Hello Everyone:
I know I have not posted for awhile, but things have been really different here in Idaho. It is so hot that we really have not felt like doing much. On August 1st we got to Buffalo Meadows RV Park, Fort Hall, Idaho. We are on the Shoshone Bannock Indian Reservation at the Buffalo Meadows RV Park. It is a nice park but I guess Montana really spoiled us. A lot has happened since we left Montana. My knee has just gotten worse everyday. I use my cane some but I use crutches most of the time. When we get back to Kansas I have an appointment with the knee doctor in Pratt, thank goodness. With that said, I do still have my sense of humor. Curt and I needed to go too Walmart to get our medicines filled and get a few groceries. Chubbuck is about 13 miles from us so I hobbled to the truck (I am not so good with the crutches.) lol. But we get to Walmart and Curt being the total gentleman he is, came around and opened my door and got my crutches and off we went like two crippled turtles. You have to wear a mask so we had those in our hands. At the door, we put them on and Curt gets a cart and he tells me to get in one of the electric carts and put my crutches in the basket. Well needless to say, if you have never been in one of those….they are not easy to drive. #1 – They stop on a dime…. #2 – They have to have a lot of space to turn……#3 – My crutches didn’t fit in the basket very well. So I couldn’t figure out how to run it and Curt said turn it on…..”rolling my eyes”. I knew that….but to be honest I couldn’t find the turn on button. Curt flipped the switch….so I squeezed the handles ever so gently, I thought and Curt and another person jumped out of the way. I said over my shoulder….”Sorry” and away I went…I had to let up on the handle or run into someone, so when I let up on the handle it abruptly stopped and darn near threw me off of the thing frontwards….so I thought to myself….that is my first lesson…gently let go of the handle button. Next when you back up it beeps loudly and everyone stares…..Well, I looked around and I could not find Curt, so off I went as slow as I could, watching carefully and trying hard not to run into anyone. I finally spotted Curt and off I went and I got to him, forgot to be gentle on the stopping and let go of the button and it stopped so fast my butt came up off of the seat and my crutches fell out of the basket. I know Curt was embarrassed and I said….this thing is not easy to maneuver. I said, “How come didn’t you stay with me?” He looked at me like I had 14 heads and he said, “I didn’t want to get run over.” So with that statement I pushed on the button and was going to get my stuff and when I tried to turn the corner, I ran into the side rack and knocked some things over and it made a loud sound….Curt just ignored me…hahahaha….I picked up what fell and I drove off. By the time, I had all my things in my basket, I was starting to be a pretty good buggy driver. lol lol
So we return back to RV Park and as I said earlier, it is a nice park. It has a picnic area, a laundry, bathhouse, and trees. The sights are just really tight for larger rigs. So we have to park the truck across the way because the trailer and truck won’t fit in the space. This is a first for us, but it is fine.
On the 11th, we took a day trip to Craters of the Moon. It was really quite amazing. Neither one of us expected what we saw. I really didn’t know what to expect but Curt, the history buff, wasn’t surprised at all, but he sure was intriqued. Another funny, Tania always has said, “Curt knows crap, that no one else cares about.” lol lol When he says some statistic, off the wall something, Tania use to say “I suppose you learned that on the history channel.” He always gets a kick out of her. Okay, got off track there…….back to the Craters of the Moon. So we get there and as you drive up you see all these shards of lava rock everywhere. It is really pretty cool.
Then we came upon these smooth rocks and they are call Lava Cascades. The wall of rock below once held back molten lake of lava. When the lava leaked through cracks in this natural dam, fiery rivers of lava flowed across the landscape to the east. As we drove south along the roadway, we saw evidence of the dramatic events that occurred there over 2,000 years ago.
As we continued driving, I saw this, kind of like a cave that the hot lava made years ago. You can’t walk into the rocks.
