Evergreen Campground in Payette National Forest - Tamarack, ID

This morning Chris took off from Grangeville after a couple early morning runs into town to get some maintenance items for the RV. August and I headed to the library to find some fun. He had a good time hanging out with the stuffed animals there and some other kids. He seems to be a favorite with little girls who are about three years old. They are fascinated with babies, and like to ask me all sorts of questions about him. "Does he talk?"

Afterwards we walked around downtown for a while and then took off towards our destination. We caught up with Chris around Riggins, a small town with several rivers nearby. It seems to exist primarily for rafting outfits. It looked like a lot of fun, and something we'd like to do when August is older.

We stopped in Shelly's Back Eddy Grill & Ale House for some lunch. The elk tacos were definitely the highlight. They were served like street tacos, with the soft corn shells and garnish of cabbage and herbs. They didn't taste too much different than beef tacos, and we could see why they're popular there.




We took off towards our destination for the night, leaving Chris to bike the remaining 35 miles in the rain. He is a trooper!

August and I headed into Meadows, our planned stop for the night, and went to the RV park we had tentatively picked out. It looked pretty rundown, and had more of a trailer park feel than someplace you'd want to camp, and I recalled seeing some other places on the way into town. I took a few minutes to do some research on my phone, and decided to go back into town to make a plan before committing. The reviews online didn't have much positive to say about the place, so I thought I'd look around.

As I was circling around, a woman in a late model Lexus SUV came up behind me and then pulled around alongside my door, essentially cutting me off. I rolled down my window, and she said, "Can I help you?" in a none too friendly tone. I told her that I had turned off but wasn't sure if I was in the right place, and she just gave me this angry look. "Are you looking to stay here tonight?" I told her I wasn't sure where we'd be staying, and that I needed to go back into town to get some things. The weird, rude stare continued. "Well, my manager just called me and said someone was here", she said gruffly and then glared again. She was so surly, and acted like I was bothering her just by existing in her space. We could not get out of there fast enough.

So, Auggie and I went into New Meadows, got a cold beverage, and waited for Chris. When he arrived we grabbed a late dinner at Subway, and enjoyed talking with perhaps the most overly competent Subway employee ever. He was so nice, made sure to get our orders exactly right, and let us stay a little past closing to eat while he cleaned up and did his closing duties. Speaking of that, I need to figure out how to leave some positive feedback for him with his corporate employer.

We decided to head to a campground in the Payette National Forest just a few miles up the road. It is basically just a place to park with no hookups, but is cheap and I feel good about doing my part to keep our public campgrounds in operation.

So, another night with no phone or internet service. That seems to be a trend within the National Forest areas. At least it forces us to get to sleep a little earlier than we would otherwise. We are closing in on Oregon, I think only about one more day in Idaho!