Through the Mountains and Into Idaho

 We left a cold Helena Thursday morning and jumped on Highway 12 to continue west.  We passed through Missoula and then entered Idaho for a long 200-mile two-lane scenic drive through the Rocky Mountains.  U.S. 12 basically followed the beautiful Clearwater River after we hit the peak and kept Bill alert at the wheel for about three hours straight!

Here is an example of what the Clearwater River looked like as we followed it down the western edge of the mountains in Idaho.  We did see a few wading fishermen and further down stream we also noticed a couple of drift boats.

In early afternoon we were getting hungry and stumbled across this "Ryan's Wilderness Inn" in the middle of nowhere.  We pulled in.

It was a two-person show and the food was nothing to brag about but the wall decor was impressive.

We thought the animal mountings were very-well done and unusual.  Note the bee hives above hanging from the caribou antlers.

We had never seen a cougar pelt like this.

By about 4:00 PM we came down to the town of Lewiston, Idaho.  We lined up a rental car for tomorrow and booked a room at the Hampton Inn.  The great weather seems to be following us out west and it was a sunny 70 degrees at sunset.

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