We kept seeing white spots all over the dark lava rock and then we saw what it was: It is called Cinder Gardens. The picture of the flower bush is what the white specks become. Summer weather brings sizzling heat and little rain. Temperatures on the black ground can reach over 150 F. Winter brings cold and snow. Strong winds blow year around.
Plants that grow on volcanic cinders triumph over adversity. They earned their winning edge by adapting to these harsh conditions.
Monkeyflowers throw magenta carpets over cinders after rain in mid-June. They grow rapidly, flowers, and wither in a few short weeks, leaving only seeds to await favorable conditions next year.
Finally we got there. We got out of the truck and started walking the paved way and we saw this. These are called Spatter cones. In the 1960’s, unrestricted access resulted in extensive damage the spatter cones, so the rehabilitation project removed all the trails, installed railings and restricted travel to paved trails. Erosion slowed, but still continues today. Spatter Cones form when blobs of molten lava was lobbed in the air during the last gasp of an eruption sequence that ended about 2,100 years ago.
As we were leaving Craters of the Moon, this was on the side of the road and I don’t know why I am so fascinated with trees and old tree stumps but I am and I thought this was really awesome so I had to share. lol
Well, we found another treasure in a cafe. We drove through Carey, Idaho and I saw this little cafe and there were lots of cars around it and so I told Curt to turn around. He did and boy were we happy we did. This was a great place to eat. It was called Grill 93. Yummy food.
After we ate, we left and to get back to where we are staying we had to go through Jerome, Idaho and boom there was this huge canyon and amazing bridge. The bridge is the Perrine Memorial Bridge and the canyon is Snake River Canyon. We drove across the bridge and we pulled over and we walked down the stairs to see it better and to take pictures. It was amazing. I was so proud of myself for standing on the edge to take pictures because I am really scared of heights. lol
Below the bridge, is people in Kayaks. They look so tiny looking down from that amazing bridge.
On August 12th, our friends, Steve Myler, from Inkom, ID and Kim Jenkins, from Malad City, ID drove here to see us. We had a great visits and lots of laughs which is mainly what we do. We all got into our pickup and drove to Pocatello to have lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill and Pub and visit some more. The food was amazing. It just never seems we have enough time to visit as much as we want. Steve was a CED in FSA and Kim is still a CED in FSA. Deseri and I met these two fun, crazy men at a CRP training we had in Idaho Falls, before Steve and I retired. Curt and I have become really good friends with Steve and Karen and Kim and Debbie. We really try to come here every year to see them.
On Friday, August 14th, we got up and got in the truck to go the Shoshone Falls, in Twin Falls, ID. Now let me say this. It was breathtaking. I honestly don’t think I have seen anything any prettier. This is a stunning masterpiece God has created. We both were in awe. The Shoshone park is beautiful too.
This water fall was on the side of the road right before we got to Shoshone Falls. Beautiful.
Again, the Snake River to the East of the Shoshone Falls. The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At 1,078 miles long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The river is located in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming. This river runs into the Pacific Ocean from the Ice Harbor Dam in Washington.
This house is overlooking the Snake River and the Shoshone Falls. I can’t imagine looking at this beautiful view every single day.
The Shoshone Falls Park is just beautiful and very well kept.
These tree stumps and roots were in the park as well. I thought they were really cool.
When we left the Shoshone Falls, we were somewhat hungry so I looked up places to eat and we decided on the Depot Grill. Again, we made an amazing pick. The food was so good and the service was fabulous. We had the best waitress and you could tell it was a very popular place for the locals, because as they would walk in, the waitresses would greet them by name and pretty much knew what they wanted to order.
Curt and his hotdogs….and me and my fried chicken. It was so so good.
As we were leaving Twin Falls we were at a stoplight and I looked over and this is what I saw in front of a bank. I have no idea what this meant but I am sure it has a meaning behind it. lol lol
Well, that is it so far. On Friday, we are going to take another big day trip and head to the Sawtooth Mountains….so stay tuned for that adventure.
Until next time.