No Penitentiary Can Hold Me

After a couple of days of going non-stop, I think we may have pushed it too far. Jess crashed after dinner and now I've got to recap the day before I pass out.

Our original plan was to not do much today except for driving to the middle of nowhere Oregon. However, since we did stuff in Sun Valley last night, it didn't make sense to drive 2 hours out of our way just to take in a few extra mountain views. Jess had found a pamphlet for the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and since they had passport cancellations, we decided to do that on the way out to Oregon since it was kind of on the way. After putting it into Google Maps, we drive for 90 minutes only to find...the Oregon Trail? No Visitor Center (that was about 15 minutes away in town) and while it mentions possibly seeing horse fossils and there were pretty views of the Snake River, there wasn't much information. It did turn out that the Oregon Trail (and the Emigrant Trail) ran right near or under the road to the top of the ridge.

Apparently there are wagon ruts marked with white stakes and they ask that you don't walk on them so they can be preserved. That wasn't a problem because we didn't see any of them. We did drive up to the where you can hike the trails but things weren't clearly marked and it wasn't that interesting. On the plus side, it was neat seeing where the Oregon Trail in one of the more difficult sections and the scenery was nice. We also saw a lizard so that was fun.

We did make a brief stop at the Visitor Center (which was done relatively well) before getting back on the road. Since we had time, Jess looked for things to do around Boise and she found the Old Idaho State Penitentiary. This is one of only four territorial prisons left in the US and it was in operation until 1973. You can still go inside many of the buildings (excluding the ones they burned down in riots in 1973) including the original jail cells and the death row facility, complete with gallows. They only ever executed one person there before moving the facilities to the newer prison. The prison couldn't hold me though as I easily escaped. Perhaps locking the front door would have helped the prison lasting past the early 70's.

Once we were on the lam, it was another few hours until we got to our destination for the evening. Once you get into Oregon, there's basically nothing but curvy highways through mountains and next to creeks. There's probably a 60+ mile stretch where there is literally nothing besides the road. The views were nice though and reminded me of some of the areas of Montana we really liked. We finally got to our hotel, grabbed dinner and turned in for the night. We did decide to spend more time in Oregon so we rearranged some plans to give us more time to see all the sights here.

  

As they say in Oregon, "A beaver and a duck will always bring you luck." Note: no one says this.

Idaho All Day and Loving It

Road Trip Day 2

First stop: Snake River Canyon

The Visitor Center is behind the Outback! That's something I never thought I would hear but this wonderful attraction is kinda in the middle of a huge shopping center. We watched a guy BASE jump from the bridge while practically standing in an Old Navy parking lot. If Twin Falls, Idaho ever got a NHL team I would live there.

Ryan Note: As Jess mentioned, this is right near a major shopping area. I told her about the bridge and since you can't even see the canyon below until you get right near it, she didn't know what to think as Google Maps told us we were almost there. The canyon goes down about 500 feet and has nice walking trails all around it, including areas under and across the bridge. It was formed when Lake Bonneville expanded past it's natural boundary and caused water to rapidly flow down an existing (albeit much smaller) canyon. It was flowing so fast (70 mph) and with so much water that it carved out the soft rock to what we see today.

This place is also famous for being near the location that Evel Knievel attempted to jump the canyon in a rocket motorcycle...unfortunately, it didn't go as planned as he only made it out partway before falling (slowly, thanks to the parachute) to the bottom near the river. This was the inspiration for the climatic scene in The Simpsons episode "Bart the Daredevil" which is mostly why I cared about it. The dirt ramp Evel Knievel used is still there and visible from the bridge.

Finally, as we got there there were a couple guys packing up parachutes. I thought we missed the BASE jumpers but thankfully one more went as we were standing there. The last two pictures below show them on the bridge and in the last picture you can see the blue parachute against the water. Apparently this is the only man-made structure in the US where you can BASE jump without a permit so it happens quite frequently. I'd like to say that I would try it but considering I only could walk about 50 feet out on the bridge (on the safe pedestrian walkway) before the shaking got to me and I high-tailed it out of there, I doubt I'd ever try that.

Second stop: Shoshone Falls

Only a short drive later, we got to Shoshone Falls State Park and after quite a terrifying drive down a winding road we got to a picturesque waterfall with a mist rainbow and everything.

 

Third stop: Craters of the Moon National Monument

It was a 2 hour drive to get another stamp in my National Parks and Monuments Passport! This was once again all Ryan's idea and once again it didn't disappoint. First, there was a small hike off the scenic overlook which was full of dull black lava rocks with shiny blue streaks, awesome flowering bushes and twisty trees. The second time we stopped we climbed a mountain...well, a 160 ft cinder trail up the side of what felt like a mountain and at 6000ft elevation it wasn't all that easy. The 360 degree views at the top were well worth it!

