To The Mountains Of Moscow!

And so began Day 24 of our journey. After an awesome time with Jenny we were headed to our next destination, which was planned to take us a few days; Moscow, Idaho. Why go to Moscow you might ask? Well, a high school friend of mine I hadn’t seen in 20 years lived there.

From long winding roads of desert, farms, and rolling hills we drove the long road to where we decided we would land for the night; a city called Kennewick. At this point it was our hottest day yet of the adventure- and it was only around 90 degrees.

Day 25- Hi! Laura here- we thought I could chime in on this section, as I was the one who found the Secret Garden.

Going to the local libraries is one of the spots we have found to find a cool, free internet location to finish up the blog, as well as do other computer work. However, on this day, the library was having AC issues (which is ironic) and Geoff could not go inside. So we set up with a plug in, and an internet connection while I went into the seemingly normal park to solve our AC issues.

You see, in Alaska, no one needs AC in their cab, so we didn’t know we were going down to the Land of Hot with something we were really going to want. After getting information from the last mechanics, we knew what we needed. So, while Geoff typed up our travels, I sat on a cool shaded lawn and made some phone calls to local salvage yards- to no avail.

After having a couple times to reset himself, because the library had issues about every location where Geoff set up, we moved the Ohana closer to the library and turned on our solar generator and now Geoff could really get some work done.

And you know what this gave me? Time. You see, while enjoying the cool breezes, I spotted some roses in the distance and wanted to see what I could see. And oh boy, did I find a hidden gem!

This park had a “Demonstration Garden” as part of its charm. So, as I meandered my way through, I came across a vegetable garden, a children’s garden, a Japanese garden and MANY more. It just kept going. The moment I knew I needed to take Geoff through this magical place was when I came across the roses, all the roses!

I took my time, and headed back to get Geoff. After we strolled through the gardens, we both felt more refreshed. And especially after we splashed around the small water park.

Well, minus the hidden gem of the park we were not going to be missing Kennewick much- the vibe and the people felt distant and unfriendly for the most part; so we were ready to move on. To top things off we noticed somebody had hit our front bumper and drove off at some point. Fortunately it didn’t hurt anything else; so minus a future touchup with some bed liner- the other participant’s vehicle probably took a lot more damage than ours.

We were headed on to Moscow for the evening- and we continued on through lots more deserts, small mountains, and beautiful golden rolling fields of Canola. Eventually we arrived at my long distant friend Nick Fuller’s house for the night.

We spent the evening having a great time with our kindest of hosts! From checking out his happy and comfortable home, to walking his dogs. (The chunky and mischievous one is George; his father in law’s. Nick takes no responsibility for this dog’s behavior! 🤣)

We caught the most beautiful sunset at the top of the hill from his house, just in time! Then we headed to a local brewhouse and eatery and spent some more time catching up on things. After an excellent meal, and (mostly) sticking to our diet Laura got in some ski-ball in the super sweet arcade area in the back.

After a perfect evening we even got to stare up at the beautiful stars in the night sky, and be warm at the same time! That is something we never got to do in Alaska.

Day 26- The next morning I pumped out a blog post, while Laura planted some seeds that we had gotten from our neighbor Melody back home. Unfortunately, in the intense heat on our way to Moscow, a few of our flowers had not survived the trip.

Then we went to the local farmer’s market; which honestly reminded us a lot of the Homer farmer’s market.

Afterwards we were on our way for a 5.7 mile hike that Nick had been excited to take us on. It turned out to be a hot and beautiful day- and the trek ended up being an amazing one!

It had been the perfect day to catch tail on the wind of the previous perfect evening. Before we gave our deepest gratitude and said goodbye to Nick- he had given us a ton of information on the next leg of our journey; which we maximized to the fullest. From the cheapest gas, (maybe in the state?) to the elevations of the roads, to the perfect place to land for the night we appreciated his departing wisdom.

We eventually wandered our way to a spot on the Salmon River behind a small town called Riggins. We chose a spot to stop, which was our first Bureau Of Land Management area! The river was beautiful and we soaked our feet in it for awhile before settling in for the evening.

I unfortunately picked an area closer to other people than I should have- because the surroundings were pretty rowdy over the course of the night.

Other than that though it was a gorgeous spot. After dinner, when the sky had darkened, we wandered outside to marvel up at the night sky.

Did I mention how nice it is to look up at the amazing backdrop of a beautiful starry night and not be freezing to the bone? That’s right- I did; and I probably will many more times before our tales are all over. 😉

We hope you are having a wonderful time out there everyone; and hopefully you are also enjoying some starry nights until next time. 😊

Geoff Murphy 6/28/2022