Rocks, Water, and Hot Water

Morning Coffee and Kisses

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2018

Today was a good day-- we really enjoyed ourselves! We started the day slowly, doing a few housekeeping chores. Joe fixed a cabinet and a couple of other things, while I went through a bunch of tourist materials and drew up an itinerary for the day. [Note: I am having major photo problems still-- the photos of Balanced Rock etc. will have to be loaded later, and none of the others are in the right place.]

We first headed east toward Buhl, where we stopped for ice cream. Yes, it WAS early (11:11, as a matter of fact!) but the ice cream store just HAPPENED to be the first thing on our list that we came to! So I had my elevensies-- a unique flavor called Asphalt Ruts--Concrete--Cracks. It was apparently the “winning flavor” in some kind of contest, with the Rotary Club being the organization to submit it. It was chocolate and caramel and heath bar pieces and some other stuff I can’t even remember, and it was GOOD. The store was all home-made ice cream and other dairy products-- milk, half-and-half, and cheeses, made from their own dairy cows. It was quite cute, although we didn’t think the lady who helped us was particularly friendly. Unlike everyone else we’ve met in Idaho, who have been lovely.

Our first view of Shoshone Falls

From there we found a public dump site at the Chamber of Commerce (our campground didn’t have one) and we did that chore too. Then we headed to Balanced Rock. It was a 17 mile trek which we had to reverse exactly to return, but it was worth it. We were driving along a landscape which looked very midwestern--hay and corn fields, and flat! And then in an instant, it all changed, and we were in between craggy rock formations, which grew higher on either side of us. We reached Balanced Rock Park, which was at the bottom of a ravine, only maybe 100 feet wide, 1/3 of which was taken up by a small stream going through the valley. A mile past that was Balanced Rock itself, and we WERE quite impressed-- it just looks like it ought to fall down! We looked at it for about 10 minutes or so, and then turned around to come back, only to realize that we were behind some kind of farm truck which took up the entire two-lane width of the road, and was traveling at about 5 miles/hour. We decided to stop at Balanced Rock Park and eat some lunch, to give the truck time to get out of our way.

Shoshone Falls

After lunch, we headed east again; our destination was the town of Twin Falls and the Shoshone Falls which are a feature of the town. I read that they were often called “The Niagara of the West.” Well, having seen the REAL Niagara, I am always a bit sceptical about this kind of praise. But when we got to the park, we were genuinely wowed! The falls are GORGEOUS-- not as big as Niagara, to be sure, but in some ways they are prettier. They divide around a small island, and then split into a dozen or so individual falls cascading into the Snake River (as I said, that river is EVERYWHERE.) The park was very pretty-- we parked the RV and then walked down to the observation decks for the falls. On the way into the park, and walking, we noted a number of other small rivulets cascading down toward the river inside the park (which was on the side of a rather steep hill-- driving in and out was a little scary in places!) So we probably spent about an hour at the park-- I went down to the lowest observation, leaving Joe and Cassie to hang out on the grass (the steps were metal and Cassie wouldn’t have gone down them.) Then we bought a Cliff Bar and went back up the hill to the RV.

Cliff Bar Factory

Why a Cliff Bar? Because as we drove toward the park, suddenly a large pinkish building with the design of a mountain showed up, and just as Joey said, “Look at that building, it’s a mountain!”, I said, “It’s the Cliff Bar company!” and sure enough, that’s exactly what it was. We didn’t know Cliff Bars were baked in Twin Falls. But of course, we didn’t know ANYTHING about Twin Falls, least of all that there was this spectacular waterfall there! We decided not to go look at the place where Evel Knievel tried to jump his motorcycle over the Snake River-- but that’s there, too.
At that point, we realized it was getting a little bit late, and we really wanted to go to Lava Hot springs. We had been there 7 years ago, and it was just a wonderful experience. So with me driving, we got back on the interstate and started doing some serious traveling. We did stop briefly at a Walmart because we needed bread and milk (i didn’t buy milk at Cloverleaf Creamery in the morning because the milk all came in *glass bottles*! When was the last time ANY milk came in glass bottles? And I was afraid the weight of a half gallon in a glass bottle would be too heavy and would break the shelf in the door of the RV refrigerator.) We also got oil so Joey can change the oil in the RV.

I kept thinking about logistics for tonight. In 2011 we stayed at a KOA which was within walking distance of the Lava Hot Springs pools. But I knew we weren’t going to be able to walk that far now. Also, I didn’t think Joe would want to start hooking up the RV’s electric if we went to the springs first, and then to the campground. And when we looked it up, the internet said it would cost $55, which I thought was exhorbitant considering we didn’t really need them for electricity or wifi, like we used to. So as it turned out, there’s a Flying J at the exit we needed to take from I-15. So we decided to stay there for the night! $0.00, can’t beat it!

Lava Hot Springs pool

We drove into Lava Hot Springs and parked on the street by the pools, and ate leftover chicken panang for dinner. Then we packed up bags with towels, shampoo, and our swim suits, and walked down the little hill and into the pool complex. It was just as fantastic as last time, except there were far more people-- the difference between August and September yet again. However, for $5.50 each, we had a wonderful evening soaking in 105 degree pools (there are 5 pools, that go up to 112 degrees, but that’s too hot even for Joe!) The locker rooms are really large and excellent, the shower was hot and great water pressure, so for no extra charge, we had great showers too. And then we went back to Cassie, and I drove back to the Flying J (about 15 minutes down the road.) And that’s where we are tonight. It’s a little noiser than I would like, but we are both excellent sleepers, and there was no good option otherwise. We just didn’t need anything, and I knew Joe would be too relaxed to want to deal with setting us up. So this is perfect.

Tomorrow, we will head toward Utah, to Dinosaur National Monument. And after that, we will go into Colorado to meet up with our friends Ben and Miriam.