We spent our first night of vacation in a rustic wooden cottage at Billingsley Creek Lodge and Retreat. Our cottage sat right on the edge of spring-fed Billingsley Creek.
The lodge has beautiful gardens:
A lovely koi pond:
And a couple of resident muskrats:
The next morning we were off to Malad Gorge at Thousand Springs State Park.
The Malad River crashes down stair step falls, then cuts through a beautiful 250-foot gorge on its way to the Snake River, two and a half miles downstream.
Most of the history at this park is on the geologic scale. The cracks and folds of rock along the canyon cliffs record the movements of earth, lava and water.
Our last stop before heading back to Boise was Bruneau Dunes State Park.
The park is the site of North America’s highest single-structured sand dune, which is about 470 feet high.
Don and I both agreed that the landscape at Bruneau dunes was simply surreal. This olive tree standing in front of the dunes is my favorite photo from our time in Idaho.
This is my favorite version:
Which one do you like best?
TOMORROW:
- The Idaho State Capitol
Morning Bray Farm 
September 3, 2012 at 4:35 am
Hi Justina!
I´d like best to be there in person 🙂
Great photos from awesome landscapes.
Liebe Grüße,
Pia
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September 3, 2012 at 5:25 am
Beautiful images, thanks for sharing your vacation! I think I like the first one also.
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September 3, 2012 at 5:49 am
I like the first one… the original… lovely post…
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September 3, 2012 at 6:05 am
I like the first of the four “olive tree/sand dune” photos best. The other three make me feel bleak and scared . . . nightmarish.
The scale of things in the west boggles my mind. It’s certainly far different from anything I know in NYS!
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September 3, 2012 at 6:50 am
I can’t wait to get back to that area of the country. This year we just drove through on I-84, heading to McCall. Next year, we’ll plan many stops – you are helping me create my itinerary!
I actually like the first picture best. The blue is so brilliant. I think it would be cool to frame all four pictures together!
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September 3, 2012 at 8:11 am
Beautiful – I think I like the first one best, though I like the way the sand creates a sepia haze in the second one, and the starkness of the third and fourth ones. I agree that framing all four, side by side, would be quite stunning.
I love the one of the flowers, as well.
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September 3, 2012 at 10:13 am
What a lovely vacation! I just looked at both posts – you saw some incredible pieces of our earth. As for the olive tree, I also like the original. The sky is amazingly blue and really sets off the tree. On to Boise – I was there and in the surrounding area with husband, baby, German Shepherd and tent camper in 1972, but we didn’t research the area before going. Never saw the magnificent gorge and rock formations at Thousand Springs State Park – that would have been something!
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September 3, 2012 at 10:53 am
Sure wouldn’t want to go galloping across those plains unaware, that canyon would be a hell of a surprise.
I like the first two photos of the olive tree. The last two look a bit post-apocalyptic. I can see all 4 of them as book covers, but the novels would all be very, very different. You could start with a nice coming-of-age story, followed by a what-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger theme and end with a bleak end-of-the-world, taken over by aliens sort of thing:)
Lovely photos all around and I am learning something new about that area. It is very different then what I had pictured in my mind.
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September 3, 2012 at 11:07 am
Kris,
Funny. I thought exactly the same thing while we were there. You’d never know the gorge was there based on its surrounds. 🙂
And I love your very creative ideas for novels/book covers. 😀
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September 3, 2012 at 3:44 pm
What startling, dramatic landscapes. I’d love to spend some time sitting and listening to that creek. I think I also prefer the original dune photo. That is a great image, no matter how you tint it.
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September 4, 2012 at 8:52 am
I like the first one also. I dream of that blue sky.
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September 4, 2012 at 10:52 am
WOW beautiful! Another destination on my travel list. Looks like a great place to relax and enjoy more of creation the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Blessings – Patty
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September 5, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Stunning pics!! 🙂 The first few look like paintings!
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September 5, 2012 at 4:09 pm
You captured a beaver on film?! That’s awesome. What a cutie. I really like the first colourized image of the tree and the second sepia one is also nice. The composition is also very good.
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