Boise, ID

We’ve spent the last 2 days in Boise and it  has been toooo hot to do much since it is in the high 90’s.  We had an excellent lunch at the Westside Drive In that was featured on Guy Fieri’s "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives".  This is the fifth place we tried and they have all been very good. 

The next day we visited the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial.  This memorial is an educational park inspired by Anne Frank’s faith in humanity.  There is a quote wall which is 180 feet and takes you through history as you walk by and read the quotes of presidents and slaves, children and philosophers, poets and paupers, the famous and the unknown.  There is a life-size bronze statue of Anne Frank sculpted by Greg Stone.  It shows Anne as if she were pulling back an imaginary curtain and gazing out a window from the family’s attic hiding place.  This was funded largely by the students of Idaho and the names of 44 participating schools are on pavers in the area.  There is also an outline in the cement showing the size of the area Anne and the others hiding had available in the attic.  One tree on the grounds was planted by Miep Gies, the lady who bravely hid and got food for these people who were hiding in her attic, with access behind a bookcase.  It is a beautiful memorial, hopefully teaching all people the dignity this young girl had and about human rights.

Idaho – Part 2

Our new home is Eden, just outside of Twin Falls.  The rocks, high desert, mountains and the river canyons are all a part of the history of South Central Idaho.  Two dramatic geological events shaped this area.  Approximately 15 million years ago, molten lave flowed through cracks and fissures in the earth’s surface to create the many unique rock formations still visible north of the Snake River Canyon.  The basin and range topography south of the canyon also was formed by waves of lava.  Approximately 30,000 years ago, a flood of great magnitude, known as the Bonneville Flood, unleashed a torrent toward the Snake River that shaped the present day canyon. 

We drove to Shoshone Falls that is among the most spectacular of natural features along the Snake River.  At 212 feet, these falls are higher than Niagara Falls, and MUCH more beautiful.  Of all the falls we have seen, we feel these are the prettiest by far.  Somewhere we saw a perfect name for them, “Niagara Falls of the West.”



Then onto Perrine Bridge that crosses the Snake River canyon in Jerome.  The bridge, built in 1974, is 933 feet long and 496 feet above the river.  We had heard it is a popular destination for BASE jumpers from all over the world, and wouldn’t you know, Judy spotted a group of four young people getting their parachutes ready for a jump.  Wow, yesterday rock climbers, up-close-and-personal, and today B.A.S.E. jumpers!  BASE jumpers have to experience jumping from a Building, an Antenna, a Span, and the Earth.  Mike asked when they would be jumping off the bridge, and they thought in an hour, so we waited.  The leader was from California, one young lady was from Japan, the two men were from Italy and New Zealand.  Well, it took well over an hour, but we got to see the four of them plus one other jumper not in the group, go off the bridge; four of them hitting their target (the land adjacent to the water) and one hitting the water.  The one who hit the water just missed hitting a houseboat.  It was quite an exciting experience, even though it was very hot in the sun and there was no shade to be in when we took the pictures/movies. 

 





The jumper below did two backflips on his way down



Idaho

Pocatello

We’ve spent the last 9 days in Idaho.  Our destination was Pocatello, a pretty city with mountains all around to visit friends that used to live in Bakersfield.  They knew we were coming and had some friends over to their house for a bbq.  Their house is south of the city in the mountains with a fantastic view out of almost every window.  We met their two daughters who were very nice.  Sitting on their deck which is in front of the house, we saw a deer walking across the street.  This is not unusual for the area, in fact they see moose during the winter and a skunk family lives down the street.  Driving home on the dark, country road we saw a mother deer with two babies walking by the side of the road.  The temperature has been dropping into the mid 40’s at night.  The next evening we went to dinner with their dinner club which meets once a month.  It is made up of most of the same people we met at the bbq. 

On our travels here we saw higher mountains, but everything else stayed pretty much the same, crops, cattle and some horses.  

