I woke up in beautiful McCall, which sits on Payette Lake. I had no real plan for the day except that a friend had invited me to dinner with his family outside Boise. So I had the whole day to drive two hours and get out to explore anything that struck my fancy.
The first thing that struck it was Payette Lake, which is formed by glacier water and offers beautiful trails, pristine beaches, and sites to dip one’s feet in the cold water. A sea serpent named Sharlie is said to live in it, but he is pretty quiet. No sign of him on this Tuesday after Labor Day when most of America returned to work except for one or the other of us lucky vacationers. I wandered around McCall town as well, which had restaurants and shops catering to the tourist crowd. The quiet, unspoiled peace of the place made it my favorite stop in Idaho.
After lunch, I headed toward my friend in Emmett, which sits northwest of Boise. My drive took me along Lake Cascade and paralleled Payette River. So I stopped at overlooks and saw rapids and beaches. I had not expected Idaho to have so many beaches, all of them isolated near pristine rivers.
We arrived early to Emmett, an agricultural community of about 6500 that offers a wonderful little park where I stopped to walk Tamu. The small depot was closed already, but the evening was still young. We joined my friend, his wife, and their five children, and a friend of their children who has adopted himself into the family for a wonderful meal. I had not known my friend surrounded by family before, and it was delightful to meet his wife and kids, who welcomed me to dinner and invited me to prayers afterward. They live adjacent to his parents’ fruit farm, which makes it easy to come and go from each other’s homes. It seemed like an idyllic spot and I can see why other kids have adopted them.
