The thirty miles of US-95 between Lewiston and
MOSCOW
wind through the beautiful rolling hillsides of the fertile Palouse Valley - a patchwork of green lentils, bright yellow rape, soft white wheat and (100ft-thick) black topsoil. Roadside red barns and farmhouses complete a marvelous rural picture.
With ten thousand year-round residents and a similar number of
University of Idaho
students, Moscow is a friendly, culturally rich town that makes a good overnight stop. Bookstores, galleries, bars and sidewalk cafés line up along tree-shaded, part-pedestrianized
Main Street
, the only shopping thoroughfare. Theater, music and avant-garde cinema are on offer throughout the year, while summer sees a sprinkling of big-budget arts festivals.
The town's name might raise a few eyebrows, but it's pretty ordinary compared to the first settlers' choice of Hog Heaven. A proposal to rename it Paradise was seen as a trifle over-the-top; the present title comes from one early resident's hometown in Pennsylvania
