It's nice to be traveling after Labor Day, when many popular campgrounds are less full. We are staying at a particularly nice Utah State Park on the south end of the particularly nice lake. We love the view from our camp site that is right on Bear Lake! These sites are usually booked up months in advance during the summer, but after Labor Day they become first-come-first-served sites and even go down in price. So arriving during the week gave us this lake-view full-hook-up site. This is our view out one of our motor home windows. Nice!
Mark found a well-reviewed hike in the National Forest that surrounds the lake, so we headed up Logan Pass to the Limber Pine Trail. This area gets lots of snow during the winter, and young trees can get weighted down and spend their first couple winters horizontal under the snow. So when they get big enough to grow vertical again, they have a curious horizontal section close to the ground.
They make for great spots to sit or take interesting pictures.
This is a nature trail, complete with signs that explain the nature that we are enjoying. It told us how the trees got their unusual shapes in the pictures above. The signs also told us about these unusually old limber pine trees that are found in this forest.
We finally found the tree designated as the oldest of them all. Someone isn't proof-reading the signs on the nature trail, however, because we found one sign that aged this tree as 2,560 years old. . .
and another aged it as 560 years old. It must be a female tree that doesn't want to tell her real age.
The sun was getting low in the sky as it was time to finish up our loop hike before we ran out of sunlight.
We were still up on the mountain pass when the sun sunk below the mountains here in Utah.
The next morning we spent some time enjoying Bear Lake. Usually we would be in our kayak on the lake, but we have some wind kicking up white caps.
This lake is big enough that those waves bring up the shells of tiny water creatures that live here.
Denisa used some of those shells to spell out the lake's name on the beach.
More inventive neighbors used shells to outline parts of the sand tortoise they sculpted on our beach.
But we still think that God is the best sculptor, making continuously-changing parallel curved lines of sand under the perfectly clear water of Bear Lake.
While we usually spend our days hiking and kayaking, tonight we have a date! That includes a stop at LaBeau's Drive-in in the little town of Garden City, Utah. We got in the surprisingly long line to order their "world-famous raspberry shake."
Mark took a bite before Denisa could snap a picture. But we both agree that it was world-famously-delicious! We were sad to find out that we had just missed the raspberry festival here in Garden City.
Since the line at the drive-in was longer than expected, we had to eat our raspberry shake on the run. We were on the way to the performance at the Pickleville Playhouse. This theater was built in 1977, and members of the Davis family have been writing and performing original musicals here ever since.
We got the last two tickets in a now sold-out performance that we completely enjoyed. They were even live-streaming it to paid subscribers, as this theatre has quite a following. It was even more fun because we were sitting beside the parents of one of the lead actors. Mom and Dad filled us in on the background of the theater and the cast, and the amazing family that started this little piece of fun entertainment in the Bear Lake community.
After a relaxing two nights of full-hook-up luxury, we'll be heading down the road tomorrow morning. But we can hardly bare to leave the fun at Bear Lake!
This year we have enjoyed a number of good moving-day stops. Those are the days when we are moving from one campground to another, but we find an interesting stop that is in-between. It takes some extra planning to find a parking lot big enough for our motor home with our tow car hooked to it. But it allows us to see some road-side attractions as we move down the road to our next campground. As we left Idaho Falls, we planned to make a stop at Soda Springs, Idaho. This town was built around mineral-rich warm springs that are naturally carbonated. The springs flow across this travertine platform above Main Street, turning the rocks into a golden color that looks lovely against today's cloudy blue sky.
What makes this springs unique is that it is the world's only "captive geyser." In 1937, the city fathers accidentally drilled into this mound of rock, unleashing a 100-foot geyser. Now the geyser is controlled with a valve, that releases the pressure and unleashes the geyser every hour on-the-hour. We realized that we were going to arrive just a few minutes before the 12:00 eruption. In fact, Mark was parking the motor home in the parking lot beside the geyser at 11:58. Denisa jumped out and ran to the viewing platform just as the water started rising from the geyser. You can see the motor home parked and Mark just making it to the edge.
