Idaho has become one of my favorite places despite the limited time spent in her interior. My last trip was spent further south, hiking and kayaking through Ketchum and Sun Valley, Craters of the Moon and the Sawtooth Mountain Range.
From Missoula, we headed north and west for a spectacular view all the way to the Idaho Panhandle. It’s an alluring area that is tipped northward towards Canada, speckled with resorts and lakes. I had heard about Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint for years so didn’t want to give the area a miss this trip.
Sixty lakes lie within 60 miles of Coeur d’Alene, including Hayden, Priest and Pend Oreille, where we discovered green lilies and peaceful necks and heard nothing but the sound of birds.
Separate from its beauty, the Panhandle has a reputation as a base for neo-Nazi, white supremacist groups. Luckily, we didn’t encounter any; instead we found a few wine enthusiasts and spent the late afternoon tasting wines from Oregon and Washington vineyards in a funky bistro painted in vivid yellows and greens.
After a couple of days of lazy drives, we headed north to Spokane, Washington, the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis. After the Panhandle and the serene days and nights on lakeside towns, I longed to get back to the water and lush greenery, so we made our way south to the Columbia river which lines both Washington and Oregon’s borders pretty much all the way to Portland.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
