TWIN FALLS (ID)

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THURSDAY - Today we have a relatively short travel day planned, just 90+ miles east to Twin Falls, ID.

Our travels began the same way they ended three days ago with about 25-miles of backcountry roads before we found ourselves back on I-84 East.

Since we are traveling through the Idaho backcountry,
I'd bet some of those green fields ahead of us are potatoes!

Upon our arrival in Twin Falls we have a very overdue visit planned at the only Blue Beacon Truck Wash in the entire state of Idaho. Our mission is to get THE POD and ROVER all properly cleaned and shined.

It's been 5-months since the last time we gave them both a bath and it's beginning to show. 😎

I'd say it's well past time to get all that Alaskan and Canadian dirt and grime removed.

After receiving our much needed wash we headed back over the Snake River Canyon into the downtown area of Twin Falls and our next campsite.

At 486' the Perrine Bridge over the Snake River Canyon
is the eighth highest bridge in the United States.

It wasn't long before we found our way to the Rock Creek RV Park and our reserved campsite. This is a small county park with only 24 sites, but at just $20 a night for water and electric it suits our needs just fine. There is a FREE municipal dump station just 1½-miles outside the park that we plan to take advantage of when we leave at the end of the weekend.

Isn't ROVER looking good, all all clean and handsome like?

And of course THE POD always looks good!

Just can't get enough of those beautiful fall colors!

Just to be fair, this photo was taken early the next morning.

FRIDAY - First thing we did this morning was go purchase fuel for ROVER before I forget and we run out while running around sightseeing today.

Next thing we did was purchase fuel for the TWO PEAS for the exact same reason. We found a little diner on Google Maps called Abracadabra's Breakfast & Bistro and decided to give it a try. We were not dissapointed!

It's a local chain with just three locations and they are all located in Southern Idaho. Don't get me wrong, I love my Waffle Houses, but these guys could put them out of business.

With everybody fueled up we had one more task to take care of before we could start our sightseeing today. A few days again I placed our first Amazon order in the last five months. The main reason for the order was to purchase a product called Happy Camper. It goes down the toilet and keeps everything flowing and smelling like it should, which is no smell at all! We were running dangerously low.

We also ordered a few more smaller items, but we needed to drive to the next town down the Interstate to pick them up at an Amazon Locker outside of a grocery store. They will only hold it there in the locker for 3-days and today was already Day #2, so I wanted to get that out of the way.

With a town name like Twin Falls, you'd think they had the most wonderful waterfall in the area, but they don't. Just outside of town is Shoshone Falls and it ranks in everyone's Top Ten Waterfalls in the United States.

Now keep in mind that for most waterfalls Spring is the prime season for viewing, after the winter snow starts to melt. That's true here at Shoshone Falls too, but we were still impressed with what we saw here today, just after the end of Summer, probably the worst time to visit a waterfall.

I'm going to upload a couple of low resolution videos you can watch on your cell phones just fine, but if you're reading the blog on a larger device I encourage you to watch the full resolution videos on our YouTube Channel by clicking on the links provided.

This is your to the YouTube video!

This is your to the YouTube video!

Next we returned to the town of Twin Falls to get a look at another waterfall in the area. I knew we made a mistake by going to view the best waterfall first, because this next one was not nearly as spectacular and we didn't spend much time at all trying to get a good photo of it.

It was different in the fact that this waterfall is viewed from below and not from above like Shoshone Falls. It has one other interesting feature and that is if you hike the 2-mile out-and-back trail you can walk behind the waterfall. Even that feature didn't inspire us.

The 200' tall Perrine Coulee Falls

But! By taking the time to drive down into the bottom of the Snake River Canyon to check out Perrine Coulee Falls we did get a new perspective of the Perrine Bridge I mentioned earlier.

That's what a bridge 486' above the canyon floor looks like from below.
Especially when you consider the fact that the highest natural elevation
in the entire State of Florida is only 345' and that's on the Alabama border.

Here's a zoomed in shot from nearly the same location.

We next visited the Idaho Falls Visitor Center located at the southern end of the bridge.

