What a TRIP....40º

Saturday Nov. 5th...Sunny day, quite warm for November, occasional clouds, little wind...The car was loaded with sleeping bags, suitcases, pillows, blankets, towels, swimsuits and food, all the things and more that women think they need when going on a trip....Pam navigated the 39 road (Wallowa Mountain Loop) with ease in our Subaru, as she was used to driving a forest service truck all summer over this very road, as well as many other forest roads...Linda, our third passenger had worked with Pam during the summer...It wasn't long before we were chatting, laughing, reminiscing like old friends...The miles flew by, although we were not in a hurry, stopping for breaks and a side trip into Halfway to see the changing colors and maybe possibilities for a future trip...We were scouting and talked about how we wanted to see our local country, not really interested in Europe, South America, Asia, Etc...

Pam had never been farther than maybe Oxbow, but she made all the right turns, with Linda navigating and me the backseat driver...What a team?...The barren hills of the Snake River country, where 3 dams, built in the 50's/60's(Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon) back up the river to supply electricity and recreation, loomed on both sides of us...We traversed the winding road coming onto highway 95 at Cambridge, Idaho and stopped at Mundo (pronounced moon doe) Hot Springs with RV and tent camping as will as cabins for rent, a small Bistro and a lovely hot pool with a soaking tub...This small resort is situated alongside the Weiser River and the Weiser Trail (rail to trail) that runs from Weiser to New Meadows...Many years ago the Galloping Goose Train (railroad) was built because people needed an easy way to get to the County Seat of Weiser and also lumber was hauled out of Adams county by rail.

We spent time at Mundo, visiting with the owner (a delightful lady) and in our minds planning to "soak" there on our way home or maybe on a later trip...Mid afternoon we arrived in McCall (McCall/Lake Fork) where I grew up...We drove out to Ponderosa State Park, ate our lunch while taking in the surroundings and a lovely view of Payette Lake...From there we drove south to Donnelly and followed signs to Gold Fork Hot Springs...The setting is quite nice with natural rock walls nearly surrounding the area...Six or more large hot tubs are terraced down the hill, cooling off as they go...It was late afternoon and crowded, people and beach bags and towels everywhere...A small yurtlike building housed the office and the lady manning it was less than enthusiastic...It had been a long day for us so we made our way back to McCall on the Farm to Market road, stopped briefly at the old ranch, where I grew up, now called Jug Handle Estates...We met up with Linda's friend, and were soon at the house that would be home for a couple of days...To be continued...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Photos of Gold Fork Hot Springs.