Tour of the West 2: Idaho Mission and Missoula

In May, David and I took a three-week road trip from our home in Portland to Minnesota, to visit some of my relatives and tour the Great American West along the way. This post is part of a series on the highlights of our trip.

Idaho Mission

After driving through some lovely scenery in northern Idaho after Coeur d'Alene, we came upon a nice surprise - a state heritage sign indicating the presence of an "Old Mission." It was a really interesting place. Part of a state park that looks like a nice place for a picnic, the mission was founded by Belgian Jesuit missionaries and is owned by the local Native American tribe. The simple wooden church was built 1850-53 with the help of converted Native Americans and is the oldest building in Idaho.







Next to the church is the pale blue Parish House (below), which was rebuilt in 1887 after a fire destroyed the original. This is where the missionaries lived, and it includes a small chapel as well. Most of the original furnishings have been preserved and it was quite interesting to look around.





Missoula

We arrived in Missoula around 5pm and asked about a room at Goldsmith's Inn, a historic B&B recommended by my guidebook. They had a room but needed some time to get it ready, so David went next door for some ice then worked on organizing the truck while I went for a wander along the river. It was a beautiful evening and I really enjoyed my walk, which took me along the university grounds and across a bridge leading into the old downtown.


Pedestrian bridge near the B&B leading to the university side.


View from across the river - our B&B is the reddish house in the center. Nice location on the river and a good place to stay all around.







My walking loop ended up taking nearly an hour, but it was nice to get some exercise after the hours in the car. It was also an interesting test of my lungs at altitude, since Missoula sits at 3,200 feet above sea level. Fortunately I didn't notice any issues, but I was unusually thirsty by the time I got back.

Upon my return we hauled our stuff into our room, which was at the top of several creaky flights of stairs (built 1911) on the attic floor. The room was really big, with river views on one side and a balcony on the other. Then we walked downtown to look for dinner.


Downtown Missoula. The city is pleasant enough, but there isn't much to it!

There weren't many restaurant choices, but we did find a place that had some of the most delicious frozen yogurt we've ever had. It's called Moxiberry and its frozen yogurt really tastes like yogurt, with that nice sour zing. It comes in two flavors: vanilla and green tea. David had a vanilla sundae with mangoes and I had a vanilla smoothie made with mangoes and pomegranate juice. Very virtuous and delicious. Then we had a couple tacos at Taco Bell to balance out the universe.