I returned to riding after two rest days in Boise. We drove from Boise to Walters Ferry on the Snake River, and I started riding where I left the route Wednesday, just across the Snake River. I soon left the river, and turned upland to the wide open spaces of the high desert. This was the most common sign of the day:
While the sign was warning that cattle were ranging freely and could be on the road, the sign also accurately described the environment. I took several pictures of the wide open spaces, but they all looked pretty much the same:
There really was no place to hide.
There were mountains off in the distance, and the sagebrush was broken in a few places by fields of wildflowers.
By lunchtime we had swung back to the river, and had lunch at the Snake River Diner in the town of Grand View.
We were greeted warmly by the friendly patrons of the diner, mostly locals and many members of the local Mennonite Church. Toni and I each had engaging conversations with the owner and several of the patrons, and we will be writing these up in “The Conversations” section of the blog in the next few days.
After lunch, the route followed the Snake River more closely and the land was largely agricultural, with many irrigated hay and alfalfa fields.
Just before we reached our destination in the small town of Hammett, the road followed the river closely, and this quiet beautiful stretch was the most pleasant of the day.
Our destination was the Cold Spring Winery, part of the Harvest Hosts program. In the program, wineries and other farms and similar places with large spaces allow RVs to park on their property free of charge (but it is courteous to buy some of their products).
We arrived well after the tasting rooms hours had passed, but the owner, Bill Ringert, was still hanging out in the tasting room, and after we parked the RV, we tasted through his lineup. Ringert is a former pilot, former lawyer and former Idaho State Senator, who bought the vineyard property as a hobby in 1998 and has been producing wine since 2002. After we tasted through his lineup, he opened another bottle and invited us to join him for a glass on his porch. We continued the conversation we began in the tasting room, and it deserves full coverage, so Toni and I will put together a report on that conversation in the next day or two.
Speaking of wineries, Telaya Winery, an excellent urban winery, was next to our hotel in Boise.
While Toni was busy getting the RV washed the other day, I stopped in and did a focused tasting of most of their lineup. Their wines are the best we have tasted in Idaho, and while I wouldn’t come up here just for their wines, if you are in the area, it is worth stopping in. They source their fruit from both Idaho and Washington, and produce Syrah, Malbec, Merlot, Viognier and Sauvignon Blancs (among others I didn’t taste) that were all noteworthy.
Barns are in scarce supply in Idaho. II finally found this one late in the day, but it was impossible to get an unobstructed view of it. Trust me, it was a photo worthy barn.
The technical stuff:
83.0 miles
3,602 feet of climbing
Average speed 15.1 miles per hour
Weather: Bright sunshine all day. Around 60 at the start and mid to high 80s to end. Light winds most of the day, picking up to slight tailwind at the end of the day.
You can see the entire route to date here.