ROAD TRIPPING SOME OF IDAHO'S HIDDEN GEMS
In a previous post (you can find by clicking HERE) I mentioned my goals for the new year. Although blogging is one of them, I also want to create more personal posts in an effort to share more of my life and to be more intentionally present. This effort also fuels another one of my creative passions: writing. Years ago I had a travel blog. I loved it. Unfortunately managing a travel blog while building my San Francisco Bay Area photography business was not compatible. It took too much time away from my business needs and consumed more bandwidth than I was able to give it. Creating one successful blog and brand, much less two, requires far more work on the back end than I had anticipated. Also, we had this little thing called a global pandemic. Maybe you’ve heard of it ;)? Hopefully marrying all these interests here on this blog will be the creative compromise my creative soul has been searching and aching for.
Here’s a bit of some background for those of you who are not familiar with my incurable case of wanderlust. We are a family of road trippers. If you knew my husband before we were married you would be shocked to hear me refer to him this way. When we were dating I would poetically carry on about two cross country road trips that took my through Yellowstone. His response was always, “I will fly and meet you there.” Fast forward almost two decades and he has officially earned his road tripping stripes with a whopping four trips to Yellowstone, two to Glacier National Park, and another to Banff, Canada. I’m not sure his case of wanderlust is quite as severe as mine, but he has developed an enjoyment for hitting the open road (within reason). Our kids now see a five hour drive as “short.”
Last summer had us hitting the open road to explore a state we had only previously traveled as a cut-through: Idaho. We had traversed the southern part of the state en route to Yellowstone several times, as well as the panhandle during our Glacier and Banff National Park trips. Pre pandemic I had stumbled upon a blog post about the hidden beauty of this often underrated state and it compelled me to plan a road trip to see what in the heck we were missing in our travel lives. The majestic Sawtooths were beckoning me and it was time to hit the road.
*All links to lodging and dining are at the end of this blog post
Countless people had told me that I absolutely had visit Boise, so I knew that would be one of our stops. I also wanted to explore Stanley and its neighboring hot springs. While roughing out trip I also stumbled upon a little gem in the Wapiti Valley. This one was off the beaten path, 20 miles up a forest road in middle of nowhere. No traffic, no stoplights, no cell phones, and limited wifi with plentiful nature? Sign me up!
As per usual, our list of things we wanted to do vs the time we had were not in sync; they often never are. Also, the kids ended up with Covid on our trip so that did limit what we were able to do. Side note, we all tested negative but at the end of their illness both lost their sense of smell for a few days. We still managed to have some fun, savor the R n’R, and bask in the abundant natural beauty Idaho has to offer.
With its location in the Idaho backcountry, Wapiti Meadow Ranch was an absolute dream. The ranch is owned and managed but the convivial Barry, Diana, and Pippen, their 100+ pound canine greeting committee. There are a handful of fully stocked cabins available for rent, each comes with a welcoming plate of cookies and quaint interiors. Between the roar of the rushing Johnson Creek, the field blanketed with mustard flowers, the bucolic solitude, and the soaring mountains we were in love.
The days were lazy ones with strolls around the property, a jaunt to neighboring Yellow Pine for lunch and provisions, reading, and checking out the local airstrip where most visitors fly in and out of. In terms of getting away from it all this was just what I had imagined. There was no light pollution seeping its way into our room at night. No roar of traffic in the distance. It was peaceful solitude in its most simplest form just the way nature intended it.
Our second stop had been on my travel list for a few years: Stanley, Idaho. This tiny, humble hamlet is centered in a valley next to the Sawtooth Mountains. It reminded me of something I would find in a Hallmark movie, only grittier and more unapologetically authentic. We had a cabin along the Salmon River in Lower Stanley (cabin 25). Like our stay in Wapiti, we were lulled to sleep each night by the sound of rushing water. I could fall asleep to that sound for the rest of my life. This area is full of hiking trails, scenic vistas, and the nearby Redfish Lake. We spent a few afternoons savoring the mountain air while sitting under the trees at Redfish Lake. It reminded of Tahoe only on a smaller scale with less tourism and sprawl. This area also boasts a lodge, restaurant, and bar. There was a market that surprisingly had enough provisions to get us by. When you have food sensitivities it is always a gamble when it comes to shopping in remote towns.
