A French Touch in Idaho

.................and you thought my travels through the 'Wild West' made me forget about French treasures?

No way. When the sign above the door - in an old but still glamorous downtown Boise, Idaho hotel - said LA VIE EN ROSE......................

...................I was up the marble steps in a flash.

On entering the prettiest cafe, decorated with genuine French chandeliers, furniture, and mahogany and glass patisserie display cases...............

..........old French metal headboards as wall art...........

...............and the best pastries ever!!!!!

Jasmin's lemon bar, yummy.

My raspberry almond brioche..........quite honestly the best pastry I've eaten anywhere.

Vive la France!!

Off to the airport this afternoon - coming home. Had a great trip and will show you more later. Thanks for following us through the West these past two weeks.

Road Warriors

We packed too much, of course! Getting these suitcases, plus two carryons, Jasmin's back pack, and our gals' two purses into the trunk of a small mid-size automobile.............................was hell on wheels!!

But the worse part was dragging them all out of the car in 99 degrees on the side of an interstate highway...............with nothing but ranches and farmland stretching for miles to the mountains on either side of us!

Early morning, grabbed breakfast, loaded up, riding from Bozeman to Helena, Montana. Cruising along at the permitted 75 mph, the three of us looked at each other and wondered what the strange noise was. A flat, high speed, heat, way out in the middle of nowhere........HELP!

Luckily nothing happened and we were able to cruise over to the stony entrance to a ranch so were safely off the highway.

This is when you are so thankful for cell phones. AAA sent 'cowboy Carl' to the rescue on his big yellow horse...............after an hour's wait in the building heat of beautiful Montana 'Big Sky Country'. Luckily the rancher had clean restrooms at the entrance. Just kidding, it was find the highest clump of grass and wait 'til the Harleys and trucks had passed!!!

Later we exchanged this too small, too many miles on the odometer, and two completely bald front tires, for a another vehicle. I won't mention the name of the rental agency other than to say it's supposedly #1. The tire serviceman told us that he could not repair the flat as the steel belts were sticking through the rubber, and on checking the other front tire found it the same. He said we were lucky not to have been in a serious accident.

Off we went, driving through awesome scenery after wasting the most of the day dealing with the car issue, and reaching Missoula, Montana just in time to enjoy a pizza supper before falling into our beds, tired but thankful we were safe.

More stories from the mountain roads soon.

Yellowstone......................

.....................Nature's Amusement Park.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife in the national park this trip. Bison must have been in hiding, bears were nowhere in the area we covered, however this beautiful elk did stop traffic and we were able to get out of the car and take some photos as it grazed nearby. Then, despite a crowd of humans clicking cameras, it raised it's head and posed for us!

We crossed the Continental Divide several times during this western trip.

Some pictures of the fascinating hot mineral springs, pools of colors like jewels scattered across the landscape. Geysers, mud pools, and springs here in the park are the largest concentration of geothermal features in the world.

Jasmin enjoying the beauty of Yellowstone National Park......the very first national park established in 1872.

Fountains of scalding water burst high into the air from some geysers, others bubble and spit in murky depths.

........................and of course, we waited almost an hour with a front row seat, for OLD FAITHFUL, the most famous 120 foot waterspout, to erupt. This occurs every 60-80 minutes and sitting just 300 feet away, we felt the spray which was exciting.

Leaving Yellowstone we headed to breathtaking Montana.......and a road problem!

Mountain Majesty - The Grand Tetons

Leaving Jackson Hole early morning, I always take a deep breathe, readying myself for the awesome panorama ahead. It seems you just round a corner and there they are in all their majesty, the mighty Grand Teton mountains.

There were no crowds of tourists, the air was perfect, around 70 degrees, the sun was shining with a few high puffy clouds just grazing the top of Grand Teton 13,770 feet, and Mt. Moran 12,605 feet, the highest peaks in the Grand Teton Range.

Still some snow on the peaks and the cool morning required a light jacket.

If you've never visited this area of great beauty, I encourage you to do so. It's close to the South entrance to Yellowstone so you can enjoy exploring both National Parks within a couple of days.

The wildflowers were still abundant and the meadows green due to some wet weather prior to our visit.....................mountains and flowers, always a perfect combination.

Leaving the Tetons and Wyoming is always hard. These towering peaks really are awesome.

I'll be back soon to show you a beautiful day in Yellowstone when, as always, Old Faithful was on time!

Beautiful Utah

We flew to Salt Lake City and headed North. By mid-afternoon we arrived at Bear Lake.

Such an awesome lake. Stopped to take a lot of pics in the brilliant sunshine, temps. in the 90's.........................

............and if you're wondering why DH and I were grinning...............

..............we hit it at the perfect time, the annual Raspberry Festival. My favorite fruit. We tasted them in the best shake ever....thick, creamy, laced with just picked raspberries. Sorry, no pic, dug into the shake and quite forgot about the camera!

Jasmin found lots of unusual wildflowers to photograph.

A lovely stop along the way to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.

Girls (and boys) just wanna have fun............

Even cute dogs such as Kiltie enjoyed runs out in the boat. See my toes (right), they were soaking up the sun and loving every moment relaxing as we circled beautiful Lake Almanor.

Paula, my best friend of almost 46 years (we arrived in Washington, D.C. in 1962 and have kept in touch ever since 'altho we live on opposite coasts) and Jasmin, enjoying an evening ride.

Jasmin's initiation into water skiing.

Fabulous grilled salmon and halibut caught in Alaska by our host, with fresh picked squash and eggplant from the astounding garden of Judy and Chris in Chico. Much more later about our visit to them, Corey Amaro of Tongue in Cheek's cousins, and to Corey's fabulous family in California!

Anabel and Jasmin made great desserts at the fire pit.....................

......................then joined by Cullen, entertained us with a great Thriller dance routine.

The end of another wonderful day.

Lake Almanor, Northern California

Such a fabulous place to be visiting our dearest friends at their vacation home on this beautiful lake.

Having so much fun on and around the water.



Mt. Lassen near Lake Almanor, Northern California.

Climbing mountains. Dipping hot feet in high snow. Learning to use watercraft. Kissed by the sun. Showered by a quick rain. Grilling out. Tasting California wine. Making new friends.
So little time to blog. Will have great photos and stories to share when I have more time.
Just want you to know we are having a fabulous time here.
Tomorrow we leave for Salt Lake City.
More road stories soon.