We were on the road by 7:30 or 8 this morning. Stopped at McDonald's in Blackfoot for coffee and updated the blog. Next stop was at Shoshone Falls on the Snake River. It is called the Niagara Falls of the West and is actually 50 ft. taller.
There is a lake there too called Dierkes Lake which was named after a German man who found it in 1906. It has a beautiful area for swimming and has a life guard on duty. The falls are mostly dry at this time of year because most of it is diverted to the power plant for hydro and a lot is used to irrigate the land. Idaho has lots of farmland, but most of it is irrigated. Idaho is the 3rd largest user of fresh water in the United States. They consume 19.5 billion gallons per day! We passed one processing plant that produces half of McDonald's french fries. It is called Simplot. The falls site is also just up the canyon from where Evil Knievel tried to jump across it in 1974 in his "sky rocket". The canyon is impressively deep and wide with very black looking stone called basalt. We made our lunch there too and ate on a shady picnic table. Cute little park run by the City of Twin Falls.
We decided to make Boise our goal for today. We saw a lot of smoke in the distance and Pete thought it was a fire, which it was. A transport truck was on fire at the side of the opposite side of the road. It was hauling a load of pallets which they had managed to disconnect. The grass in the ditches was also burning as things are very dry hear. When we arrived in Boise we learned that there is a wildfire also burning in Idaho north of Boise close to the Washington State border. The wind on the last part of the drive was also incredible! We could see dark clouds forming and rain started to spit, but the wind was crazy. Tumble weeds were blowing across the highway, but hardly anyone slows down, of course. In the van we felt buffeted about and were glad to arrive in Boise. We got the last spot in Mountain View RV park and then went to find a mall. Boise is the state capital, so a large city 220,000. After that we ate at Cracker Barrel and then did some grocery shopping. Now we're back in the park and having coffee. Hope all is well with you all. Love, Pete and Angela
We had 1 1/2" of rain yesterday and thru' the night, it is fall-like conditions today and also tomorrow they say. Dad is having a blocked bowel episode again today. He has been sleeping the last hour or so, he must be on the mend again or that would not happen. Otherwise all is well. Your trip sounds awesome. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteIt's neat to read your blogs. Great pictures. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteDad is all better again! It is very cool today, about 15C with a mean north wind. Hope it has cooled a little where you are now.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that Dad recovered so quickly. We read both posts at the same time, so didn't have time to worry at all. Good to hear from you. The weather here is also unseasonably cool right now. They said at the gas station that it is usually about 100 every day, but right it is just around 70. Quite enjoyable for us.
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