Scenic Byways and Small Towns Treasures

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Our venture today takes us up north from Boise on the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway to the old mining town of Idaho City and on up to Lowman.  The road winds, and I mean winds, and slowly climbs along the scenic byway in a northeasterly direction.   Along the way we pass the Arrowrock Dam where we get a beautiful view of the reservoir.

There just aren’t words to describe the beauty of the mountains and the cascading rapids of More’s Creek next to the highway that is moving the melting snow from high up in the mountains above us.  More’s Creek was named for J. Marion More who led a party of miners to Idaho City.  Part of the road they took was a toll road that led them through the lowest point in the skyline across the valley in the picture below. 

The town of Idaho City once was a thriving gold mining town of 6,000.  Today it is a sleepy little village, but on the weekends many of their stores closed today will be open for tourists.  We stop at the Visitor Center for information about the town and are pleased to find that there is info about all the old buildings.  I am especially disappointed that the Antique Store and another “Junk Store” are closed as I love to poke around in those kinds of places.  Unfortunately, our town literature did not tell us about this “Junk Store” building so I’m really not just sure what this store is about, but it looks interesting.  Do you see the bathtub on the second level out in front?  Wonder if anyone ever took their bath there in plain view?  How about the windmill up on top?  Curious.  Wonder if it catches any wind to pump water into the building?  

Our drive around town reveals many old and quaint buildings some of which have been moved to a central location.  The building I find the most interesting is “The Pest House”.  I can’t imagine what that is all about.  Fortunately, the sign and inside of the building below explain it all.

Several of the very old buildings have some furniture or artifacts in them. 

Judge Halley Home

 

Penitentiary

Fire House

Blacksmith Shop and Jail

Other buildings are just those we see along the streets.  Note that this town still has wooden sidewalks.

Church and City Hall (former School)

Note wooden sidewalk on the right picture

Leaving Idaho City, we continue north toward Lowman which is a disappointment after Idaho City.  We never find any kind of town, but do cross over Clear Creek and the South Fork of the Payette River which is rapidly moving the rippling water along its path.  Here like the Springs near Twin Falls the water is crystal clear allowing us to see the rocks below the surface. 

         Left - Clear Creek                    Right - South Fork of Payette River

The highest elevation along this road is 6,117 feet with the mountains filled with pine trees in abundance and large and small cabins appearing here and there along the way.  This elevation is low to us since we live at 5,000 feet in Albuquerque.

Traveling from Lowman west toward Garden Valley we are now on the Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway.  There are so many different byways in this area.  Here the Payette River can be seen flowing in the canyon below.  The water here appears to be a greenish blue shade and glimmers in the sunlight. 

Before reaching the town of Banks, we suddenly spy some rafters on the river.  Quickly pull over land are fortunate to be able to see several of them rushing down the rapids.  What a thrill to watch and photograph.    Once in the town of Banks we see that this is a big rafting area as there are several businesses here offering trips.  Now turn south toward Boise with the Payette River to our west where we come upon several more rafting groups.   

We are now traveling the Payette Scenic Byway and soon reach an area that reminded us of traveling in the San Joaquin Valley of California from Gilroy, CA to Los Banos, CA through Pacheco Pass.  The area here in Idaho is rolling hills with some gold colored grasses which we used to see in that area of California.  Today, however, California is unfortunately very dry and brown.  The hills along the highway here are filled with large homes with green grass and fertile fields in abundance. 

It has been a very interesting day filled with old buildings, rivers and creeks, mountains and hills.  Idaho has thus far shown us its beauty from the semiarid to the fertile fields to the mountains and rivers.  What more will she show us in the weeks ahead as we travel further north?

Friday, June 24, 2016

Our trip today was a short distance compared with the over 100 miles of yesterday.  We go west from Boise on back roads that take us through the farm and wine country headed for the town of Caldwell.

In 1882 Caldwell was selected as a new town site for the Oregon Short Line Railroad and became incorporated in 1890.  Early photos show the area as a sagebrush covered desert with hardly a tree in sight; however, the arrival of irrigation water opened it up to becoming fertile  farm land as well as making it a center for commerce and business.  Since 1971 Caldwell and other surrounding cities have become a fast growing and unique grape and wine industry area.

Driving along one of the main streets I see an Antique store so of course Ron must stop so I can see what treasures they have to offer.  Living in the RV limits just how much “stuff” I can collect, but I do enjoy browsing.  I never know when a treasure will appear and I can’t live without it.  

Later on we come across the “Emporium” and its sister store across the street with me purchasing a book in each store (the item I purchase the most in antique stores) and Ron finding his first “treasure.”  As you all know, he is not one for shopping, but he couldn’t pass up a golf bag with attached legs that holds the bag upright when set down and for only “$12.50.”   What a bargain since after opening all the side pockets back at the RV, he found two dozen golf balls, a large bag of tees, two golf gloves, a golf towel and several more miscellaneous golf related items.  This treasure was hiding just inside the front door but he did do his cursory looking through the rest of the store before making this purchase.  Now he will have to find a home for his existing golf bag and rolling stand.  Maybe it can find a new home and be some else’s “treasure.” 

We found this old brick train depot with baggage cart where the street leading to it had been closed off and planted with grass.  Just in front of the depot were water spouts where a young child was having fun running through them on this warm afternoon.  On each side of the closed off street were buildings with the side of one having several lovely flower enclosed designs along the wall.  Not sure what the purpose was.  

A row of old commercial buildings includes this one with the name “Steunenberg Building” on it.  Don’t you always wonder who the people were whose names appear on buildings in towns?  I do.  In this case, there was a stone monument near the train depot with pictures of two Dutch brothers named Steunenberg who established the first newspaper in Caldwell.  That answers that question. 

                                     Local Clock Tower                                         Scheunenberg Building                                                          

We also found this cute mural near the depot on the back wall of a local business which alighting passengers from the train would be sure to see.

In an old residential area we find the local museum (Our Memories Museum) housed in what used to be the local doctor and dentists office building.  The Museum purchased the building which also included the old doctor and dental equipment as well.  Quite a treasure.  The Museum is quite interesting with 30 different exhibits with each room set up as a room in a house or business (dental office, barber shop, beauty shop, etc).  There were also some lovely old hand quilted quilts hanging on the walls which I really enjoyed viewing.  This was one of the nicer small town museums we have seen with lots of history of the town and local artifacts depicted within. 

Back to Boise and the RV with just two days left to sightsee in this area.  Not sure yet what we will do, so stay tuned.