full moon.
After a peaceful and warm night of camping I woke up for a 5 mile hike. I pulled a really dumb move and ate a berry that looked similar to a raspberry…I hadn’t seen Into The Wild yet, and I was curious. I vow to never do that again, but I did survive and found out from locals it was a thimble berry which is perfectly edible. As I returned to the campsite, Liz, our camping neighbors and their water-ski boat were missing. Hands on my hips pouting, I saw the boat approach the shore with Liz in the bow. Luckily our new friends took pity on me and took me on a cruise too. They came back to collect us at 3:30 for waterskiing but sadly we had to decline for our long drive back to mile marker 14 off of Highway 287 (my summer home). Overall, awesome weekend and I highly recommend everyone to visit northern Idaho. Just be wary of weirdoes!
My weekend plan was to camp in Fallagan State Park on the southern shores of the 41 mile long Lake Pend Orrille. Sadly the patrons at this state park reminded me of Riverview Water World in the Dells by that I mean hundreds of trashy, man boobed, and beer belly people. Upon arrival the ranger sent Liz and I to a meadow campground, by meadow I mean a field on a 96 degree day to BAKE! I was crushed because this was not remotely what I had envisioned. Angry and disappointed I marched into the State Park office and demanded my camping fee back and high tailed it back to Cour d’ Alene.
Liz and I both “food snobs” by Montana standards were skeptical to eat in yet another small town. However, when I saw Osso Bucco on the menu of a Tapas and Wine Bar and tons of “plastic” Seattle women my fears were calmed. Although the state park was an utter disappointment the food and charming city of Cour d’ Alene made our Saturday night. At 9:30 we began the search for a new campsite and after making my poor friend car sick trying to find the perfect site we settled on a National Forest land.
Sunday and Monday proved to be the best days of our weekend, and I finally found my PERFECT campsite. We spent the afternoon kayaking, jumping off an abandon pier and acting like 9 year old boy explorers as we followed an overgrown trail to an abandon hilltop lot. After consulting with a drunken boater at the marina bar he suggested camping at Green Bay. As a true Sconnie these two words and his glamorized description of this campsite gave me inspiration. Eight miles of dirt roads later we were in heaven with our free lakeside campsite in national forest under a full moon.
After a peaceful and warm night of camping I woke up for a 5 mile hike. I pulled a really dumb move and ate a berry that looked similar to a raspberry…I hadn’t seen Into The Wild yet, and I was curious. I vow to never do that again, but I did survive and found out from locals it was a thimble berry which is perfectly edible. As I returned to the campsite, Liz, our camping neighbors and their water-ski boat were missing. Hands on my hips pouting, I saw the boat approach the shore with Liz in the bow. Luckily our new friends took pity on me and took me on a cruise too. They came back to collect us at 3:30 for waterskiing but sadly we had to decline for our long drive back to mile marker 14 off of Highway 287 (my summer home). Overall, awesome weekend and I highly recommend everyone to visit northern Idaho. Just be wary of weirdoes!
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