City of Rocks National Reserve

This unique geologic area became a landmark in 1843 for California bound emigrants.  A few granite pinnacles and monoliths are in excess of sixty stories tall and 2.5 billion years old.  The smooth granite faces offer exceptional rock climbing.   It has more than 700 challenging climbs that rival Yosemite National Park and make it a favorite spot among technical rock climbers worldwide. 

At one of our stops in the park we started talking with two rock-climbers as they were about to start their climb.  We asked if we could watch and take pictures of them, and they were very nice, even taking the time to explain all about their equipment, etc.  After taking many, many pictures and even a few movies, they came down and we left.  What a lesson they gave us about this sport.  They were no youngsters, both being over 50, but in good condition.  They even drove three hours from Park City, Utah to do this. 



Not just a natural wonder, City of Rocks and the nearby town of Almo are also historically significant.  Wagons headed West on the California Trail passed through what was then called Goblin City: you can still read ancient axle grease inscriptions on “Register” Rock.  Local buildings and businesses date back over 120 years to a time when the West was wilder.  Although it was quite warm, a little over 90 degrees, it was a very enjoyable day, seeing beautiful rock formations and learning about something we knew very little about.



TO BE CONTINUED AS WE WANDER  THROUGH IDAHO

Billings, MT

Our drive today started with a little fog.  For a short time we drove through some more badlands, then grasslands for cattle and horses to graze, and then it got pretty flat but still lots of corn, hay and other crops growing.  On our way to Billings we made a stop to visit Pompeys Pillar, which is a massive sandstone outcrop that rises 150 feet from a two-acre base on the banks of the Yellowstone River.  The Pillar and about 50 surrounding acres became a national monument in January of 2001.  It is where William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) left his signature on the sandstone formation on July 25^th, 1806 on his return trip from the Pacific coast.  This is the only physical evidence ‘on site’ of the expedition.  In 1863 the leader of a gold prospecting party was the first to write down that he saw Clark’s signature.  In 1882 the Northern Pacific Railroad had an iron grating placed over the signature to protect it.  In 1954 the grating was replaced with the present brass and glass case.  Clark climbed the rock and from its top had an extensive view in every direction, seeing immense herds of buffalo, elk and wolves.  He named the formation Pompy’s Tower, after the son of Charbonneau and Sacagawea, Jean Baptiste.  The boy had been born 17 months earlier at Fort Mandan.  Clark had given the boy the nickname, “Pomp” which mean “little chief” in Shoshoni.  It was renamed Pompeys Pillar in 1814 when the journals of Lewis and Clark were published.  We climbed 100 steps to see the original signature.  There was a replica in the visitor’s center for those who couldn’t climb the boardwalk. 

The next day we visited Pictograph Cave State Park.  After stopping in the visitor’s center we headed to the trail.  The area and its caves, or rock overhangs, once were the living quarters of prehistoric hunters and gatherers.  The lush and fertile valley of the Yellowstone River was a travel corridor for ancient cultures, just as it is today.  The southerly exposure of the caves provided shelter from the weather and effectively caught afternoon warmth from the sun.  Here was the utopia of all campsites…..abundant food, plenty of water, and excellent shelter. 

The cave was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1964.  The State Parks Division took over in 1969.  Caves were formed by erosion, the process of weathering by wind, water and temperature around large boulder-like concretions.  Water runs over the drainages and helps to carve out the existing caves.  Some of the moisture seeps under the overhang, through cracks or rock layers, and gradually erodes the sandstone at the rear of the cave.  The cave size increases over time.

Pictographs are painted images.  Pigments used for paint included berry and plant juices, charcoal and earth pigments.  Most were painted in red or black.  They differ from petroglyphs, which are carved or pecked into the rock surface.  Together they are referred to as rock art.  Not only were the caves used as living places, but the protected rock walls were also used to record meaningful events and spiritual topics.