Summer Adventures {Lost River Valley}

That girl of mine did it... she passed her driving test somehow AND the written test - good thing I taught her that a blinking red light does not mean to stop, turn around and find some other route to drive, because that question was on the test and had she missed one more...   

Anyway, this meant the girl needed something to drive.  Not that she couldn't drive my car, but I didn't want to be stranded.  We shopped around... do we get a car for her or a car for me and give her my car or a car for the husband and give me his truck and the girl my car?  What to do???  

Then we test drove cars and I found just the one I wanted... a 2013 Buick Lacrosse with 14K miles on it in black - the color I wanted the least, but... it was that or something that didn't ride like a dream!   I haven't yet managed to take a picture of it - soon.  And no, that girl of mine doesn't get to drive it.   

Like, ever.  

BUT... the next day, the husband had to drive to the dinky land of the Lost River Valley for work.  At least I think that's what it's called.  So, the new car and I tagged along while the girls headed next door to babysit their cousin.  

One of the worlds most boring drives has to be across the desert from Idaho Falls to Arco.  It's nothing but sagebrush .  I pity the hundreds of people travel this route every day to work at the INL.   Once you reach the other side though, the Lost River Valley is rather beautiful, dotted with cute little towns such as Arco, Moore, and Mackay.   

I could live there - except I'd quickly tire of that long drive to civilization, I'm afraid. 

First stop - the clinic in Mackay.  We were there all of 15 minutes, just long enough to take a picture of this here street light.  It is by far, the most interesting thing in Mackay.    

 Just what every new car needs to experience on their first road trip with me - driving through a cattle drive.  So much for that wash job the dealership had done.

 Second stop was the hospital back in Arco, at the base of number hill.

I'm not really sure what these numbers represent... graduation years or perhaps sports numbers.  The lowest number I saw was 23, and it looked like it had been painted recently, not in 1923.  But... the hill is full of numbers.

 The valley to the south of the hospital.

 Really, there wasn't much to see on our little drive, although, I know there is a LOT more to see in the Lost River Valley - besides Aunt Karen, who he ran into at the hospital.  Perhaps sometime when the husband isn't going there for work, he can take us out there to some of the beautiful country he grew up hunting on.

On the LONG drive home, the husband had to do a little work on his iPad, so he actually let me drive.  I never get (or want) to drive.  He quickly discovered one reason he likes to drive... riding is boring and he just doesn't have the attention span for it.  So he took pictures of my  new ride and pestered the driver.

Miles traveled:  215

Next up:  Windmills

Summer Adventures {Yellowstone}

Everyone around this joint has something to do.  Dad is working.  Justin is working.  Arilee has a drivers license, a car, and a boyfriend.  Ashlee and I ... have baby kittens that prefer to spend most of the day under the porch still.  

So, we decided we needed to go exploring our great state of Idaho.  There is so much to see, and I've not seen most of it since I was a child.  It's time.    

First stop on our adventures was Yellowstone National Park, which is technically mostly not in Idaho, but you drive through Idaho to get there.  Plus, the husband had to go up to Old Faithful for work, so we decided to tag along.  

West Yellowstone is only about 90 minutes to the north of me.  It's a cute little tourist town with lots of cute little shops selling just about anything you never knew you needed.  Seriously.  I never knew we needed a stuffed moose or wolf, but apparently, we did, and now we have one of each.  This is what we did while dad was visiting the clinic in West.  

The drive from West to Madison Junction was the worst part.   We drove an average of 20 miles an hour thanks to bumper to bumper traffic, so that 16 or so mile trek took just under forever.  Luckily, there was plenty of buffalo and fisherman and stupid tourists out trying to get up close and personal with buffalo to entertain us along the way.  By the first ten minutes, we were tired of buffalo.   

Once we got past the junction, traffic resumed to normal (notice the lack of traffic behind my punks).  Just past the junction are the Paint Pots.  It was nice to get out and walk around for a bit, smell the refreshing smell of sulfer and be thankful I don't live any closer than I do.  Bleck.

 Next stop was Old Faithful.   We sent the husband off to the clinic and wandered over to the visitors center.  There isn't a lot to see at Old Faithful, a few stores, the lodge, the visitors center, and loads and loads and loads of people all waiting to see Old Faithful.

 It teases and threatens to blow it's top for a good 15 minutes before it actually blows, which gave the husband and kids time to crack jokes with the neighboring people about how the show is over and maybe Obama had the geyser shut off.   But alas, Old Faithful was faithful yet again...

