Eagle and McCall Idaho - 2013 Family Vacation

June 22nd, Saturday

Yea! Vacation time!  Amanda woke us up at 3:00 a.m. We hit the road at 4:00 a.m. to take the long road trip from California to Idaho.  about 11-12 hour long road trip. 

With our daschund it can take a little longer with pit stops.  Our first major stop was for breakfast in Reno at the Black Bear diner.  I love their blueberry pancakes but they changed the way they make them and I did not really like them much. 

Peanut enjoying her new car seat.  She could look out and sleep, it was so nice.

We then headed out for Eagle, Idaho.  Headed through the desert.  It was a nice uneventful trip.  The desert scenery was well... desert.  We arrived in Idaho in the later afternoon, which was nice as we could relax and visit with my Aunt and Uncle. We met my cousin's little boys. They live in a beautiful subdivision, the houses and little ponds around the property were beautiful

Eagle is more of a desert type setting.  I was a little surprised by this as I had been to Twin Falls and remembered trees.  

view of aunt and uncles house from across the pond. 

We had a nice BBQ'd dinner and then relaxed. I then took pictures of the Super Moon.   It stays light later in Idaho (hour ahead of California time).

June 23rd, Sunday

We awoke to the smell of yummy quiches.

The weather was rainy which was not what we planned.  A big summer storm expected to last several days. 

We took a walk near my relatives home.  Nice path to the river and then to several restaurants.  The kids enjoyed the river and Dave won the stone skipping event of the day.  His stone just stayed on the surface of the water like it was suspended.  Peanut enjoyed the walk. 

My Uncle, Husband and Daughter looking over the river

The kid and the pooch

Barn along the walking trail

Baby Ducks and Mom

A whole bunch of noise

We then headed off for a late lunch in Boise.  We had pizza and spaghetti at Old Chicago Pizza. It was okay, nothing special. We then walked back and I got this shot of the state capital.

My aunt and uncle then took us out to dinner at Cottonwood, recommend it, we had a marvelous dinner. 


June 24th, Monday

Today we headed out to find Dave's birding location:  Bird's of Prey Conservation Area (Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area).  We ended up getting lost of course thanks to Google.  We ended up a gun and missile testing site.  My car got a 4-wheel drive work out, reminder it is not a 4-wheel drive.  We found out we were not even close to the right location.  We did however find the right location. 

Our hint we were lost.  Lots of Hummers on this property.

We did spot some burrowing owls and hawks.  We also walked out to a lookout over a beautiful canyon which you can camp at too.

Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk



Burrowing Owl Babies

We had lunch at Arctic Circle restaurant, one my favorites.  We do not have one in our town anymore.  This Robin had a little nest near our parking spot.

We then headed back to my relatives home and enjoyed a relaxing evening.  Dinner with cousins and their kids. 



Peanut loved the lawn, she would run and run. 

June 25th, Tuesday

First things first, I drove over to Krispy Kreme donuts.  Amanda and I have our priorities.  Dave enjoyed a breakfast with my Uncle. 



Payette River, we are soon to raft the North fork

We drove to McCall, Idaho to my aunt and uncle's cabin.  The drive to McCall was very beautiful, I love the rolling hills and the woods/Payette river.  We drove into the town of McCall, it has a high speed limit of 25 mph. The McCall town is small but there are many restaurants and shops.  Lake Payette is located on the edge of town. It is a huge lake and very beautiful. McCall reminds me of a young Lake Tahoe. We drove to an area by the Ponderosa State Park, to the cabin.  The cabin is a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, kitchen, dining room, and living room cabin.  It is nice and the setting is wonderful. 

We are talking about bringing our trailer to Ponderosa State Park.  Beautiful with many hiking trails.

Female and Male Deer in Ponderosa State Park

Rain please go away...

Amanda and I ran to the store to get a few groceries.  Then we headed over to the Ponderosa Park.  Dave got some bird info and Amanda and I bought a few items at the gift store. Drove around in the park and saw these cute little deers and other sights.

We saw a cute little fox (sorry no picture).   We spent the night watching movies, eating spaghetti, and a fire.  Slept very well.

June 26th, Wednesday

In the morning I took a few pictures of wild flowers and trees that are fresh from the rain.

We headed out to explore McCall.  We went out to a birding area but it was just to wet to go to far. Then we headed out to some other locations, and saw many beautiful sights.  We then drove all round Lake Payette which as I said is very large.  Beautiful scenery.  Rain off and on.

Dave at Lake Payette



Stormy day at Payette

Columbine Ground Squirrel

Blackbird

Cedar Waxwing



Columbine Ground squirrel trying to kill Spotted Sandpiper,
and the Robins are helping to keep back the squirrel, circle of life.

We ate lunch at Paradise Burgers, it was so yummy!

Leftovers for dinner, perfect and more movie time. Much warmer tonight.

June 27th, Thursday

So excited, white water rafting with my cousin today.  We changed it from yesterday to today as the weather was so ugly.  Good thing too.  The weather today is outstanding!  Sunny and warm. We drove to Cascade to meet up with Cascade Kayak and Raft.  Great outfit if you ever want to white water raft.  They were professional and very nice.  I wish I had my camera, the Payette River is beautiful.  We were on the river from 10:30-2:30.  We had a nice lunch and we leisurely made it down the river.  We went on a Class 1-3 trip which was perfect for family adventures.  We saw 3 Bald Eagles, they were so beautiful.  There were trees where the beavers had been busy chopping away.  Amanda had a mishap and twisted her ankle and scrapped up her knees. Ouch, but she was a trooper. When the rafting trip ended, I was so bummed, I loved the rafting trip.

Amanda had a Paradise Burger for dinner.  Dave and I went to Mexican food at Chapala by the lakeside.  It was pretty good, but hot outside.  Dave and I then went to check out the Shore Lodge,  ritzy place to stay at in McCall.



View from restaurant (Lake Payette)

June 28th, Friday

I cleaned up the cabin and we packed up to head back to Eagle. Pictures from our walks around the cabin property and roadways.

Just singing has loud as she can!

 My aunt has some beautiful flowers in her yard here are some pictures:

Nice drive in the beautiful scenery again. 

Osprey protecting her babies from the 100 degree weather.

We had a wonderful dinner with my cousin, her kids, and aunt/uncle.  BBQ'd ribs and steaks and a wonderful potato salad.  Dave and I took one final walk near my aunt and uncle's property (walking trail):

June 29th, Saturday

Early departure at 6:00 a.m.  My aunt sent us off with a nice French toast breakfast.  It was a hot ride home but it rained in the desert.  We got home at about 4:30 p.m. to a very hot home.  Record breaking temperatures.  Obviously my kitty missed me she just meowed and meowed at me.  We then has a power outage do to high volume air condition usage in our area.  We headed to bed! 

Great trip!  I recommend visiting Idaho just beautiful!