We didn't know how long it would last, but it went into part two of the eruption as the water blew even higher into the sky. Visitors are invited to enjoy the 72-degree water that turns this area into an hourly splash pad. But none of us old retired people brought our swim suits today. Signs around the geyser told us that this warm water was once bottled as carbonated mineral water. It was so delicious that it won "best at fair" at the 1893 World's Fair in Paris.
Since Mark was on the other side of the geyser, he was taking pictures into the sun. In fact, the geyser blew so high it almost touched the sun.
While the motor home was parked, we took a walking tour around the tiny town of Soda Springs, Idaho. We found the "Dinkey Engine." It was used to haul supplies when the local dam was built in 1924. But it was trapped by rising water and left under the lake that formed. That lake was drained in 1976 so the 50-year-old dam could be repaired. That's when they found Dinkey and decided to restore him to his original grandeur.
We have to include one last picture taken at the beginning of the geyser's eruption. From this angle, the color of the golden travertine under the geyser is exactly the same color . . .
as the golden fields of wheat that are being harvested just down the road. We found another "road-side attraction" as we enjoy watching agriculture in action as we travel this country. It's hard to believe that they don't harvest wheat until September in Idaho!
They are also harvesting fruits and vegetables here. When we drove through a little town hosting a farmers' market, Mark slammed on the motor home brakes and got stopped so Denisa could do some shopping at another road-side attraction. We made a haul of goodness with more peas, Colorado peaches, cucumbers, and fresh corn. Denisa was going to buy some of the beautiful tomatoes that were priced at 3 for $1. But then she saw that a whole basket of tomatoes was only $5 and she couldn't resist that bargain. The farmer kept adding extras to her basket, and we ended up with 42 tomatoes. We see lots of fresh salsa in our future!
The next road-side attraction on this moving day was the state sign as we crossed into Utah.
That's because our campground is on the Utah side of this beautiful turquoise blue lake that we drove beside for twenty miles on this moving day. Bear Lake is quite a road-side attraction, with the Idaho/Utah state border right down the middle.
So after a good travel day, we are settled into our camping site at Utah's Bear Lake State Park. We are on the south side of the lake enjoying the first full-hook-ups in eight days. We love the view out our window of the Caribbean blue water that Bear Lake is famous for. After a long day on the road filled with interesting road-side attractions, it's good to be home!
We were already heading to Idaho Falls to get the motor home's annual maintenance done, when we found another reason to stay an extra day. The town of Blackfoot, just 30 miles away, was hosting the Eastern Idaho State Fair that week. We love a good fair, so we made the drive to check it out. We found a long list of free activities, and of course we wanted to experience all of them. First stop was the Draft Horse Hitch competition. With four horses tethered to the same wagon, it was interesting to see how the handlers reined them around the obstacles and got them lined up for final inspection.
We also saw the mule single hitch competition, and the little pony carts warming up. We swung by the grand stand for the barrel racing, and to the Western Events Arena for the Morgan horse competition. Idaho obviously loves its equine events.
But the most fun competition of the day was called "Flying Feathers Draft Horse Race." The big Clydesdales and Welch horses that usually make up the four-horse-hitch teams suddenly turned into race horses. The grand stand was packed as the announcer introduced the riders and horses for the race.
And they were off! The girl riding her big draft horse bareback left everyone in the dust. Her horse was flying with all four hooves off the ground.
You have to have a sense of humor to participate in this event, and the #6 cowboy wearing the tutu and bikini top proved that, as the other horses galloped across the finish line.
The biggest crowd of the day filled the grandstands for the 1:00 p.m. horse pulling competition. We saw this at the Calgary Stampede a couple months ago, so we felt like seasoned spectators since we already knew all the rules. A team of two draft horses are hitched to a weighted sled, and they must move it 14 feet to advance on to the next round with more weight added to the sled.
It was an interesting event to watch, and we stayed to see the middle-weight champion taking his victory lap in the shade of the grand stand.
Besides the animal competitions, we also visited the buildings displaying the best and biggest in other categories. Every state fair needs to have the biggest pumpkin--this one weighing in at 309 pounds.
