With a history stretching back to 1897, the Western Idaho Fair is one of the state's biggest annual celebrations. Concerts, competitions, rides, games, crazy food and an overabundance of stinking, dusty farm animals occupy the large fairground for a week on the northern end of Boise. We couldn't resist checking it out, and showed up on the fair's final day.
We woke up at 3:30am in order to make the drive from Cascade to Boise, to appear live on AM Extra on KBOI 2. Check out the video... you might be able to tell we're not accustomed to being on camera, but it went pretty well. Especially considering that at this early hour, we're normally fast asleep.
Idaho has more usable hot springs than any other state in the union, and many of them are found on public land, which means that they're free to access. Quite a few can be found around Cascade, so we decided to go hot-spring-hopping one sunny Saturday morning.
Wearied by the three-day journey across America, we kept close to Cascade during our first week in Idaho. Not a problem, since there is plenty to see. The day after our loop around Lake Cascade, we drove up to the summit of Snowbank Mountain and completed a short hike to Blue Lake, tucked away in the hills of the Boise National Forest.
History in Idaho began when the White Man discovered it, and that's that! Well, no, of course that's not true. But unfortunately the recorded history of Idaho does begin with the appearance of Europeans in the early 19th century. Everything prior is based on fossil records and legends. So, the known story of Idaho is largely one of conflict between settlers and Native Americans, and of the struggle to populate and live off some of the continent's wildest land.
Propped up against the Boise National Forest, and just an hour north of the capital, Lake Cascade is a convenient spot for restless city-dwellers to get their nature fix. The charming resort town of McCall crowns the northern end of the lake, while the smaller villages of Cascade and Donnelly line the east, providing an abundance of places to stay the weekend.
We fully subscribe to the concept of "slow traveling". After all, that's what the For 91 Days project is all about -- dedicating sufficient time to each new destination for comprehensive exploration and total familiarity. So when we arrived at the entrance gate to Yellowstone National Park, it was with conflicting emotions. Excitement, surely, but also frustration. Here we were at one of the wonders of America, and we had a ridiculously tight schedule. Four hours. We had given ourselves just four hours to see one of the most amazing places in the world.
Since we're never on one continent for long, we don't own a car. But during our 91 days in Idaho, the ability to drive was an absolute requirement. Luckily, my parents generously let us borrow their second car. "If that's the price of having you in America", reasoned my mother, "then I suppose it's worth it". Yep, mom, that's the price. Now give me the keys.
After 91 busy days spent in the South Korean metropolis of Busan, we were ready for something completely different. So I grabbed a thesaurus and flipped to the "K" section. It's a strange and little-known fact, but it turns out that the antonym of "Korea" is "Idaho". Exact opposites. And just like that, our next destination was set!
