July 21st

Boohoo we had to leave the haven in the town of Cascade. The drive out was just as beautiful as the trip coming from the other direction. But wait… before we left John made us a tasty breakfast. It started out with a parfait, a layer of strawberries and layer of fruit yogurt and granola on top. Then he came out with omelets, just perfect – one filled with all the right things. I ate the whole thing.


So today we are heading to Yellowstone, we stopped in Boise to shop at a book store, I wanted to buy a kindle so bad so I could read in the tent as the screen lights up. But while we were in Boarders, I was looking at the travel information for Yellowstone, and I got to talking to this man about our trip and that we were headed there today. He said that he was so sad to inform me but if I didn't get there at 10am when the gates open I wouldn't be able to find a camping spot. We needed to sit somewhere and look things over and make a decision. So after Kate got her books we stop at a Starbucks and talked for a while about what we should do, after calculating how far we were from Yellowstone, we wouldn't even get there until 6pm. I don't want to miss out on anything. So we will drive on until 5 or 6 then set up camp closer to the park entrance.


We pulled off at 5:30 in Pocatello Idaho, very close to Idaho Falls still an hour and ½ to Yellowstone…and it's raining like crazy, looked for camping nearby because KOA has some good covered sites at times. No luck. We ended up in a hostel, right across the street from Applebee's, and it was very close to a big airport. So in the morning we pack up early and head out, we can't wait to see the buffalo, Old Faithful and the Sulfa Ponds.


After eating at Applebee's Kate and I came back to our place and were able to go for a swim at the hostel's indoor pool. As I'm writing, I'm falling asleep. Got to get up and rolling early.

July 20th 2010 Cascade, Idaho

Today was filled with excitement, we have been waiting for this day for months. We made our reservations to stay at the Dutch Oven Bed & Breakfast in Cascade Idaho. Oh wait! The drive up here through big rocky mountains, with the snake river along side the road, the 78 miles up from Boise was perfect! So beautiful to drive, we stopped and smelled the roses on our way and took a lot of pictures it was just overwhelming. We talked with people in this lazy little town called Horseshoe bend, took more pictures of steeples, barns, and a huge one lane old bridge. The little town was so cute, back in time, very old west like. Everyone sitting out in rocking chairs and enjoying the day, the river goes around the town in the shape of a hoseshoe, hence that's how it got it's name. We had such a good time on this drive singing and talking, I'm just so happy Katelynn is enjoying thia as much as I am, I remember driving across the states when I was younger with my parents and was so bored, I couldn't wait to get off the road. We arrived shortly after 12 noon and passed the B&B to take a look at the lake first. Small town....slow and very comfortable. The owner of the B&B greeted us, his name is John Warner, he is a chef. He showed us around and then we unpacked in our room, "the fishing room" it was decorated real authentic western...our room has twin beds and a rocking chair, dresser and we love it!!! John announces that dinner will be at 7pm. Katelynn and I decide to dress for dinner, and I'm glad we did because John made a formal meal and wore his chef coat and hat. We had blackened chicken with a tequila chutney sauce, fresh green beans with a little bacon and almonds, then Kate had roasted red potatoes and I had the garlic mashed, I took pictures:
Doesn't it look so yummy? It was the best, I practically licked my plate. John was so nice, he sat and talked with us as we ate, we welcomed it or I'm sure he wouldn't have, he was so polite and careful to make sure we had everything we needed. I loved his place, one of my favorite spots was on the front porch.

The whole front of the house has huge round logs, log cabin style, and a porch with chairs and tables, or chair to just sit and read or to enjoy the view of the river and mountains. This place was everything we were dreaming of, we didn't go to bed very early at all, it was too nice and we wanted to enjoy. Thank you Lord, for this experience, we will never forget.