Swift Water RV Park on the Snake

Meanwhile, back in July... We left the Bonneville Campground and headed north to the Snake River, and a place called White Bird Idaho. Our campsite was Swift Water RV Park. It was a neat little spot right on the Snake River, and we got a spot to hook up right there over looking the river. Awesome!

This was the view out the back of our home away from home at the Swift Water
RV Park just outside of White Bird!

We parked right next to Lari and Katy in a beautiful spot right on the
Snake River.

Lari had already unloaded my trusty Kawasaki, so the first morning, Kim and I decided to take an explore. We rode into White Bird, and then on to Grangeville with a few stops along the way. We took a late breakfast in White bird (only one place to eat and it opened at 11:00) then started up the old highway to Grangeville. The old road essentially followed the old wagon route, and was extremely windy with switchback after switchback. It was a fantastic ride! It also went right through a battleground where the Nez Perce Indians fought the US soldiers in the first battle of the Nez Perce War. The Indians beat the crap out of the soldiers in this first encounter, but of course that wasn't the way it all ended of course. Kim and I took a self guided tour of the battlefield. It was fascinating, and even a little eerie.

We went on in to Grangeville, looking for the local museum. We found it, and parked the bike in the shade. As we were walking up to the door, I heard a very loud deep rumble that I thought was a large air tanker overhead. As I looked around, I spotted the culprit. It was a WWII vintage B-29 bomber circling the town. We had seen some signs indicating there was an airshow under way, so the big plane must have been part of it. It was beautiful and circled us a couple of times. This is the plane that ended the war by dropping atomic bombs on Japan in August of 1945! It was an unexpected treat to get to see this flying piece of history.

Although not the actual plane, this restored B-29 Superfortress is the same type
that ended the war in the Pacific in 1945. It was there for a local airshow.

Inside the museum the displays were typical small town history. It was charming, and interesting to peruse all of the exhibits. One of the most unusual was a fossilized mammoth tusk that had been recovered from a nearby lake during a project to deepen it. The excavating equipment unearthed a mammoth tusk. The project was halted for a time while they studied the site. They hired local folks to assist, and it turned out that one of them (a young woman) was there in the museum that day. She tols us all about the find, and her experience there. After that we had to go out and  visit the lake where the tusk had been found.

The museum displayed a mammoth tusk, and here is one of the people who
worked on the resulting dig.

This is the lake where the tusk was found. Apparently there were hundreds more.

On the way to the lake we toured through some very beautiful farm country. Lots of hay in huge rolls dotted the landscape. This area called the Camas Prairie was incredibly beautiful!

Rolls of hay were all along the road to the ancient lake.

Kim couldn't resist taking a photo of this old barn.

After the lake we headed back towards White Bird. We went through the pass and down the old road. Needless to say I was very cautious to control my speed down this incredibly windy road.

We pulled over for a stretch/photo break on the old road down into White Bird.

If you look carefully, you can account for SIX switch backs in this photo!

Next day we rode with the Trippets down the Snake River to the town of Riggins. It was about a half hour ride from Swift Water RV Park. We found a nice little cafe, and had a great breakfast, visiting and people watching. Riggins' main economy is white water rafting trips and it seemed to really be bustling. 

After breakfast, we took the obligatory shopping stop in a local gift store. It featured a local artist who carves antlers. Mostly moose and elk. His work is absolutely amazing, and I had to include a couple of photos of some of his carved antlers.

This is a carved elk antler. Really beautiful.

This moose antler has amazing detail carved into
the forest scene.

On the way back to Swift Water, we saw a sign that we just had to  get a picture of. Apparently there was a gold mining town on the river called Lucile. I guess they just didn't know how to spell properly in the late 1800's. Having a precious daughter named Lucille, named for her precious Aunt Lucille, we had to get a picture.  The town had been relocated at one point, and so there was an old Lucile, and a  Lucile about two miles down the road. We made a u-turn and took the shot. We love you Auntie Lucille!

The Lucille sign was about two miles down the road.

We had a great time during our stay at Swift Water. Barbecuing, riding, relaxing, and exploring. The park had WiFi, but it was too weak for me to pick up in the Ahwanee. I had to sit in the laundry room and bring myself up to date with events  in the world.

Katy's sister and brother-in-law came to visit from Lewiston.
We had a nice BBQ with them. 

Waiting for the laundry to finish as I surf the net at Swift Water.

This sunflower was near the White Bird Battlefield. I included it because...
well because I just liked how it came out!

Before we left Swift Water, we took a trip on a jet boat up the Hell's Canyon National Recreation Area on the Salmon River. It was really spectacular. I will dedicate a post to that adventure soon. However, I cannot guarantee that it will be in any particular order!

That's  All!