Thursday, January 19, 2012

Idaho scenes

please enjoy these random photos from a trip I took to Idaho, USA in 2008


fog--Blanchard, Idaho



scene from the road

Huff Lake, Idaho--peat bog
not solid ground!  a floating mat on the edge of Huff Lake.  It is made of sphagnum moss and sedges resting on water. More inland, the mats are thicker and are on top of deep muck soils.  Miniature islands of peat called hummocks grow around the base of trees on the thicker mats.
picnic lunch on a beautiful lake
thimbleberry--Rubus parviflorus
A young hiker introduced us to the luscious thimbleberries.  YUM!  Careful!  Bears like them, too!  Thimbleberries are larger than raspberries and taste like raspberries, but milder and sweeter and softer.  They grow in sunny patches in mixed deciduous forests. The plants are thornless with woody stems that are two to three feet tall.

pearly everlasting--Anaphalis margaritacea
Beautiful flowers abound in the higher elevations!
shoe tree--Nordman, Idaho
I wrote about this shoe tree HERE.  I asked the question, "What is one strange thing you've seen in your travels?"  There are a few links on this blog post.

Alphabe-Thursday is a favorite meme! Come and join in the fun! You will be charmed and perhaps even enlightened! See more entries HERE. This week our letter is "I." 




photos by me ©2008

25 comments:

  1. Of course my favorite is the show tree. Beautiful pics.

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    1. The shoe tree is my favourite too! I went through Idaho in 2007 on our way to Seattle. Love the state so much! I wish we had stopped and looked around more - it reminded me a lot of Alberta :-)

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  2. One of the stangest things I have seen in my travels was not man made like this shoe tree, but a real tree in the trees of mystery in California. Stange formations!

    Love your photo posts! Your photos are always wonderful!

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  3. Beautiful photos! Can't wait to explore Idaho. That shoe tree is very strange... but it has me thinking of other strange things you could hang from a tree...

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  4. Judging my your photos I think I'd enjoy visiting there. It's amazing how different places are in this country. I've never heard of those floating mats...very interesting. Beautiful photos!

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  5. That first photo is iconic - beautiful!

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  6. Great photos. Idaho has a lot to offer, for sure. Love the shoe tree. Definitely a classic!

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  7. The mountain west is so beautiful! Great photos! {:-D

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  8. Hi, hubby and I live in Utah so we have traveled to Idaho quite a bit. Have never seen that shoe tree, darn! Gonna have to go back for that! lol! We did a road trip last Aug. and visited Moscow and Cour D'Alene. We had not been that far North before. We had a wonderful time and saw gorgeous scenery. I loved all of your photos!

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  9. First of all...thank you for showing how lovely it is here in Idaho...most people have a different idea of what it looks like here. I have never seen that particular shoe tree, but saw a similar one on a trip through Oregon....I cannot figure people out.

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  10. Beautiful pictures..I have never seen a shoe tree, very different...

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  11. Beautiful photos Margaret! I haven't seen a shoe tree before but I keep looking for the money tree! :)

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  12. this post was fab ... your photos are just so gorgeous, and the shoe tree is quite the oddity!

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  13. The shoe trees made me laugh but the fog photo kept my attention for a while--gorgeous.

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  14. So beautiful! I would move there right now if I could! My dream is to one day be surrounded by more land than people! Right now it's quite the opposite.

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  15. My husband said Idaho was beautiful and now I can whole-heartedly agree. I had never seen a "shoe tree" before in my life either. I would like to try thimbleberries and those flowers are lovely. Thank you for introducing me to so many new and wonderful things.

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  16. Absolutely fell in love with that fog shot. This part of Idaho doesn't look much different from the tiny state I live in (except we have an ocean border).

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  17. I love the fog and would happily stop for my pack-up at the picnic spot!

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  18. Beautiful photos. I love the landscapes. They remind me o how much I love Idaho

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  19. I never saw pictures of Idaho so this was very interesting to me. I always connect Idaho with Idaho potatoes. Thanks for your good wishes for our dog, Abby.

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  20. great pictures I had the oppurtunity to travel to Idaho in 2008 but ended up not going. I really wish I had. visiting from Jenn Im link #62

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  21. I grew up not far from Idaho, so these photos look like HOME. Thanks for the memories.

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  22. Your photos are gorgeous! It was so nice to visit Idaho from the comfort of my chair. I didn't have worry with hotel accommadations, tanking my vehicle up, or frequent dining out. Virtually no expense for me. Okay, I do have to pay my internet bill every month, but that goes without saying. lol. The last photo of the shoe tree is hysterically fun! There must be a story behind this, so I shall click on your other link to see what you wrote. Thanks for stopping by last week!

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  23. Wow, beautiful scenes and I love that shoe tree, lol.

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  24. Thimbleberries! I've never heard of them but they sound luscious.

    I'd love to eat some while looking at the scene you captured in your top photo!

    And that shoe tree made me smile!

    Thanks for taking us along on this little lovely little trip for the letter "I".

    A+

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Your comments make my day! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!