Ryan Note: I've wanted to come to Craters of the Moon for a long time. I don't know why - I think when looking for something to do in Idaho, it came up as the top attraction. Frankly, I had read some unflattering reviews of it so I was preparing to be underwhelmed. Whoever doesn't like this place doesn't know what they're talking about. We were lucky to get a cool day (about 70 degrees) - usually it's hotter this time of year and with all of the black rock around, it makes the surface temperature very hot (and unpleasant to walk on).

Some of the lava flows that created the cones and features were only a couple thousand years ago. I guess while the volcanic activity is currently dormant, it's not extinct and odds are it will erupt again within 1,000 years. There are many different lava features here so it was very interesting to see.

The highlight was the Inferno Cone, which contains a pure cinder trail up to the top. It's pretty steep - 160 ft that's between a 8 and 28 degree grade and the pictures below show views going up and down. The panoramic view at the top was incredible and worth the hike (though I will say that going back down is tougher because the rocks are so loose and it's so steep). This is such a unique place in the continental US and it was definitely worth the stop. I should have known better - the National Park Service rarely disappoints.

Fourth stop: Ketchum Cemetery

We checked into the cute little Wood River Inn and headed out looking for dinner but drove a little further to check out the place were Ernest Hemingway is buried. It's in a little cemetery with a view of the mountains and the grave is under a tree. We left a couple coins and paid our respects before heading out.

Ryan Note: Yep, Ernest Hemingway is buried here. He moved to Sun Valley late in his life because he was paranoid that the government was watching him and trying to spy on him. He was partially right, as it turned out, but the alcohol and other illnesses didn't help the situation. He killed himself in 1961 in Ketchum which is why, despite his famous connections to other places in the world, his wife buried him here.

This Country is Amazing and Beautiful

Road Trip Day 1

First stop: The Great Salt Lake

Just a short drive from our hotel, we arrived at about 9:30 AM and even though Ryan told me it would have a smell I wasn't prepared for the gag-worthy rotting odor that early. Good thing it was so pretty and interesting. Of course Ryan balanced on some precarious rocks to dip his hand in the water and had to walk around with a crusty hand until he found someplace to wash it. There was only a small visitor center at the marina and not a lot of people around, which I found odd because of how cool the place was. Once you get past the smell and crazy amount of flies it is truly a one of a kind place to see and made me even more grateful to have these opportunities to see this country's gems.

Ryan Note: I really wanted to touch the Great Salt Lake so I walked down to the water. The brine flies were everywhere but they scatter when you get near them so I thought I'd be fine. Turns out the sand/salt/minerals/whatever near the edge of the water is basically like mud that is very soft. I was just wearing sneakers and when I started to have my feet completely sink in and water fill my shoes, I jumped away. Jess did a great job capturing that moment. By the way, I did climb out on some rocks to touch the lake. It was wet and salty.

Second stop (1 1/2 hour drive): Bonneville Salt Flats

I admit I knew nothing about this until today. Ryan kept joking about driving the rental car on the salt flats and I would roll my eyes. Off the highway was a rest area and when we got out everywhere you looked was salt. It was squishy to walk on but hard enough that you didn't sink in. It felt like a combination of sand and snow - a little wet so it sticks together and kinda soft and smooth. It was shockingly bright and you really needed sunglasses. After spending some time walking along the salt we headed to the foot washer which was a couple spouts to wash all the salt from your shoes. The only other thing there was bathrooms and vending machines so we were on our way.

Ryan Note: The last picture is of me setting a new land speed record for humans. We bought a $50,000 camera just to have a shutter speed high enough to capture me in mid-run without it being blurry. Totally worth it.

Third stop (1 1/2 hours): Jackpot, Nevada 

If you really know Ryan and me you know that we can't get near Nevada without hitting some casinos. Well, Jackpot was one road with a few buildings and about 3 casinos so we picked the one with the funniest name (Cactus Pete's) and headed in to find out Chicago was performing there tonight! Even at 2:30 in the afternoon the place was packed! After hitting a tiny dumpy casino instead we lost some money and got back on the road. Alas, no jackpot in Jackpot...false advertising?

It might seem like we do a lot of driving on these trips but we find the change of scenery (and 80 mph speed limit) makes the time fly by and totally worth it. Random roadside views on highway 93 in Nevada are breathtaking.

Ryan Note: I saw a marker for a Historic Site so I almost killed us as we turned left off a highway to get to it. Turns out it was for a dam that was 8 miles away that you couldn't see from there. They set up the dam to help irrigate the dry land around there but a) it was around porous lava rock so water escaped around it and b) there's not much rainfall so the reservoir it created didn't capture a lot of water. It was built in 1910 and didn't fill up under 1984. Great job, Idaho. 

Now we are in Twin Falls, Idaho for the night. We ate dinner at a local eatery called Chili's (if you don't know Ryan I will tell you endlessly that he eats like a 4 year old and refuses to try new food or local restaurants). 

Now we're going to get some rest for another adventure day tomorrow. Can't wait to see what's next.