Here you can really see the distance from the bridge deck down to the Snake River below.

Outside of the Visitor Center there was also this memorial to Evel Knievel
and his failed attempt to jump across the Snake River Canyon back in September of 1974.

Maybe Twin Falls, ID is trying to maintain that whole "daredevil vibe" that Evel Knievel brought to this area back in 1974, because the Perrine Bridge is one of only two places in the entire United States where it is legal to partake in the extreme sport of "BASE jumping".

The word BASE is an acronym for the four categories of jumping:
B = Buildings • A = Antenna (ie radio masts) • S = Spans (ie bridges) • E = Earth (ie cliffs)

The bridge over the New River Gorge in West Virginia is the only other legal location for BASE jumping in the United States, but that could change. BASE jumping here is only allowed one day a year when they hold an annual Bridge Day Festival. Since the New River Gorge National Park was created in December of 2020, and it's illegal to BASE jump anywhere in a National Park, I wonder how long it will be before someone in the legal department at the NPS registers a complaint.

As of 2022 the festival is still being held and BASE jumping is still going on so we can only hope nothing changes. Strictly by coincidence the Bridge Day Festival is held every year on the third Saturday in October, that's tomorrow!

Not every BASE jumper in the United States was able to attend the festival in West Virginia this year. Want to know how I know? Because we had at least six of them right here in Twin Falls, ID this afternoon jumping off the Perrine Bridge.

This is your to the YouTube video!

This is your to the YouTube video!

This is your to the YouTube video!

SATURDAY - It's going to be hard to top yesterday's sightseeing adventures, but we're going to give our best effort today!

We plan to visit our 17th National Monument today, along with a State Park that now encompasses what used to be six separate state run facilities.

One thing that struck me as nearly unique is the fact that a State Park and a National Park property have somehow managed to agree to share a Visitor Center. There are only a few instances in the United States where this has happened. The State of Idaho built the facility and shares the building through a 25-year lease with the National Park Service. A win-win for both agencies if you ask me.

The new Visitor Center was just opened in May of 2022 and is still a work in progress. There currently is no auditorium to display their documentary film explaining the significance of the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument site.

I'll include a here if you would like to view the movie like we did.

We did take time to visit 4 of the 6 units that are now part of the Thousand Springs State Park.

SCENES FROM AROUND TWIN FALLS, ID

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First we had to travel 36-miles through the backcountry to arrive at the new Visitor Center.
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This is only the first of several buildings planned to be erected on this site.
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Inside the Visitor Center was a replica of the Hagerman Horse fossil that was found here.
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Outside the Visitor Center we spotted fall colors that were just beginning to pop.
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Not much to see out in the National Monument property except wide open spaces.
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This is primarily a research facility and not open to public exploration of the fossil beds.
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These black volcanic boulders can be found just about everywhere around this area.
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This is the Malad Gorge and the first of four state park locations we explored today.
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That bridge you see in the background over the gorge is Interstate 84,
the same road we traveled over on our way into town on Thursday.
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In addition to cows, horses and chickens they also appear to raise goats in this area.
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This is just a sneek peek of our favorite waterfall of the day.
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How's that for a wonderfully different looking waterfall at the Ritter Island unit.
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This is the head spring of the Box Canyon Springs Nature Preserve.
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Box Canyon Spring is the 11th highest volume spring in the United States.
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We are now headed down into the Niagara Springs unit of the state park.
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Niagra Springs is another refreshingly different looking spring
with the water coming out of the middle of the 350' tall canyon wall.
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This area is called Crystal Springs Lake and is part of Niagara Springs State Park.
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Only one thing left to do and that's to get back outta here, nice and slow at 25MPH.
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I just hope there aren't any falling rock warnings to be found. OOPS!

In my humble opinion, a single photograph of moving water
just doesn't do it justice, no matter how well composed it is.

So for that reason I'm including a few very short videos
of some of the locations seen in the slideshow. ENJOY!

Ritter Island Falls

Also part of Ritter Island Falls

Headspring of the Box Canyon Spring

Spring run leaving the Box Canyon Spring

Niagara Spring

Crystal Spring

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