With coffee in hand we headed east on highway 86 toward the Snake River. What beautiful country. Mostly ranches, with lots of cattle and hay. Not much in the way of towns out there. Richland appeared after 42 miles, followed by Halfway 13 miles later. We took a few minutes to drive around halfway, population 285, and agreed it was one of the nicest little towns we had seen in a long time. No, we don't want to move.
Expecting something to see at the Snake River, we were disappointed. As advertised there was a river, which we drove across just to touch base with Idaho. Oxbow Dam proved to be a non-starter. Putting our disappointment aside we backtracked eight miles to National Forest Development Road 39 and headed northwest to Joseph.
NFD 39 has two digits and thus is paved. However paved does not mean a quick drive. The first 48 miles took nearly two hours. Yes, it is a winding road. Yes, there are some pretty serious drop offs. Yes, the potholes world class. But, there is the scenery. The drive is through the Hell's Canyon National Recreation Park, with Hell's Canyon being the canyon carved by the Snake River. At 7,993 feet, it is the deepest river gorge in North America. It's a slow drive, but well worth the time.
Once in Joseph we headed for the Embers Brew House to split a sandwich and sample a couple of their finest. Then a walk around town, ending with a visit to the Valley Bronze showroom. For some reason the area around Joseph holds a number of foundries, which cast bronze for many well known artists. We first heard about this when visiting galleries in Santa Fe and we'll try to take a tour of Valley Bronze's foundry before returning home. I need to learn more about the lost wax process.
We passed on dinner tonight, settling for a little smoked salmon, cheese and adult beverage. Still working on plans for tomorrow. 183 miles today.
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