At this point in the trip our kids were officially sick so they missed out on the bulk of Stanley. Both had tested negative and we chalked it up to a cold although that progressed into what seemed more like a flu. It is always a major disappointment to spend months planning and looking forward to trip to then have something like this happen. C’est la vie I guess. My husband and I made the most of it, making sure the cabin was well stocked with food, Nyquil, and a year’s supply of Kleenex while we explored the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. They laid in bed watching reruns of Friends while we were immersing ourselves in the local culture.
I fell in love with Stanley. It is unpretentious, there is no traffic, and the people were welcoming. All these months later I find my mind consistently wandering back to our days there and dreaming of a return visit. You can see some of my reviews HERE on my Trip Advisor page.
After wistfully bidding Stanley and all its rugged mountain beauty adieu we headed southwest to our final Idaho stop, Boise. We had two sick kids, their misery and exhaustion was a palpable feeling in the air. They just wanted to be home in their own beds and we were desperate to make them comfortable. Unfortunately comfort is hard to find in a hotel, but we did the best we could with a drug store run and some Chick-fil-a.
I was pleasantly surprised with Boise and could instantly see why so many people were insistent that we visit. It has a very liberal vibe and although it boasts a population just under 240,000 people it still maintained a quaint atmosphere. There were pride flags on display in support of Pride month, streets were closed off creating a pedestrian friendly atmosphere, a plethora of good restaurants, one of the best bookstores I have been to, and no shortage of breweries. There is plenty of shopping and I found a gem of a bookstore. It is probably one of the best that I have been to outside of Powell's City of Books in Portland. Also, Freak Alley was a fun and quirky highlight which reminded me of our 2018 trip to South Dakota's Art Alley in Rapid City.
We took some time to walk through parts of Boise in an effort to intimately get to know the city a little better. It boasts the lovely and serene Julia Davis Park. Bisecting the park and the Boise State campus is the Boise River. Boise State was pristine, but as it was summer, it was hard to know what campus life is like. I am guessing pretty damn fun!
Whereas the northern part of Idaho is full of nature, the Boise area is allll about the food. There is no shortage of good eats and the options are varied. We sampled a bit of everything during our short stay. Fork was my favorite restaurant with their grown up ham and cheese sandwich and my cocktail was the perfect remedy to the heat outside. Reef was a fun find as I am a glutton for anything tiki themed. Did their sushi compare to what I have here in California? No, but their mai tais were legit and could possibly rival Trader Vics, the service was swift and friendly, and the decor was what my kitschy tiki dreams were made of. A friend who moved to the Boise area several years ago steered us towards Even Stevens. My mouth still waters when thinking about their sandwiches. The jalapeño grilled cheese was savory with a nice, sinus clearing kick. We had the joy of meeting up with our Boise buddy at Ten Barrel Brewery. Our final foodie destination was Tupelo Honey. While it will never hold a candle to a truly authentic southern meal (because nothing ever will unless you are in the heart of the Deep South), it was still delicious. Tupelo Honey looked like something out of Southern Living Magazine with a bougie twist.
There was so much we were not able to squeeze in during this road trip, but I felt like we accomplished a lot while still enjoying some downtime. I was sad to not partake in the plentiful hot springs Idaho has to offer (the smaller ones we hit were too crowded), but that in addition to Stanley and Wapiti Meadow, give us reason to return someday. Idaho has proven itself to be an extremely underrated state, but that means the crowds are a bit more sparse and the natural beauty is undisturbed.
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