McCall, ID Day 3

August 9, 2008

Desert child?  Mountain child?  I am surprised by how the sight of forest, river and lake fills my soul.  Having spent so much time in Yosemite National Park as a child and young adult, I had always assumed I was a mountain child.  The Sierra called me home year after year.  It wasn’t until moving to Utah I discovered my passion for the red desert.  I make my yearly sojourn to the desert in spring and fall and I believed the order of the desert matched my spirit.  Two trips this summer; one to Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park and one to McCall, Idaho, have be wondering.  Maybe one’s soul, to be completely nourished, must be fed by the spirit of mountain, desert and ocean.

We awoke to another wet morning.  Breakfast of cereal and toast and time to plan our day’s activities.  We took a few minutes to read and write and then we were on our way.

In reading the map provided by the housing agency, we discovered immigrants from Finland had settled the long valley.  The mountains and meadows reminded 

them of home.  We took a scenic drive through the countryside and visited an early 1900’s Finnish church and graveyard.  From there we found the old town of Roseberry, Idaho.  All that remained of the once prosperous town was an old church, mercantile/school, and a working 1904 general store.  We wandered around town for a while visiting the museum (we are still talking about the barn exhibit) and purchased wine (a gift for a friend) and root beer for Chris. If I’m remembering correctly, a freezing winter was responsible for Roseberry’s residents deserting hearth and home.  With so much snow on the ground, cattle and ranchers alike ran out of food.  By the time spring came around, cattle were so week they could not stand without help and the people moved south. 

We set out down the road back to McCall.  We ate a late lunch at My Father’s Place.  

Every time we drove by, the line stretched out the door and this time was no different.  We waited our turn.  We were hungry, but the hamburgers may have been the best we’ve ever had.  The food was well worth the wait.  We took a walk around town and got an ice cream cone at Ice Cream Alley.  Danna had mint chocolate chip and I had Starbucks Java Chip.

Time passes so quickly.  By the time we reached our cabin in the meadow it was already 5:30 pm.  The outdoor temperature had cooled to 68 degrees.  There was no need to go back out to dinner, so once again we sat awhile, read awhile, and watched movies on the computer.