February 24, 2011

Family Day 2/17/11 Owyhee Mtns, Murphy, Melba, Silver City-attempt.


Today we headed south, to the Owyhee Mountains. We explored the towns of Melba, Murphy, and Dan's Ferry. We attempted to reach Silver City- but alas we must wait until the snow melts and the roads are re-opened. We also briefly explored Givens Springs- a hot springs with history. They have turned it into a swimming pool, so there wasn't really much to see besides the historical sign.
We got lunch at Dan's Ferry, a glorified gas station… lunch consisted of fig newton's, peach rings (sugar-coated candy) and m&m's. Nutritious!
Murphy was our next town 2 visit. According to Wikipedia "Murphy is an unincorporated community in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. The county seat of Owyhee County, it is one of the smallest county seats nationwide." Estimated zip code population of the Murphy area in 2009 was 623 (according to http://www.city-data.com/zips/83650.html) Murphy does have a very nice, paved landing strip. So next time you are flying over you could just land there and check it out for yourself.
With great excitement we headed up toward Silver City, I had previously read online that the road was usually closed during the winter due to poor roads and lots of snow and whatever other reasons they might have in closing the road. We passed and videoed a mule deer family reunion… very cool!! I think we got about 12 miles on our 20 mile journey, passed a "road closed ahead" sign, and then we were faced by a sign that said: "If you travel beyond this point you will be responsible for cost of search and rescue." We turned around, with a promise to return in warmer weather.
We drove through Melba on our return home. Population 439 in the 2000 census (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melba,_Idaho) Interesting sight in this fine town was the residents parking jobs….just leave your car sticking out into the street… no big deal! Funny stuff!! We backed up just so I could get a picture of this spectacle.


Welcoming sign
The beautiful Owyhee Mountains
The Owyhee mountains from a little distance.

If it sounds to good to be true...
A back roads best friend!
Alrighty then... we turned around!
Evidently parking isn't a high priority to the fine folks
of Melba, Idaho.   

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

Love the running commentary...cracked me up!

And the sign about the search and rescue cost? Like, seriously?!?!? That's a new one to me! What if they find you and you're dead? Do you still have to pay? Bahahaha....!

Brittany said...

Dixie, I just did some catch-up on your blogging. It made me so happy. I sat here and smiled all nerdy like. Miss y'all. Love you!