You may (or may not) recall that we last left Oregon with confusion and disheartenment about where we should go next. And while we aren’t technically going to a National Park, this is an important segue on this journey.

We feel a bit like Lewis and Clark as we continue to explore the west. We have even managed to follow their same path at times, though I’m sure a lot of it has changed…what with the development of mankind and all.

The drive from Flora was one of beautiful canyon ravines and mountain slopes, gradually descending into flat, arid, yellow wasteland. Or at least that’s how it seemed with the sky thick with smoke from the massive fires in Canada. It made it impossible to distinguish much of anything other than the color yellow. I guess this is all we can expect from the next town; Lewiston Idaho.

As we drove, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the day that started this whole thing. It was a few years back, before we headed to New Zealand but after returning from sailing. We were driving out west to Colorado and chatting on the phone with a friend about life. He mentioned how he wanted to buy land out west where he could train hunting dogs and have no neighbors. We said that we felt the same. After getting off the phone, I grabbed the atlas and made a joke to Jake, “Don’t worry, I’ll find our perfect place”. Opening the large book of maps to a random page, I hadn’t even glanced up to see what state it fell. However, upon scanning for less than a few seconds, my eyes zoomed in on the bold lettering near the center of the page; Challis, Idaho.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! Jake was equally astonished to which we scanned the internet on our phone to learn all we could about Challis. The first thing that came up in our search is the Challis Hot Springs, a local Bed and Breakfast, tourist and camping attraction. And to top it off, apparently it’s for sale.

If that’s not a clear sign from the Universe, I don’t know what is?

Fast-forward to present, here we are heading to Challis, the catalyst of Operation Land Grab.

It wasn’t a straight shot, however, as Jake and I needed to resupply and take a little break from camping. We passed through Lewiston, then on to Walla Walla and Boise for some respite before venturing back into the wild. The gorgeous trees and hillsides had us feeling excitement as we neared our final destination.

Challis, as far as we could tell, had only one main street. It was late in the afternoon when we arrived, so we didn’t linger to explore, but couldn’t resist taking a photo at the historic sign. We’ll come check this out tomorrow.

Onward to Challis Hot Springs, which lay at the end of a long and rocky road, butting up to jagged rocks and lower-laying mountains. There were 20 bighorn sheep meandering along the front range and Jake and I took this as yet another really good sign.

The Hot Springs was really cute and well thought out. I was surprised how large it is and with such a diverse terrain to work with. Large expanse of camping /RV land as well as a private area for the B&B. There were several miscellaneous buildings, a barn with horses and several other beautiful facilities to enjoy. It was perfect.

That night we enjoyed lounging at our camp, with a fire and all. It was a hot day so the cool evening air was refreshing. That is until it dropped below freezing, then we wished we had some of that warmth back. Despite that, it was a great night, a full moon and two happy campers.

The next day we drove out to scope several properties in and around Challis. The first was a small 10 acre parcel, priced right and adjoining state park land. Unfortunately it was also right on the “pseudo-busy” road and thus not ideal. The second parcel was 100 acres, but completely inaccessible. We tried 3 different ways to get in but found that the combination of the large river bisecting the way and our poor Old Blue, it wasn’t going to happen.

Seems like all the good stuff is taken. After two more failed attempts, we gave it up and headed back to camp to enjoy the hot springs and relax. I could totally envision Jake and I running this place, only we’d make it even better. In our excitement, we called the local realtor to inquire about the potential of making this dream a reality. She had to do some digging, but learned that the majority of the family does want to sell, however they cannot agree to terms / price, and at this point, its a no-go. But, that could change.

Truthfully, we couldn’t afford it regardless, so maybe this is a good thing. For the moment, the dream can still be alive. Not to mention that this tiny town of Challis, Idaho is possibly a bit too rural and remote for us. I can say for sure that if we did live out here, we’d need an airplane!

Despite that, we really enjoyed ourselves in Challis. We explored the tiny town, which really didn’t have much other than a few tiny shops (closed) a hardware store (closed) and a coffee shop. The Challis Tea and Coffee House was open and surprisingly very cute with yummy food and delicious coffee. After that Jake said he could definitely live here. Not to mention that he would run for mayor of the town…it’s already named after him. 🙂

After the fun, we ventured north to Salmon, Idaho, to check out some potential properties on our way north to Montana. All 3 were beautiful, but each had some major caveat that was a dealbreaker.

That afternoon we decided to hang around Salmon and scope the town. There was only one place that we could get a room, a small, dingy motel near the highway. Despite this, it wasn’t so bad. We were given the “Raccoon Room” named for the design inside. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if an actual family of raccoons also lived in here, haha. The place was cheap and available and they had a really good $3 breakfast.

Idaho was never a real contender for us yet our visit to Challis changed that. In a strange way, that place fit us to a tee. Who’s to say where this Challis clan [points to self] will end up, but it sure would make for interesting conversation if that place actually has our name on it!