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I finally took down my awesome camp and left Ketchum. It was a great time for a lot of reasons but I needed to get moving on. I had breakfast in town and met some travelers from Wyoming. They were touring the country like me, but much slower. They had been hanging around Ketchum for a few days and were...

I woke up early at Katie's house and took a shower before anyone could tell me not to. It's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, and I smelled pretty bad. The view from her back yard was awesome. Above the trees between the two central hills is Elkhorn Village, which is part...

In the morning I explored the valley. Ketchum lies at the north end, flanked to the east by Sun Valley. South of Ketchum is Hailey, and south of Hailey is Bellevue. Sun Valley turned out to be a giant country club surrounded by condominiums and ringed by luxury vacation homes. Sun Valley is a town like...

I woke up early in the freezing cold. I tried to take a drink of water but it had frozen solid in the jug. I huddled in my blankets and didn't get up until much later. I had set up my tent under a mountain and it blocked the sun from hitting my tent and it was very cold in the shadows. When I finally...

On Tuesday we went out to breakfast and then I wrote for awhile. Grandpa and Mary Ann have a lovely outdoor patio in the shade and quiet that is perfect for writing. It is quiet because nobody in their neighborhood has kids. I got a lot of good work done punctuated by breaks in the early afternoon for...

Grandpa and Mary Ann took me up to Bogus Basin, Boise's nearby ski resort. Only 16 miles from Boise, the lifts are kept busy during most of the year. Unfortunately, the snow had melted in the weeks before I arrived, and the lifts were closed. Still, it's pretty neat to have nice ski slopes so...

I went to Boise, Idaho to visit my grandfather and his wife, Mary Ann. For most of my life he'd lived in western Washington close to the rest of his family, but last year he moved to Boise. Grandpa and Mary Ann take care of their guests. Here is a run-down of what I had to eat in Boise: Saturday...

I woke up late at the campsite. I wanted to try out my new pancake cooking method, which was basically to make pancakes using non-stick oil spray. It worked much better than the previous attempt . I set out of Hells Canyon East to rejoin the southern Snake River. The road cut through small hills until...

I left Spokane early Wednesday evening and the sun was already setting. I had a great time with Justin, but it was time to leave. I'm getting better at knowing when it's time to leave a place. As usual, I got a late start and made my way south down Highway 195. I'm not sure what was wrong...

I arrived in Spokane at my good friend Justin's place on Thursday night. Friday afternoon we drove to Northern Idaho to camp at Priest Lake for the weekend. Priest Lake is a huge 19-mile-long (31 km) lake in the northwest corner of Idaho. Justin and I grew up together. He is the most outdoorsy guy...