Mile High Marina Reminded Me

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I miss it so much. McCall, Idaho and all of it's charms. My daughter and I enjoy this little resort town so much. The weatherman was showing the marina up there on the news when he shows how clear the sky is around the area. Today it was McCall. The drive up to McCall is almost like a spiritual experience. Usually there are not many cars on the road and the way I go it is very serene. I travel over to a little farming town named Emmett so I miss the curvy, steep up hill highway at the beginning of the trip. Then travel along the Black Canyon Reservoir there to the junction at Horseshoe Bend which is about 80 miles from McCall. It takes about an hour and a half to get there. I had travelled it so many times I used to be able to do it in my mind. It has been so long since I went that I can't really do that as well any more. Hiway 55 curves along the river in the Boise and Payette National Forests. You have pristine green forest on one side of the highway and on the other is the rushing, wild water of the Payette River. About the time you have gotten used to this Smith's Ferry comes along about 2/3's of the way. We always make a stop at Cougar Mountain Lodge. Small little restaurant and what used to be a motel. I wish I had some money and I would buy the place and renovate it. We travel on up the now narrow highway and cross an old white bridge and on up into more pine trees. After Cascade we travel up a grade and more trees. A straight away for several miles with old barn remnants and swampy areas, then Donnelly and then we come into McCall. I always enjoyed it up there because it is small and usually not over run with summer vacationers. We stay in a small motel up there called Scandia Inn that is economical and located close to where we always like to hang out. Close to the Payette Lake and the little restaurant we usually go to in the evenings for dinner. We play in the water at the lake and tan in the sun. One year we were even invited out on a boat and rode around the marina a bit. We also shop and check out the old buildings and the areas around. Down by Donnelly there is a flea market and we usually visit that. It is jam packed with cool t-shirts, asian dresses, gems, crystals and other little nic nacs. Or we can turn at the junction there and go up into the mountains. There is a hot springs up there(salt and pepper) and a little grocery where you can get some homemade ice cream. Driving around the lake is something we have to do each year usually in the evenings before dinner. A lot of the cabins are so picturesque and even vintage looking. One place in particular is a must stop too. Charles Garden is a place I was introduced to many years ago. A man I met up there did sealant on the roofs of many of the cabins. He knew of this place and showed it to me. An older man who had retired up there had a little cabin and a garden outside it that encircled his cabin. Wild flowers, roses, daisies and all manner of lovely plants. He had a little pond in the middle and a bridge that crossed the ditch and you went into a bit of a forested area on the one side of his home. We would just knock on the door and let him know we were there and just walking through. He was always very nice and pleasant to us. That is a place I still like to visit even though he is gone now. It holds memories and is a positive place on this earth.