 We couldn't see hide nor hair of a picnic table at Old Faithful (nor did we look very hard) so we ate our sandwiches in the car before moving on down the road to West Thumb (where we found lots of picnic tables).

 The bluer the water, the hotter it is.  

 The park ranger told us that a baby elk had fallen (or been chased) into this hot pool last week.  Within an hour, it was pretty much soup and less than a week later, this was all that was left of the bones.  They were still trying to figure out how to fish them out.  They said several people had been cooked in this same pool, but not for about 90 years.

 Next stop was Lake Village where the other clinic is located.  Dad dropped us off at the local grocery store for a bottle of water and we wandered our way down the beach while he visited the clinic.

 The lake is huge.

 Arilee vandalized government property by carving her name into the railing at an overlook - along with about a million other people.

 The hotel on the lake - where I want to stay next time I'm in town and have $300 I don't know what to do with.

 Despite all the boiling hot water that runs into this lake, it was very very very cold.  Or so I'm told.

 I think the east side of the park is the most beautiful, especially without all those annoying buffalo everywhere (though we did see a few here and there, just not by the hundreds like the west side).  There were cars stopped everywhere here with their binoculars and cameras photographing this spot - we never did figure out what was out there to see.  Whatever it was... it's probably in this picture.  I just don't know where.  Or what.

 Next stop, Yellowstone Falls.  We hiked down to the lower falls overlook, which is about a 600 foot drop in 3/8 of a mile.  We got all the way down there and realized I had my telephoto lens on the camera, which wasn't good for taking pictures of a huge waterfall located about 20 feet from where you were standing but needed for the upper falls off in the distance.  

 The lower falls from a different overlook - the place we stood was the ledge to the right of the falls (in case you've never been there and have no idea what I'm talking about).  I think I'll skip that long hike next time and go with this shorter one.  Not to mention, looking over that waterfall from there gave me the heebie jeebies.

 The canyon - as the river runs through it...

 Last stop on our little tour was Norris Geyser Basin.  It's a good stop to leave for last as it's a short little hike, and just a few miles back up to Madison Junction.  We were far too tired to walk any further than we had to.

 Believe it or not, we were pretty tired by this point.   Arilee (who never gets car sick) was feeling yucky (thank goodness for peppermint oil) and we were all ready to be home - especially dad.  A quick stop in West Yellowstone for gas and Arby's and home we went.

Miles traveled (according to Google maps): 313
Time:  left home at 7:15 a.m.
          returned home at 8:00 p.m.
Licence plates seen:  36 different states, 4 Canadian provinces, and Argentina.

Next up:  Lost River Valley

There's something about water...

What is it? 2/3 of the earths surface is covered with the stuff? It's in our toilet. It's in our soda. It's in our body. It's everywhere. Yet, why then do we find it so darn fascinating? Probably because, even though it's everywhere, it is beautiful stuff.

Yesterday, I convinced that big bad travelling husband to take us on a joyride, something he's not particularly fond of doing, but agreed to take a day off from golf, I mean work, and cart us around. It was a beautiful expedition as we explored places the husband had never been, places the kids had never been, and places we never knew existed. Idaho does not lack for water (rivers anyway, oddly enough, this is still a desert area), and there is plenty of water features to be found within a short driving distance... I'm talking a little over an hour away!

First up... Big Springs.

This cute little place marks the beginnings of Big Springs river (I guess that's the name of it? I don't really know, now that I think about it. I just know this particular place is called Big Springs). It's a river, none the less. There is no inlet to the river, just springs that run out of the mountain in various places. Back in 1929, a man by the name of Johnny Sacks decided to buy a permit and build a summer home in one of the most beautiful spots he could find, thus there is more to see at Big Springs than just...

Seagulls... (much more amusing if it were ducks in a row)
and fish...
and cute little muscrats... which by the way, have insanely soft fur!
We brought along our old bread to feed to the fish. Most of the fish were hiding under the bridge, probably tired of hearing the seagulls sqwaking all the time. They were obnoxious. It was amusing to throw a piece of bread out and see ten birds come to life and fight over it. Once in awhile, a piece was captured by a fish, or a duck, and even a cute little muscrat came up and would steal the pieces. As it ate, it would float downstream, then swim back as fast as it could to capture another piece. Sadly, this was the only wildlife we saw... and I was hoping for a moose, at the very least!
What would a day be without some Ishee bumcheeks?

