Dipping into Idaho

7/11/2019

We left Smith lake at 0729 for a short drive into town where we stopped again at the Bonner's Ferry Visitors Center.

Bonner's Ferry also has a small museum in the same parking lot, but they weren't yet open when we stopped.

The logo at an adjacent pizzeria tempted us to stay for lunch, but there is more to see, so we moved along.

By noon we were in Sandpoint, Idaho where we found masts at Windbag Marina on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.

Exploring downtown on foot, we passed a shop with a vintage Kodak Colorwatch sign reminding me of work during the peak consolidation years  in the photofinishing industry.

Sandpoint had a unique set of shops set in a bridge over the river.

Exploring was fun with sculptures, like this one, placed all over the town.

Starting to get hungry, we checked out some local restaurants. Anyone that knows me, won't be surprised that we didn't consider Beet and Basil for a meal.

Since we were in Idaho, Spuds seemed like an appropriate spot for my birthday lunch.  It helped that we could see trains and boats from the deck.

Another little bit of art adorned this bridge railing in town. The shops over the water an be seen in the distance.

This stone bear was my favorite of the many sculptures in town.

Sandpoint Station built in 1916, but fell into disrepair as passenger rail service waned. It reopened in 2015 after Amtrak funded renovations.

I got my train spotting fix as Sandpoint is situated on the BNSF main line with lots of rail traffic.

We might head back that way again as we later learned that the US Navy did training in the lake during WWII and still tests hull designs for submarines there.

We arrived at an overlook for Cabinet Gorge Dam at 1337 and were the only people there.

The Clark Fork river drops 208 feet there into the Cabinet Gorge. Only a few days ago we were canoeing another stretch of this river outside of Missoula.

Shortly after leaving the dam, we crossed the state line. I’m still not used to the 70 mph speed limit (80 on interstates) in Montana. We were driving a curvy road in Idaho with a 55 mph speed limit and the limit, on the same road, jumped to 70 as soon as we crossed into Montana.

This shot is of the Cabinet Gorge Reservoir from Heron, Montana.

At 1631 we pulled into site 11 at Thompson Falls State Park. It was a pretty place to stay for $18 a night.

There was a walking trail to town along the river. As much as I enjoy trains, this campground is really close to the main line, so we didn't get much sleep.

We always find signs teaching us about the history of an area interesting. This one reminded us that we shouldn't take modern roads and bridges for granted.

Traveling South in Idaho and Montana.