This article was produced in partnernship with visitidaho.org and XPDTN3.

I’m lying on my inflatable camp mattress, afloat in a pool of warmth waiting for the stars to illuminate the evening sky. Thirty miles north of McCall, Idaho, the light pollution is all but gone. And so is the audible hustle and bustle of city life. The silence is broken by my travel partner, Chris Minson, who is floating a few feet away when he stutters “…this was a very good idea.”