Fall Color & Payette Lake In McCall For Columbus Day (2020)

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Despite being in a restricted travel year due to Covid-19, I managed to requalify for A-List.  My wife and I were not afraid to fly during the pandemic.

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I got a cool cardboard model airplane from the agent at the Priority Check In Counter for A List Passengers in Sacramento.  Yes, I am a kid at heart!  LOL.

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Our direct flight to Boise was cancelled so we were routed through Las Vegas.  The Club at LAS was open for us to enjoy a nice snack and beverages.

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When we landed in Boise, I came across this prop plane.  I had to look up Nanooks.  They are the mascots of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

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Our intermediate SUV was not available so they upgraded us to this "luxury" category, Chrysler 300 AWD.

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The rental car was well equipped with a panoramic moonroof.  It was raining once we got into Boise.

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I am getting ready for date night with my wife at the Hilton Garden Inn in Boise.  That is a new jacket that I got from Brooks Brothers a few weeks prior to this trip.

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Joy and I are about to enter one of our favorite restaurants, Barbacoa, in Boise.

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The arched wine cellar at Barbacoa is super cool.  We were officially celebrating my wife's promotion to Project Manager at her government agency.

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Barbacoa not only has great food, but the ambiance is amazing!  People dress up to go to dinner in Boise also.  It is not ghetto like Sacramento.  LOL.

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We started out with grilled octopus served with chimichurri sauce.

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I got the hot rock filet which is served on a super hot rock.  The server pours a cognac sauce on top which lights on fire!

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We got the usual half tree of fried ice cream, but Joy requested a cotton candy lantern too after she saw a birthday girl got one.  The waiter was nice to bring us too.

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We enjoyed a night cap at Twin Peaks.  They had my Eagle Rare bourbon.

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We had the same beautiful waitress as the last time we came here to Twin Peaks in Boise.  She is the one with the black mask.  There is a Boise State flag off in the distance.

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We had a scenic drive up Idaho 55 to McCall the next day.  This highway goes along the Payette River.

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Upon arrival at the hotel in McCall, I felt like I was in an old hunting lodge.  LOL.

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They had wild game throphies from all the world on the walls at the hotel.

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We were upgraded to a large suite with a jacuzzi in the bedroom.

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After we left the hotel, we went into town and saw beautiful Payette Lake.  The lake reminded me of something from a movie with an alpine lake.

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I found a small sports bar to watch the Cowboys game at and monitor my fantasy football also.  They had comfortable seating there too.

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My wife explored downtown McCall, and she brought me back a sweet treat from the candy store .

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For dinner, we went to the Shore Lodge.  Idaho was cool about not enforcing any mask mandates.  They are not crazy like the "sheep" in California!

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The Shore Lodge had a nice beach area too.

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We had dinner at the Cutwater at Shore Lodge.  I am enjoying my Whistle Pig 10 with a $3 ice cube.  LOL.  Life is good!

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We started off with some mussels.

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For dinner, I got the paella.  Joy got ahi tuna.

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Their take on the pizzokie was amazing!  The ice cream was homemade!

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We started out the next morning with a trip to Starbucks so I could get my iced blonde non fat latte.

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I loved the view from the Starbucks balcony!  One can see the Trump flag in the distance too.  That was a great sight!  Idaho is Trump Country!

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We headed to Ponderosa State Park after getting coffee.

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When we came up around this bend, the views were so amazing, I left the car running and got out to take pictures!  I am not a green environmental freak so it is OK to idle the engine in my book.  LOL.

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Look at the view behind us!

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Here is another shot of that amazing view!

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I loved the fall color at Ponderosa State Park.  This is a meadow.

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We enjoyed a homestyle meal for lunch at Lardo's in McCall.

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The fall color outside our window by the table was amazing!  Idaho had full on indoor dining with no mask requirements unlike the People's Republic of California.

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If Subway has "Sandwich Artists," then the girl who made my ice cream sundae is a "sundae artist."  She had a great job with the candy corn, waffle chips, and gold glitter!

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We went to the Idaho Military Museum the next day in Boise.  This is an old MiG fighter jet. The MiG jets were made by the communist bastards in the former Soviet Union.

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This is an old artillery gun.

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I checked out the viewfinder and saw that it works!  One can see where the shell will land through it.  This was super cool!

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We enjoyed the military museum a lot!  The admission is free, but we made a donation.

    For Columbus Day during the pandemic year, Joy and I decided to fly a little closer to home.  So, we decided to go to McCall, Idaho via Boise.  When we originally booked our flights on Southwest, we had a direct flight from Sacramento to Boise, but like many of our other flights that year, Southwest cancelled the original ones and rebooked us.  We had to go through Las Vegas, but Southwest honored our original super low fares!  Joy and I were not afraid to fly during the pandemic, and we were very happy to leave the People's Republic of California as often as we could since the idiot Governor banned indoor dining, gyms, and fun in general to see how far he could control the "sheep" of California who follow these liberal idiots without thinking.  So, Joy and I being checked in automatically the day before since I got my A-List back on Southwest departed Sacramento on that Saturday before Columbus Day for Boise via Las Vegas.  We did not mind the extra flight since we had time to use the Club at LAS and have some snacks and a drink with my Priority Pass Select membership through Chase Sapphire Reserve.  Also, we just wanted to get the heck out of California!

