The beauty of embracing the wandering spirit of the “everywhere and nowhere” mentality is finding unexpected adventures to places you never knew existed. Today was a perfect example of this.
Taking a rest-day in Spokane, WA, between ski excursions (more on that soon), a short drive up to Newport sounded like a fun idea. The city of Newport is approximately 50 miles north of Spokane and has a fun feature: where Highway 41 runs through town and becomes State Avenue, northbound traffic is in the state of Idaho and southbound traffic is in the state of Washington.
After driving along State Avenue in both directions and turning right into Idaho, a small sign advertising a park two miles up along the Pond Oreille River seemed like a good option for a winter walk. So, onto the snowy road for a spontaneous outing we went (“we” being me and my friend Douglas; sadly the dogs had to stay home this trip).
As soon as I saw the gate closed at the park and decided to push on up the road to see what else there was, I knew it was going to be a random adventure day. Sure enough, the hour excursion to Newport turned into a five-hour trip following the Pond Oreille River to within a mile of the Canadian Border.
Here are some highlights from the day:
Beautiful winter views along the Pond Oreilles River.
Boundary Lake, viewed from the Boundary Dam Campground
Views around Boundary Lake and Boundary Access Road.
We accidentally ended up less than a mile from the border!
Lunch-break in Metaline Falls, population under 200, the northeastern most town in Washington State, and one of the filming locations of Kevin Costner’s film The Postman.
Icy roads on the detour back through northern Idaho.
Stopping in Sandpoint, ID, for a walk at City Beach and some beaver watching.
Sometimes, the best adventures happen when you set out with no particular schedule or destination in mind.
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