Family portrait... I'm thinking of using it in our Christmas cards...

The hike (more like a walk that a hike... does it count as a hike if it's on a paved trail?) from the river bridge to the actual cabin is very short... even Ishee made it without too much grief. This, by the way, is not the actual cabin, it's just cuter...

The actual cabin...
Meet Johnny Sacks, all 4'11" of him. Too bad he was on a pedestal, or the girl might not have felt so short.
We then had a nice little picnic at the little campground by the river. According to my local newspaper, this whole area had been closed due to some feisty bears cohabitating in the area. If it was closed, someone forgot to tell all the visitors and campers! I meant to ask the Forest Service guide tending the cabin what all the ruckus was about, but I plumb forgot. After leaving Big Springs, which was, by the way, the place my husband had never been... we headed south, taking the Mesa Falls Byway. This was the place the kids had never been. We warned the kids that every few years, there is someone who falls into the river and is never seen again, so whatever you do, don't climb over the railing or go off the path. Ishee became terrified and didn't want to get any closer than she had to. She didn't find it all that impressive, especially with all the walking her skinny little legs had to do. Can't you see the terror in her eyes?

Here we have the Upper Mesa Falls. Henry's Fork, looking south into the canyon towards the lower falls.
What would powerful waterfalls be without a powerful water fountain?

This cute little building, now I forgot, I want to say Big Falls Inn? It had the word big in it, I do know that. It was a gift shop slash museum... this is where we were able to see all the animal pelts, including the muscrat, and feel just how soft they really are. The softest by far was the muscrat and the tree squirrel.
I finally found my moose, too...
Then it was off down the street a mile to Lower Mesa Falls. Not nearly as impressive, but I'd still hate to succumb to it's wildness.

Here, unlike anywhere else that day, the wind was blowing like a bat out of hell which is why we all look so ragged and worn! A little old man from California who was up here on an Elderhostel tour asked us if we knew of any other fantastic places to visit in the area (since we are natives and obviously know where all the secret haunts are at) and offered to take our picture after we told him how clueless we were. He told us they'd just come from a place called Cave Falls. Had we been there? Nope. Had I even heard of it? Nope. He gave us directions and off we went.
First, we stopped at Warm River to get rid of the rest of the bread we didn't feed to the fish, muscrat, and seagulls at Big Springs. The fish at Warm River were less impressive, that was for sure. I recall as a kid going up there to feed the fish and seeing what seemed like hundreds of them. We saw, maybe, five fish, and they were out in the middle of the river.
Now driving from Warm Springs to Ashton, just as you come out of the forest and into the lush green acres of farmland, there is a road going off to the East. It is clearly marked with a big sign that says "Cave Falls". In all the times I've driven this road, never once have I noticed it.
What a TREAT this drive was!
These falls are actually part of Yellowstone National Park, but can't be reached (by road) from any other way. They are the widest falls in the park, not the tallest, just the widest. I couldn't even get the whole thing in one picture (the trees weren't helping, either). This river is the Falls River. Around the corner up there is where the Bechler river dumps into it. I do remember some things.
We read a pamphlet that gave us information on "day hikes" you could do to 4-5 other water falls in the area, anywhere from 3-20 miles (since when is a 20 mile hike a day hike?) away. Just don't forget your bear spray, as this area is where they like to hang out and recreate. Good to know if we ever decide to get adventurous and hike to one of the other waterfalls (as if!).
All in all, it was a fantastic day. The kids were SO well behaved. I think that was only because we made the middle child sit in the very backseat so the boy could have more leg room beings he is getting so tall and all, so she and the Ish-meister couldn't sit and bicker the whole way. Notice the rear window.
Now see the rear window? Turns out, that old dude from California failed to mention that 17 mile road to cave falls is only paved for the first 5 miles and the last mile. It's a well maintained dirt road, but it sure did a number on the husbands car! We weren't even sure we were on the right road for awhile!
Sadly, this trip made me wish I was a camper. I truly love the great outdoors and could spend more time enjoying it. Dh loves the outdoors as well... as long as there is golf involved. He did start to get the feel for non-golf related nature and has promised me that we need to do more exploring one of these days. We had to come home and find these rivers on google to see where they originated and dumped into the next one and the next, all eventually leading to what we all know as the Snake River. Water is truly fascinating, one of God's most beautiful masterpieces.

Now my question to you... did you know about Cave Falls?