Idaho isn't all about potatoes...

You know Idaho just isn’t about growing potatoes?

Did you know Idaho has the largest dam built in Western Hemisphere?

We recently took a trip to Orofino, ID to visit the Dworshak Dam and Reservoir.  It was truly massive and amazing to understand the reason it was built.

Apparently the river would flood every spring and Nez Perce Indians learned to live with the flood cycle. In 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition visited the Indians on their way to the Pacific Ocean. They were looking for lumber to build canoes. Other settlers came to the area, but as the years past and the flooding continued, they were unable to build a homestead.

In 1973, Congress agreed to build the dam to help with flood control, hydropower production, and natural resource management. It took 7 years and $327 million dollars to complete. The dam is a helpful resource to the Columbia-Snake River. The dam controls a drainage area of 2,500 square miles in the Clearwater Basin.

The hydropower market can yield more than $50 million in revenues annually. Some of that income is used to repay the U.S. Treasury for the construction costs.

There are three hydroelectric generators in the powerhouse, one rated 220, 000 kilowatt capacity and two with 90,000 kilowatt capacities.   

The area is a wonderful recreational source for fishing, boating, camping, swimming, and hiking.  We were not able to participate in these activities, but we will certainly return.

Along with the Dam, Orofino has the oldest Ponderosa in existence. It has been serving customers for 57 years and still going.

I hope you enjoy our adventures in Idaho. 

Well I live with snakes and lizards and other things that go bump in the night

Whew, thought I was going to have a hard attack when trying to do some simple gardening. Yup, it is definitely spring time here in Palouse. The birds are fluttering, the bees are buzzing, bunnies are hoping and well snakes are slithering.

I was talking to Rich the other night about all of the animals we had seen. I said that I hadn’t seen any rabbits yet and thought it was strange. Then the next evening, I was looking outside and saw one running up our driveway. Then I had to think what else could be out there for us to explore?  I know there are frogs in the nearby pond because I can hear them croaking at night.

While Rich is roofing the garage, I came across a baby frog just hanging out in the lean to. I thought it was strange for him to be hanging out there without any water. He was in the shade and there probably are tons of bugs for him to eat.

I knew the weather was going to be getting nicer, and thought I would begin the task of gardening and some outside landscaping. As I was just beginning to reach down to pull some weeds, something slithered away. It was very fast and blended in with the ground. My first thought was perhaps it was a salamander or lizard type creature, but then my mind went straight to a snake. I ran away screaming, but never pass up an educational experience for my kids.

I ran to grab a broom to push through the weeds to locate said animal. The boys were standing on some logs and I figured that would be a great hiding place. They slowly began to move the logs and sure enough, one snake was staring back at us. He quickly departed and as we were talking about him, he seemed to disappear again. We thought he had gone under the other logs, but he was really fast. I turned the corner and saw him just as he was going into a whole in the ground. I figured we had scared him enough and needed to be one with nature. One of my kids wanted to immediately dig him up, but I was unsure of what kind of snake it was and said we needed to leave him alone.

Rich and I figure that it if seems to be a harmless snake, it would be good to eat the bugs and mice around our property. You know the food chain? I looked up at what could it possibly be, and think it is a gopher snake. This would be right on the money because someone told us that we had gophers because of some of the holes in our yard. I do feel bad for the gophers.  In fact, I don’t recall seeing any. If there is a gopher snake present, one would guess that gophers are present as well.

I am thrilled we have this opportunity for my kids to explore and see things they would not have it we still lived in Chicago. We can’t wait to see more of Idaho!