The cake competition looked deliciously realistic. This set of Moby Dick books and book-ends was actually a decorated cake.
The winning wedding cake had intricate detail that was precisely perfect in every strand of frosting.
The best-in-show in the professional sugar art sculpture went to this interesting piece of art made of sugar.
Denisa loved visiting the Idaho Master Garden where they were harvesting tomatoes. They had 14 different varieties cut up into sample sizes for "The Annual Tomato Tasting Experience." For a tomato-lover like Denisa, this was awesome! She has looked longingly at those expensive heirloom tomatoes at the farmers' markets, but never paid the extra money to buy them. Today, she got to taste them all, and found out she didn't like their flavors. She much preferred the sweeter cherry tomatoes--especially the "Sweet 100s" and "Rosella."
We've never raised artichokes in our garden, so we didn't know that leaving one on the plant resulted in a purple flower?!?
We also attended two cooking shows at the state fair. One was demonstrating how to make a French Dark Chocolate Cake with Caramelized White Chocolate Ganache Frosting. The large number of syllables in the title of the dessert matched the large number of calories in each generous piece that members of the audience got to sample. Because our daughter-in-law has to eat gluten-free, we also attended the demonstration on that topic. We got good advice on things that are good replacements for wheat flour products, and we won a door prize for traveling the farthest to come to the fair.
We watched the schedule for free shows running throughout the day. We made the "Disc-connected K-9's" where rescue dogs were doing crazy things to catch those discs.
We also went to "Marcus, the funny man who does tricks." His grand finale trick was balancing on a table, on a metal pipe, on three layers of metal with wood seperaters, juggling three knives. It was pretty scary for those of us close to the front with those knives flying from such a precariously perched juggler.
Musicians filled several stages all day, and we would have liked to stay for a repeat performance of the Rock Bottom Boys, playing hillbilly rock and roll. They were excellent, but we arrived at 9:00 this morning, and it was already 7:00 in the evening. We had walked and tasted and watched our way across every building and most of the competitions and shows that the state of Idaho had to offer. It was a great fair, and we're glad that our travel schedule accidentally brought us here to enjoy it.
One of our least favorite things to do each year is take the motor home in for its annual maintenance. It's stressful and expensive and no fun. We've done this five times now, in different parts of the country: Tucson, Arizona; Gaffney, South Carolina; Missoula, Montana; Superior, Wisconsin; and now in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Each time Mark spends time reading reviews and selecting a registered Freightliner shop that is also an Oasis Service Center. That means that they are qualified to work on motor homes, as well as trucks. That led us to Idaho Falls this year. Most of the Oasis centers provide electric hookups for people like us that are living in the motor home that is coming in for service. Denisa votes Idaho Falls as her favorite Freightliner service center so far, with a clean and comfortable waiting area.
This one also had a work station area with free wifi and plug-ins for electronic devices in the waiting area--and free soft drinks too.
We didn't use it, but we're sure the truckers waiting for service appreciate the spacious and clean showers that are also provided here at the service center.
But the two things that sealed Denisa's vote for best all-time Freightliner service center was this commercial-sized washer and dryer available for customers to use for free. We've been boondocking a lot this summer, and we have to hurry to do laundry when we get to a full-hook-up campground stop. We have a small stackable washer and dryer in our motor home, and it takes two loads just to do a set of sheets. Two towels can take hours to get dry. So while waiting today, Denisa washed everything! We left here with all our clothes and linens clean in a fraction of the time it usually takes!
All those perks are nice, but how was the service? We called in advance, but we really didn't have an appointment. But they worked us in on the day that we arrived. The best news is that they did everything that needed to be done, and it was the lowest price we have ever paid for an annual check-up. We have visited shops that added lots of mystery charges and did unnecessary things, so we appreciated their honesty and good service as well. While Denisa rates the waiting area, Mark rates the service as the best we have received. That's right up there with Gaffney, South Carolina, where Freightliners are manufactured.
After a successful motor home check-up we spent the evening doing some shopping in Idaho Falls. We have visited this city two years ago, and Denisa re-read that blog to discover she got a haircut in Idaho Falls. So she went to the same place and got her hair cut again. Let's just say that the motor home maintenance was better than the hair maintenance this time. But we feel like we had a successful stop here in Idaho Falls, and hope to come back here again.
