Iowa trip Sunday

Sunday.

Our route from Caldwell, Idaho to where we ended up tonight in Arco, Idaho follows the Oregon Trail or alternate branches of it. Of course we had to stop and read as many information signs as we could. Because of that we really didn’t drive very far. At this rate we should arrive in Iowa just before the first freeze. All of the road signs pointed out the difficulties that these early pioneers endured as they traveled west. The Oregon Trail travelers were brave people. I think that even the women were studs. Imagine telling your kids that you’re going to be moving and going to a new home and the only thing we have to do is walk 2,o00 miles and if they were lucky it would only take 6 months. The only dangers were blisters, cholera, Indian attacks, rainstorms, flooded rivers, no water, no food, sunburn, lightening, tornadoes, rough trails, being lost, extreme weather, long daily hikes that ended within sight of where they started, and death. 12-15 miles was a good day. There was one story of this guy that was looking for a better route and he covered 80 miles in 17 days. I think he probably just stayed on the main trail after that foray.

Just think, if they would only have had the electric power transmission towers to guide them they probably could have really cut down their travel time. The Indians had traveled trails for 1,000s of years, but as soon as the white men came they stole that land from the Native Americans. They set up a toll road and exacted a toll to all the settlers that followed. Capitalism finds its way west. The next guy that bought him out set up what we would call the first Mini Mart. Of course they didn’t call it a Mini Mart they called it a General Store. There were quite a few old decrepit building that show the changes to what we know now as progress and the Mini Mart. I guess in a 100 years or so there will be more empty building falling down beside the existing falling down buildings. Ahhh, progress.

Have you ever noticed there aren’t any nature trails at places with names like Rattlesnake Junction or Rattlesnake Canyon? In fact, there aren’t even any turnouts. Of course if there were this is one person that would drive right on by. If I ever own a ranch I’m going to called it something like ‘Rattlesnake Haven’ or maybe ‘Rattlesnake Ranch.’ They have kind of an uninviting feeling to them don’t they? Fashionable and elegant, but yet understated.

We keep seeing a lot of old rough looking guys riding Harley Davidson motorcycles. They all have long wispy beards whipping behind them with helmets that have points on the top. It makes me understand why the salesmen wouldn’t sell me a Harley the last time I went in and drooled on the bikes in the showroom. I even offered to buy one of those fake white and gray beards hanging behind the counter. They had fake pony tails too, but even I have my limits. There were about six different styles of beards. The short dark bushy ones were called “Bad Beards.” There were varying degrees of lengths and colors down to the very end. The longest and whitest were the most expensive and were called “Baddest Ass Beards.” I wonder if they throw in a beard based on how much you pay for the new Harley?

The guys riding these Harleys travel pretty light. I think they must lay out on the dirt beside their bike at the end of the day and sleep until there just short of being too stiff to stand up and get up and ride some more. We’ve never seen any of them camping overnight where we’ve camped so I’m just guessing that they just pull in behind gravel piles at night.

We pulled into Craters of the Moon National Park at about 2:00. It was really pretty cool. The guy at the entrance booth was complaining that they had already received 6 inches of rain there this year. I didn’t tell him that we were most likely responsible for bringing the rain. Speaking of weather, we’ve managed to avoid the hot searing heat of summer so far. In fact, we’ve managed to bring some of Crescent City’s weather with us. We hiked some short trails in the park and took some pictures. It’s been either wind and rainy, or rainy and windy. We’ve seen blue sky in front of us and blue sky in back of us, but it’s kind of like Moses, it’s never over the top of us, just ahead of us, or just behind us.

It’s amazing how things work out when you least expect them. After we left the park We were planning to drive to Pocatell, Idaho, a distance of about 150 miles so we called a KOA to see if they had room. They were all filled up. Just after I hung up the phone we noticed a billboard for a KOA in the town we were coming in to. It was the town of Arco, Idaho. Its claim to fame was the fact that it was the first town in America to be lit up by nuclear energy, or rather use nuclear energy to produce electricity. By the looks of the empty storefronts it didn’t really do a whole lot of good to propel the town into the 21st century. Judging by the people in town I don’t think I’d want to lay claim to that logo either.The only advantage I see is that the town doesn't need street lights. All the people walking around at night serves the light up the place pretty well.

We had dinner at a place called ‘Pickles.’ It was actually a pretty simple choice since there were only two eateries in town. Mom had deep fried pickles and thought they were pretty good. I had a Pickle Hamburger, without the pickles, and thought it was pretty average. After dinner we drove around to get a better vantage point to this hillside where evidently each year the graduating seniors paint their year onto the side of the mountain on the rocks. It was very impressive and visible from a long way off. I had to take a hike to the top of the hill just to see the view from the top. It took me about 40 minutes to walk to the top and I found why the numbers were so visible. Mountains are even bigger once you start climbing/crawling your way to the top. There was a lot of ‘mass wasting’ going on as it was pretty steep. Some of the numbers were an easy 20’ tall on a sheer rock wall. I have an idea the ones who had to paint these on lost some kind of bet, probably in a drinking game. It’s one thing to be able to do it now with climbing equipment, spray paint, and cell phones it’s another to do it in 1930. Lucky for whoever has to do it each year though, the town Medical Clinic is at the bottom of the hill.

The only things that will be left after man is gone are cell phone towers (that still don’t work) and mosquitoes.