The Attraction of Idaho

First, get the potato jokes and ideas out of the way. Southern Idaho does have farming but you will find Boise to be quite the modern city and Moscow is a college town. North Idaho, where I have a house and one of my sons lives, is gold, silver, and other mining all the way. It has a long history of mining with all the rowdiness, pockets of wealth, violence, and growth that goes with it. Of course, much of that is in the past now. But, there is nothing boring about Idaho.

Then there are the mountains, valleys, canyons, lakes, rivers, and tons of trees that make it such a beautiful place to camp for a weekend or a lifetime. The skiing, fishing, hiking, biking, boating, camping, snowmobiling, hunting, etc. cannot be beat. It is world-class and draws people from all over the U.S. Many a famous movie star has a “place” in Idaho or nearby Montana.

Silver Mountain in Kellogg, ID is noted for it’s skiing, biking, gondola ride to the top, and summer concerts with big-name stars of music, both past and present. I saw Kenny Chesney play up there myself.

After much moving about, North Idaho is the place my sons grew up and will return to. It is a place where during hunting season, you may find a sign on a store door in the middle of the week, “Gone Hunting. Back next Tuesday”. It is not unusual to see children in the middle of winter walking to school in shorts (despite any efforts by parents to dress them warmer). One of my sons has a van and will go camping and fishing at 1am with a bunch of friends.

Summer is full of festivals and people gathering to watch a 6 foot ball float down the river so they can bet on what time it will reach its destination. Most of the youth here have floated the river in tire tubes and inflateable boats. It has actually been done as transportation between cities when Mom would not provide a ride. 😉

Silverwood theme park with Boulder Beach in Athol, ID is a great destination for family fun with a combination amusement park and water park. They have a campground nearby with easy access to the park.

A new addition in Hayden is the Triple Play complex which is connected to a Holday Inn though it is open to anyone. They have bowling, miniature golf, miniature car track, and and indoor water complex with a wave pool, fun kiddie water gym with slides, and 3 fantastic grownup slides. The bodyslide is sure to put water up your nose and your bathing suit up your… Another enclosed tube slide plunges you into bright sunlight by running outside the building and then total darkness for several minutes. My favorite is the Vortex which is just like getting flushed down you no what. Two people can share a tube and go around and around and around… before being sucked down the final part of the slide and blasted out into a pool and a padded pole. I fervently wish they had an elevator to the top for us old geezers but that certainly didn’t stop me from having fun!

Christmas in Couer D’ Alene is fun with a parade, a hot meal at a fine restaurant, gathering in the park with candles to listen to a live concert from the rooftop of the CDA Resort, seeing Santa, then the ferry ride around the lake to see all the house lights and the light displays setup on the golf course.