Across Idaho

We didn't end up taking many pictures of Idaho as we came across for whatever reason, but that in no way diminishes our opinion of the state. We encountered some of the nicest people in Idaho. After the "Hermiston Incident" I had a couple parts that I wanted to replace ... like the wheel hub that looked like melted cheese. As we checked store after store in Boise, unfortunately to no avail, the lengths that people would go throught to try and help us out was amazing. I guess I am used to a more general, "nope, don't got it, see you later." approach, instead, every store I went to was researching their catalogs to see if they could find it or referring me to another vendor that might. We ended up at a semi parts service center and while they did not have the parts I was looking for, they thought they had something "in the back" that might work and went looking for it. In the meantime, I swapped stories of trials and tribulations on the road with the chatty front desk guy. In the end, they didn't have what I needed, but I got to spend the day with some really nice, hard-working people that didn't help you because customer service was their business, but because they were the type of people to lend a hand to anyone that needed help.

We liked Boise. It seemed like a very active city, and lots of restaurants, hangouts and a sense of culture that develops around university towns, since this is where Boise State is located. For recreation there is a 25 mile greenbelt park along the Boise River through town or the Sawtooth mountains are less than an hour away. Our campground was right along the greenbelt and unlike other similar pathways, we saw dozens of bikers, joggers and dog-walkers all using this path. They use it, they are proud of it and they keep it well-maintained. I also have to give two thumbs up to 10 Barrel Brewing that has brewpubs in both Boise and Bend, OR. They had some great food and even better beer. I really liked their beer "Pray for Snow", which is pretty similar to one of my favorite beers of all time, Arrogant Bastard by Stone Brewing.

After leaving Boise, we took the backgroads across on highway 20. On this trip, one of our goals is to see lots of small-town America, the kinds of places you don't see from the highways, so when it makes sense, we will be trying to stick to highway 20 on our way across as much as possible. This road starts in Newport, OR and goes all the way to Boston.

While the interstate 84 through Idaho follows the Snake River, Highway 20 cuts up into the high desert and goes right by Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is an area of numerous cinder cones and barren lava beds. As a geology buff, I found the area interesting, but I wouldn't recommend a long diversion to see the area. We did pass through Atomic City and it wasn't until later with a google search that the significance became clear. Atomic City is where the very first nuclear reactor to generate power was tested. While a fraction of the size of modern reactors, it only powered four 200-watt lightbulbs. Today, Idaho National Laboritories is still located there. Supposedly they still have a couple of active nuclear reactors funded by the Department of Energy where they continue to run experiments to make nuclear power safer and more sustainable. However, with 4000 people working in this remote desert complex of thousands of acres of off-limits area behind chain-linked fence, the conspiracy theorist can't help but wonder if something more nefarious is going on out there.

We pulled into Rexburg, ID just about an hour and a half outside Yellowstone and ended up staying a couple days just to get a few preventative things checked out on the Jeep before we were truly in an area without auto mechanics. Highway 20, goes right through Yellowstone National Park, which is definitely an item to check off on the old bucket list. Consistent with our experience across all of Idaho, the campground host at Thompson's RV Campground, Connie, was one of the nicest and most talkative ladies I have ever met. For our time there, I was generally called "Honey" and Rhonda was called "Sugar". She was just one of those people that you find immediately endearing.