There's also a paved walkway that goes for miles along the Snake River that flows through town. We would have surely ridden our bikes along this trail, but the weather was rainy and cold while we were visiting.
That kind of weather is a good opportunity to take care of business. Denisa is showing up in all the pictures today, because she just got a new haircut at a salon in Idaho Falls. It's her least favorite part of full-timing in an RV. She loves new hikes and new towns and new parks, but it is scary to face a new set of scissors for a haircut. She's sitting on one of the park benches by the river. Built by a variety of local artists, each has its own theme and style. But they are all interesting additions to downtown.
There is also a new Japanese garden along the Snake River. The pagoda style roof was painstakingly built to proper oriental architecture standards.
We also visited the giant eagle statue at the center of a round-about near the river. Denisa wanted to stop traffic to stand beside the sculpture just to provide a sense of scale to how big it was. But Mark does have limits to what he can allow. Let's just say that these are massive eagles, and we didn't cause any traffic jams taking this picture.
We even braved the cold to visit "A Taste of Downtown." It featured trendy restaurants offering samples of their food for purchase to pedestrians downtown. It was hard to eat cheesy potato skins and quinoa chili while wearing gloves, but we found a way.
On another (but equally chilly) trip to Idaho Falls, we stopped in at the Farmer's Market. We have visited markets all over the country, and this was one of Denisa's favorites. She bought plums, concord grapes, cucumbers, peaches, summer squash, corn, green beans, tomatoes, apples, cherry pie, and zucchini. We eat lots of fresh produce, and it's fun to buy it from the people that grow it. It's also nice when it's a good value. The local farmers are picking at a frenzied pace, knowing that freezing temperatures are upon us.
Mark's favorite part of the farmer's market was this pet wolf. We searched for wolves in Yellowstone, but this will be our only wolf photo. Raised from a 3-week-old pup, this full-blooded wolf is now 12 years old.
Another fun activity for cold and rainy weather is playing the piano. We stopped in at this music store when Denisa announced she needed some new music. Mark was bored, so he was taking pictures while she tried out some new books. The picture makes it look like there are two Denisas. Lucky for Mark, there is only one, but the rehearsal hall area had mirrors everywhere.
After days of wearing coats and gloves, we're ready to head further south. A 1.5-hour drive south finds us at a deserted campground at Downata Hot Springs. Even though this is a busy setting for vacationers and family reunions in the summer, the staff is breathing a sigh of relief that the crowds are gone now. We were the only RV in the campground when we arrived.
We took a walk to explore our new surroundings. From the hill above us, we can see the mountains to our east.
We are right in the middle of farm country, with a field of hay bales on one side, and a corral of calves on another.
The main draw to Downata is the hot springs and the pool complex that makes use of those warm waters. Busy on a daily basis during the summer, the pools are open only in the evening and early morning this time of the year. Denisa took advantage of the senior citizen water aerobics class that starts at 8 a.m. She didn't have a camera with her to picture the steam rolling off the warm water on a 40-degree morning. These tough seniors meet three mornings each week all year long. During the cold Idaho winters that means there will be frost in their hair by the end of the class.
Just two miles down the road is Red Rock Pass. It's hard to capture the size of this mountain fin, but the full-size electrical poles can barely be seen close to its base.
We climbed the steps to the top of a memorial to a Mormon settler that became a military hero. We normally think of Utah as Mormon country, but we see that many of the early members of the Church of Latter Day Saints settled in this part of Idaho as well.
This was a quiet and relaxing two-day stop at another campground that honors the Passport America discount. But with more cold weather in the forecast, we're continuing our faster-than-usual trek south to warmer temperatures.
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