Idaho

We left Seattle in the pouring rain, but once we climbed over the Cascades and drove east a bit, we found the sun! We stopped for lunch at this lovely state park near the Columbia River. Since eastern Washington is mostly a rainshadow desert, this park was definitely drier than views of the Columbia that we'd seen in the western part of the state.The first destination on our big road trip was a state park in northern Idaho. This part of Idaho is really beautiful - tall green trees were everywhere. As we were driving to our campsite on the first day we saw a moose.The big attraction of the state park - which used to be a military training base in WWII (how's that for swords into plowshares?) - is that it is right on Lake Pend Oreille. Lots of people bring their own boats or swim toys (since there's a dedicated, shallow, warm swimming spot).The lake is really, really beautiful, and really, really big - I feel like these pictures don't really do it justice.

The hiking wasn't amazing at this park, but there's one trail that goes all the way to the top of nearby mountain, and a ton of shorter trails.Our campsite was great - perfect for relaxing in the shade.And, come dinner time, Mike cooked dinner using our fancy new stove.And he drank the tuna juice.