    After arriving in Boise, we found out that our intermediate SUV was sold out so we were upgraded to an AWD "luxury" car.  I put luxury in quotes since the Chrysler 300 was adequately equipped, but I drive a $51,000 European luxury sports sedan so the Chrysler was nothing compared to that.  LOL.  Yes, I guess I am spoiled, but I am the International Man of Leisure after all!  The Chrysler 300 did have a panoramic moonroof which was nice for the scenic drives on this trip.  After checking into the Hilton Garden Inn, I got a chance to use the ellipitcal at the hotel gym.  Gyms were just opening in our area around this time again.  The idiot Governor closed them.  Unfortunately, our awesome sports club was slated to close for good in a month so we were sad about that.  California has become a third world state under the leadership of the Democrats.  OK, enough politics for now.  LOL.

    Joy and I had a great date night at one of our favorite restaurants of all time, Barbacoa, in Boise.  This place has great food, but the atmosphere is super neat!  The fine dining establishment is always packed, and we were smart to have reservations.  The crowd was very well dressed and of a higher quality than the low lifes in many parts of California.  We enjoyed some grilled octopus before my filet mignon cooked on a hot stone arrived.  I loved how the restaurant was not enforcing the mask mandates either.  Overall, we saw that most businesses did not observe the mask mandates in Idaho!  This was really cool!  We enjoyed our two desserts too.  Although we got our usual fried ice cream tree, the waiter brought Joy a cotton candy lantern which is usually reserved for a birthday girl, but since we were celebrating her recent promotion, we were like let's indulge!  After dinner, we enjoyed a night cap at Twin Peaks.  They had my Eagle Rare bourbon so I started off with a double shot with a large sphere of ice.  Since Eagle Rare has been sold out for months in many California stores, I got a second single shot prepared the same way.  Our beautiful and sweet waitress was actually our waitress back when we came here in February during our trip to Sun Valley.

    The next morning, we drove the scenic highway from Boise to McCall.  This highway follows the Payette River up the mountain.  Once we got into town, we checked in at our hotel.  The front desk lady upgraded us to a large suite with a jacuzzi which is very common for the "International Man of Leisure."  LOL.  We checked out Payette Lake.  This beautiful alpine lake reminded me of scenes from movies.  It was so peaceful with the mountains in the backgrounds that had low clouds.

    Since my Cowboys were playing, I found a sports bar to watch the game at.  This small sports bar at the local ice rink had great service.  I ordered a custom pizza, and the owner put the Cowboys game on the large TV for me.  There was a nice reclining sofa too for me to relax in.  Joy wandered around the small downtown area and even brought me a sweet treat from the candy shop!

    That night, we enjoyed dinner at the Cutwater at the Shore Lodge.  The food and service was amazing!  We had a great view of the lake too.  They had WhistlePig 10 at the bar so I started out with that great rye whiskey.  Afterwards, we ordered mussels for our appetizers.  The dessert was a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie with homemade ice cream!  Yes, Joy and I live well!  Life is short!  Enjoy it!  There is no need to be afraid of Covid-19!

    We explored Ponderosa State Park the next morning after getting my usual iced latte at Starbucks.  This Starbucks did not ask me to put on a mask!  I hope their corporate does not read this!  I was super happy!  We left a good tip for the baristas since they were not rude!  OK, here is my take on masks.  I am not a big fan of them.  My own doctor even told me that the Covid-19 particles are so small that they will pass through a cloth or paper mask.  I will wear it in a medical setting to keep the brave men and women who are fighting this virus on the front line, but I do not think it is necessary for restaurants, shopping, or travel!  Back to Ponderosa!  We loved the fall color at the views of the lake and mountains!

    After a nice lunch at a local restaurant, we went back to the candy store in town so I could get some ice cream.  The young lady created a masterpiece for my sundae with candy corn, waffle chips, and gold glitter.  Our drive back to Boise was scenic once again.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Boise near the Spectrum this time.  For dinner, we indulged in some great BBQ at Goodwood BBQ.

    The next day, we visited the Idaho Military Museum after going to an all you can eat sushi place near our hotel.  The military museum was super cool!  I loved seeing the old fighter jets up close!  They had an old Soviet MiG outside that was in great condition.  I also got to play around with the viewfinder for one of the large artillery guns inside.

    We really enjoyed McCall, and we are thinking about making it an annual trip like Sun Valley.  McCall would be great in the summer when the weather is warm enough to go in the lake.  The fall color was so beautiful!  It reminded me of my youth growing up on the east coast!  I just wanted to curl up next to a fire with a fleece blanket and watch football as I took in the views!

Last Updated:  October 16, 2020 11:34 PM
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