There was running water and a telephone and even cable tv. No air conditioning but the night was plenty cool enough and I did not miss it a bit. Heck, I live in Alabama. The July nights here are probably similar to the April and May nights back home. I thought the bathroom was interesting until I actually used it. The noise from the toilet had cringing each time I flushed it and I hoped I wasn't waking the entire town. Not sure what the theory behind it is. If the drop is 5 feet there is only a pressure increase of about 2 psi. That hardly seems worth the effort.

Not only did I find a great place to stay but there was even a mini laundry mat within walking distance. I spent most of the morning doing laundry. I wasn't lonely though and was quickly adopted by Germaine the Pain, as I heard one lady call him. He only had one good eye but that didn't seem to affect his desire for scratching or his ability to purr. I ate a quick snack type breakfast and was on the road by about 11:30.

As I figured, Hwy 21 was an absolute blast during the daylight hours. It is a Ponderosa Pine Scenic byway and it was like riding through Christmas time. I love that pine smell but where I live I only experience it once a year when I put up the Christmas tree. If you can imagine that clean, fresh smell while riding twisty roads and viewing scenic vistas around every curve you have some idea of my ride on Hwy 21. There was no photogenic sign, but the pavement was winding the entire 90 miles to Stanley.

The road continued to climb into the mountains and once I reached some of the higher passes I started seeing some sizable patches of snow on the ground. Living in Alabama I don't see much snow. Maybe once or twice a year we will get a few flakes and it may stick on the ground for a day. I decided to take advantage of my location and build a snowman in June. He might have been a little bigger but there were some hungry mosquitos where I stopped that acted like I was the first warm blooded animal to pass that way in a long time. I retreated to the bike and then blew the suckers away with some high speed wind.

In Stanley I stopped and had lunch and filled the bike with gas. The weather was so nice that I ate lunch outside and talked to two girls also visiting the area and camping nearby. Even the view from the restaurant was spectacular. Idaho may be my new favorite western state.

I left Stanley and headed south on 75. This turned out to be a good choice until I hit Sun Valley. Hwy 75 is also a designated scenic drive but when you get to Sun Valley every yuppie and his brother is clogging up the road in his SUV yapping on his cell phone while eating designer ice cream. Get me out of here! This is exactly what I take backroads to avoid.

Once I hit the intersection of Hwy 20 and headed east things rapidly improved. The secret of course is to go places the normal crowds don't want to go.

The southern part of Idaho is mainly agricultural and is pretty flat. There isn't a whole lot to see but I did stop at Craters of the Moon national monument since I was riding right by it. I didn't take any pictures because I couldn't find anything I thought particularly pretty. The sun was directly overhead and it was nothing but a black rock, jagged plain. Now of course I think back and wish I had taken some pictures because it was nothing but a black rock, jagged plain. I bet it is more photogenic in the morning or at dusk when the sun is at a low angle. What a weird place.

I stopped for dinner at a family restaurant in Idaho Falls. Man, they don't skimp on portions here. My dinner included soup, salad, a sirloin steak, garlic bread, choice of potato (I had potato pancakes), dessert, drink and coffee. I skipped dessert after eating my pancakes with syrup and coffee. If I remember correctly the whole thing was under ten bucks!

After I waddled out of the restaurant I headed east on 26 towards Jackson, WY and ended up finding a camping site in the Caribou National Forest.

Another excellent day of riding. This makes two days in a row of no rain! A first for this trip.