Adventures on a Senic Route

Yesterday we went sightseeing.  We decided to take the drive to the Twin Falls, Idaho area.  What an adventure the day was!!  We started out just fine and had the GPS set to get us to the town of Twin Falls.  It's a straight shot, but why not use the GPS if you have it!?

Anywhooooo... Driving along I-84, once you leave Boise it is a baren wasteland.  Nothing.  And when I say nothing... I mean NADA.  Dirt.  Sage brush.  An occasionl bird.  Yawn.  Then suddenly, out of nowhere, we come around a curve or over a hill or something like that and TA DA!  Beautiful, gorgeous landscapes just appeared.  Wonderful!  

I had seen on a map that there was a senic route there but couldn't remember what highway it was.  I saw a sign at an exit and I think we did the exit on two wheels!!  But it was the right highway. So off we went.  I noticed that Idaho doesn't use much signage to direct you to where you're headed.  "Tourist Info 1/2 mile"  Hmmmm... where in half a mile?  What building?  I'm really glad there weren't people behind me several times on the trip because my car got lots of those two-wheel corners.

We visited the National Fish Hatchery and saw some absolutely enormous white Sturgeon.  They had to be 4-6 foot long.  There were two hatchery buildings, the one we went in had to have had at least 50 tanks and each tank had 30,000 fish in it.  They were 2 weeks old, had about another 2 weeks to go in those tanks and then would be transferred outside to the big runs for about a year before they get released.    We also saw prehistoric lava flows on one side of the Snake River, and a desert looking area on the other side of the river that is fossil beds where they've found lots of evidence of ancient horses.

Next stop, a natural spring (we were in the Thousand Springs area).  Again, no signs... and the GPS is no help when you don't have the address.  So, we wandered around using the little photocopy map thing from the visitor center.  And suddenly... just like before... there it was!  TA DA!!!  Farm land and nothingness... drive down a hill and it was like we were in a totally different state.  In that area, there are springs that just come through the rocks randomly all over the place.  This one was coming out from under some rocks along side the road (you could see it pouring out) and then it joined with more springs coming out of the side of a cliff into a small river that joined with the Snake River. 

By this time we decided it was time to eat and have "vacation pie".  Mom says you can't have a vacation without pie in a small town.  It was incredible pie!!

Eventually we made it to Twin Falls.  I just knew the GPS was leading me astray.  We wanted to see the Shoshone Falls and that GPS had me going through more farm land and nothingness.  Then, once again, just when I was ready to throw the GPS out the window, there it was.  Gorgeous!!!!    The Shoshone Falls are called the "Niagara of the West."  They are 50' taller than Niagara. 

After the falls, I wanted to see the site where Evil Knevil attempted his Snake River Canyon jump in the 70's, and a neat bridge that went over the canyon.  We looked and looked for that dumb bridge and it wasn't listed in the GPS so we just drove.  Finally, again at my wits end, I pulled into a shopping area to turn around and right there, in the parking lot of this mall, were observation decks to view.... the bridge AND the jump site!!!  Then I realized the bridge was the highway that gets you from I-84 to the town of Twin Falls.  We were going to be going right over it!

The trip was amazing and fun and gorgeous and entertaining and educational and made for a great day.  "A great time was had by all."