McCall, Idaho

Look down and you’ll be surprised at the colorful flowers that often go unnoticed under foot.

View across the Payette River valley on a beautiful fall evening.

Our camping site (a private family’s Hipcamp location) along the side of the Payette River valley offered views like this.

View from bridge over a stream in the Payette River valley just south of McCall, Idaho.

Fall colors lined the paths through Ponderosa State Park near McCall, Idaho.

Walking the trail along Payette Lake just north of McCall, Idaho, we enjoyed views like this of the mile-high lake.

The Finnish Church in the Payette Valley. My wife Elaine has Finnish roots from her maternal grandparents who came to America in the early 1900s.

In case you don’t know Finnish, the sign says “Be good and do not throw any garbage in the cemetery. Let’s keep it clean. Thanks.”

Just north of McCall, Idaho is the old Finnish cemetery full of headstones like this one of immigrants who settled this wide valley.

Purple light on the hills reflect on Cascade Lake in central Idaho on the second night of our National Park trip.