We only spent one day in Ketchum, Idaho, and then we left the mountains to head towards the southern sections of Idaho. We have been following the mountains and rivers of this state, but finally we found the crop that Idaho is best known for. It looks like it won't be long before potatoes are ready to harvest.
One minute we were admiring the rich green crops, then the next minute the view out the motor home window turned to desolate black scenery.
It does look like we have arrived in another part of the universe, but we are still in Idaho. We just arrived at our stop for the day--Craters of the Moon National Monument. We are here to celebrate all things volcanic, as this desolate black field is a result of a giant lava flow. We drove the loop road inside the national monument that allows visitors to stop at some of the park's best view points. For example, we walked out to the cinder cone fragments. These are thought to be the hardened neck of one of the many volcanoes in this park. It's hard to tell how big they are, until you see Mark standing among them in the picture below.
We got some good exercise today, including walking up this inferno cone. It was only a quarter mile to the top, but it felt steep.
From up there, we could see the black lava fields that surround us for many miles.
We also walked to the top of this spatter cone. This is a miniature volcano, formed when blobs of molten lava were lobbed into the air. These cones were formed over 2,000 years ago.
As we walked in different parts of the park, we see that we have once again wandered into more of God's wonders. How else can you explain this lava that hardened into these rope-like structures?
Before today, we thought that all lava was black. But in several areas of the park we found blue lava. A stop back at the ranger station explained that the speed of the hardening process can result in this blue crystal forming on top.
Lava is a fascinating substance that can be almost lacy in texture.
Even in this desolate blackened ground, some of the toughest plants thrive. They enjoyed a nice bloom of dwarf buckwheat flowers at Craters of the Moon this summer.
We enjoyed visiting the topographical wonders of this national monument, but Mark was most interested in wandering in the wonders underground. We have done some wild caving in other parts of the country, and Craters of the Moon has some lava tubes to explore as well. You have to figure that if the sign says, "Beware of Hazards" and "Proceed with Caution" that Mark is going in. You also have to figure that Denisa will have to follow him to keep him out of trouble.
We had to get a permit to go into the caves. That just means that we had to listen to the ranger's talk about the white nose syndrome that is decimating bat populations that live in caves like this. It's spreading across the United States at an alarming rate, and we've heard this speech before. Denisa is happy to say that we didn't see any bats today.
Some of the caves had huge openings that were as big as ball rooms.
While others were not tall enough to allow us to stand up. Mark will be wearing the bruise on the top of his head for a while from this low ceiling.
The less-visited caves have small openings that require crawling to enter.
Some of the openings are very, very small. These are the darkest and the coldest of the tunnels. If we turned off our flashlights, we could get a real feeling of total darkness, and the temperature dropped 30 degrees just inside the small opening.
The most visited cave is Indian Tunnel. It even has a ladder to help get through the over-sized opening. Collapses in the ceiling have made sky lights, so flashlights aren't even needed here. Because it's so easy, many people go through this tunnel. However, only Mark climbed to the top of the rock piles made when the ceiling collapsed.
The blue skies and the sky lights made for some interesting pictures today, as Mark scrambled to the top of another rock pile.
We wore old jeans and shirts today, knowing that hanging out in these tunnels can be dirty work. But it's the kind of work that Mark loves.
We took one more picture toward of the end of the tunnel. Visitors can exit out the way they entered, or they can walk the entire 800 feet to the end of this tunnel. You would think that the big hole would be a good place for people to exit.
But the exit point is actually through a tiny hole. You can just see Mark emerging from the exit in the middle of the picture below.
It's a 1.5-mile walk from the car and back to get to this section of the park with the best tunnels. We appreciated the paved trail through this sea of lava, because walking through its uneven and sharp surfaces can be treacherous--about as treacherous as exploring lava tubes.
We had a fun day of exploring another of God's unusual wonders above and below the ground today. Then we hooked the car back up to the motor home, and continued our trip down the road to our next destination in Idaho Falls.
