GREETINGS FROM IDAHO FALLS,
Idaho (ID), USA
And all the potatoes you can eat !
Well, not exactly.
They say the quickest way from A to B is a straight line – but as you can see, sideways anyway, we go via Z !
The first part of our drive took in the spectacular views of the mountain again. But before we left we had already been up and busy in the morning. We were up about 6.30am to get the sunrise hitting the mountains and some great photos.
Then, after packing up, went to the lounge to have a quick breakfast snack and coffee taking in the view from the picture windows.
Grand Teton NP to Idaho Falls ID
We drove through the town of Jackson , which is a big winter skiing destination – with prices to match ! Then headed further south to the town of Alpine before turning north. Here we crossed the border back into Idaho.
Our aim today was to take in a few scenic byways.
The first, north from Alpine, followed a large lake formed by the Pallisades Dam. It is a very popular fishing destination and supposedly produces some of the best cutthroat trout in the country. There are RV parks and campgrounds all along the lake and in some locations small marinas have been built.
Further north, we turned off onto the Tetons Scenic Byway.
We were now almost “behind” the mountains from where we had been this morning. And we had driven through various sections of the Targhee National Forest all the way around the mountains. A lot of these drives follow the flow of a river so it is very pleasant catching the glimpses of the rushing water – which in most cases it is – and, as a result, we saw various groups of rafts taking on the rapids along the way.
We then reached 2 small towns, Victor and Driggs, which were right in the agricultural belt. We drove through miles and miles of farmland – all pretty yellow and brown at this time of year – but it was true “meat and potato” country. Cattle grazing grasslands or fodder-fed paddocks on one side and furrowed paddocks of potato fields on the other.
In Driggs, we came across the “Famous Driggs Spud Drive-Inn” theatre – an old drive-in movie lot which still shows regular shows – well at least till winter sets in I think !
Farmland as far as you can see!
But like so many parts of the USA, we were driving through this expansive farmland when next minute we were back into rich pine forest, climbing the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. The falls had views at both the lower and upper sections, along a river which had resulted from ancient volcanic activity. The visitor centre at the upper falls was an old restored guest house which had taken guests in the early days who had ventured to view the falls. In 1986 it was restored and is now on the Historic Houses register and used by the visitor centre.
Lower Mesa Falls
From there it was really more of the extensive farmland on to our stop at Idaho Falls for the night. But wait ! On the way we saw a sign near a small town to the St Anthony Sand Dunes. Intrigued, we followed the signs and sure enough, almost out of nowhere were these extensive sand dunes – 10,000 acres – just in the middle of all this farming land. There was a resort and all ! And catering for all the ATV (all terrain vehicles) and motor bike enthusiasts near and far.
And just when we thought we were done – Ashton, ID is known as the seed potato capital of the world ! The area is supposed to be the best possible in terms providing peak conditions for the best seed potatoes. And, not much further down the road, is the town of Rigby, ID – the “birthplace of television” ! A student at the high school drew up the first blue prints for a television in the early 1920’s and later invented the vacuum tube.
The falls at Idaho Falls
So after all that excitement, we arrived in Idaho Falls. The “falls” in Idaho Falls is a bit of a stretch of the imagination. Originally part of the river had a natural fall, but not significant. However the energy conscious members of town turned these into a man made drop, incorporating the original landscape and the man-made section actually provides hydroelectricity generation for the town.
Our hotel is right on the river nearby to the falls so we walked along the picturesque waterfront to stretch our legs before dinner.
There was an Applebees nearby so we shared “pot stickers” – shrimp and pork wontons with peanut and soy dipping sauce and Adrienne had fiesta lime chicken and I had shrimp scampi linguine.
No photo shoots tonight – probably an early night to make up for an early start !