McCall, ID

Tuesday, September 29

We woke up this morning at a rest area just outside of Twin Falls, Idaho. Last night’s camping adventure parked amongst the semi trucks wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was a free place to stay along the interstate. As soon as Andi and I woke up this morning, we hopped into the cab of the RV and started driving again. Tory and Aden were still in their beds as we drove.

Idaho is so beautiful. Well, not the part we were driving through along Interstate 84, but the Sawtooth Mountains to the west and that’s where we’re heading. This is our third year coming to Idaho in the fall, and we really enjoy it. Andi and I are anxiously looking forward to spending a few days or maybe a week here. The 7-day forecast looks perfect — 70’s and sunny.

Around 10 o’clock (10:10am, to be exact), we encountered some construction happening in a town called Smith’s Ferry. A construction worker stopped our vehicle and approached the driver’s side window informing Andi and I that Highway 51 was shut down for the next four hours. “What time did it shut down?” Andi asked. At 10 o’clock, the worker said. Yep, that’s right. We were 10 minutes too late passing through this part of the highway. We’d see a sign on the interstate broadcasting that Smith’s Ferry was closed from 10am-2pm, but it didn’t occur to us that Smith’s Ferry was a town and not an actual ferry. Our options now were to either turn around and head back the way we came, through Boise, and then drive the long way around to our destination in McCall, Idaho OR we could park somewhere nearby and wait until Highway 51 opened again today at 4:00pm. We decided to wait. That’s the beauty of traveling with your home. It was more convenient for us to find a spot to park, do school, have lunch and then continue our intended route than it was to waste time and gas driving around for the next four hours.

We pulled the RV into an open parking area near the river, put out the slide and made ourselves comfortable. If we had to be stranded, at least we were stranded somewhere with cell phone service! Find the good in every situation. Being stuck by a beautiful river wasn’t so bad either.

At 4:00pm, the highway opened up again and we made our way north to McCall, Idaho. McCall is a city that’s been on Andi and I’s travel bucket list for some time. We loved visiting Sand Point and Coeur d’ Alene in Northern Idaho and Stanley and Ketchum in Central Idaho as well. After hearing so many great things about McCall, we were excited to check it out for ourselves.

Our first order of business was to find a camping spot for the night. The highway closure brought us to town later than we’d expected, so we wanted to secure a place to stay tonight before we did any sightseeing. Andi said he'd read amazing reviews about a RV Resort in town — complete with a pool and a hot tub, river access, and full hook-ups — so we drove through the property to take a look. It was very nice … but staying in place that has so many amenities has a way of changing Aden and Tory’s behavior. They are less willing to be active outdoors when there is free internet access and a pool available. Bingeing on technology also affects their moods and then, frankly, we all suffer.

Another camping option in McCall is Ponderosa State Park, located on Payette Lake. Andi and I were surprised to see the state park campground had full RV hook-ups (water, electric and sewer) for $30/night. Quite a bargain! There was one last spot available, so we took it opting for nature vs. technology. Shhh… don’t tell the kids!

Once we secured a camping spot, Andi and I loaded the kids on our e-bikes and set off to check out the town. McCall is a popular tourist destination in both the winter and summer months because of its close proximity to two ski resorts and Payette Lake. Right away, Andi and I loved the town’s quaint feeling.

We biked 20 miles around McCall following the city’s bike trails. Biking is a great way to get a feeling for a place. Andi and I were impressed how friendly everyone is in McCall — neighbors waved to us from their yards as we passed by on our bikes and we received lots of welcoming smiles.

After our bike ride, we attempted to have dinner in McCall but most of the restaurants had a long wait time. Instead, we headed back to camp at Ponderosa State Park and made dinner. Andi and I enjoyed a quiet walk around the campground after sunset while the kids stayed in the RV and watched iPads.

Wednesday morning, we drove the RV into town and found a parking spot on Main Street. Andi had a few calls in the morning and went grocery shopping for us while Tory, Aden and I sat in the RV and did school. We spent the afternoon exploring McCall. It’s such a beautiful little town.

Early evening, the four of us went to one of Andi’s childhood friends house for dinner. Andi has many fond memories growing up with Ed who now resides with his family in McCall. Ed’s parents, Mark and Joan, are life-long friends with Andi’s mom & they also moved to McCall about two years ago. Ed grilled burgers and corn on the cob for dinner, and we all had a nice evening catching up on their wrap-around porch overlooking the mountains. Even though there’s a bit of an age difference between Aden, Tory, Cedar and Ember, they all played so nicely together.

Ed and Megan kindly invited us to camp at their place Wednesday night. They have full RV hook-ups beside their shed, so it worked perfectly for us to park there.

Thursday, October 1

Last night at dinner, Andi and I made plans to go for a pontoon ride on Lake Payette with Mark and Joan. The kids and I did school in the morning from from about 8:30am to 10:00am and then met our friends at the boat landing in town. Fortunately, Mark and Joan babysit for their grandkids on Thursday, so Cedar and Ember were along for the ride. Aden was so excited to see Cedar again, it was the first thing he asked about this morning.

Who would have guessed October 1 would have been such a beautiful day for a boat ride? The weather was perfect today in McCall — 75 and sunny. The lake was gorgeous, too. Not another boat out on the water when we left from the dock around 11:00am.

Mark did a great job telling us all about the lake, the landscape and the area of McCall. It’s intriguing to be on a beautiful clear lake surrounded by mountains. After a cruise around the lake, we made our way to a rock island. Andi assisted Mark in docking and anchoring the boat to shore, then we let the kids off the pontoon to explore.

Payette Lake is a cold, deep lake which was great for the kids because the rocks weren’t slippery at all. All four of them had a blast adventuring and climbing around. Inevitably, 3/4 of the kids were wet after playing around on the island so the grown-ups decided to call them back to the pontoon for lunch. Andi prepared a big spread of “snack lunch” for us — deli meat, cheese, meat sticks, cucumbers, hummus and Hawaiian dinner rolls — and Joan contributed pasta salad, nuts and drinks.

We said good-bye to Mark, Joan, Cedar and Ember around 2:00pm and made our way back to the RV. Our family needed to walk a few miles to stay on pace with our weekly hiking goal of 12 miles per week, so Andi and I decided to go back to Ponderosa State Park before we left town to hit the trails there.

Ponderosa State Park is a beautiful park with lakeshore on a large portion of Payette Lake. We camped there Tuesday night, but there was still much more to see. Andi selected the Lily Marsh trail and the four of us set off into the woods. It was a beautiful afternoon for a hike — almost too hot when we walked in the sunshine! Temperature makes no difference to Aden though. He opted to hike in his rain boots.

After our hike, Andi, Tory, Aden and I said good-bye to McCall and drove 30 minutes south to Water’s Edge RV Park in Cascade, Idaho. We don’t typically like staying in RV Parks unless we need a reset — water refill, sewer dump and laundry. This park had great reviews and it was easy to see why — it was clean, quiet and convenient. All four of us were in desperate need of fresh clothes, so Andi and I spent the evening doing laundry and washing tennis shoes. Our shoes were covered in dust and dirty after hiking trails in Colorado, Utah, and now Idaho the past five weeks.

Tomorrow, we’re heading to the Sawtooth Mountains. Andi and I traveled there in 2017, and it remains one of our favorite trips. We’re excited to share the area with the kids.