Idaho - Day 2 - the drive to Twin Falls

Twin Falls KOA, Twin Falls

Saturday, 2 July 2022

In the Meridian campground, I saw a very coordinated license plate and license plate holder.  The license plate said: BE ONLY.  The holder said, on the top line: THERE CAN; and on the bottom line: ONE.  It took me a couple of minutes to realize they were meant to be read together, but then, I saw them early in the morning.

today's route

I drove across the street from the campground to a laundromat I'd seen as we'd come by yesterday.  And that should be a lesson to me to use the facilities in the campground.  It would have been a bit more trouble because of a farther walk, but it would have been cheaper and at least as efficient.  But the laundry's done.

And from there I drove back to that nice dog park Dext and I went to yesterday afternoon.  We got there about 10:00 on a Saturday morning, and the only reason it wasn't packed was because it was so big.  There were dozens of dogs there.  This time around, Dext had a lot more confidence and left me for quite a while.  I learned that black is a common color among dogs, and I often had trouble figuring out which one he was in a mob of dogs.  

It was really encouraging to see him be able to handle a mob scene with no apparent trouble at all, when that's exactly the situation that used to make him whacko.  Too many dogs at once (meaning more than 2 or 3) would make him anxious, which would make him lash out as a protective measure.  Of course, the reason doesn't matter when doggie day care people are supposed to protect their clients, and Dexter kept getting ejected from day cares all over the place.  So it was amazing to me to watch him handle this very fluid and dog-filled situation without any apparent trouble at all.

There was a sign on the entrance gate to the dog park that said it would be closed after 9 PM on July 4th because it's in the "falling ash zone" of the fireworks planned for that night.  That's a new one on me.  Usually dog parks are closed at that hour because it's after dark.

From there, I hit the road but only for a few miles; I got off in Boise to dump my recyclables, having found a drop-off site online.  They took my glass, which is great, but for plastics they'd only take #1 and #2 in bottle form.  I'm accumulating an amazing collection of #1 containers for salad stuff and fruit and tomatoes.  It's really starting to get in the way but I just hate to throw it in the trash if I can find a recycling place that will accept it.

The drive from Boise to Twin Falls was less than 2 hours, per Google.  As usual, it took me a bit longer, but I wasn't in a hurry because some campgrounds don't like people checking in early.

On the radio I heard several women talking about their feelings about the Dobbs decision, and they seemed to mirror mine.  One of them said it was reasonable to "take a vacation" and when we come back from our grief we can do something constructive about this.

Another person said, "It feels so big and I feel so small."

Someone said, "We're in it for the long haul and things will get worse.  Clinics will be closed and jails will be full."

One person described a coping technique she was trying: divest from national politics and focus on the local situation.  For example push local officials to find funding to help people who are getting stuck with unwanted pregnancies.

It helped me to hear other people suggest positive approaches to this situation and to our collective emotional distress.

The road took me by large rolling tan-colored hills with mountains in the distance all the way around my view.

Not far out of Boise, a sign told me to turn right for the Bruneau Dunes State Park.  I didn't but was curious about these alleged dunes.  Turns out this is the location of the "tallest single-structured sand dune in North America with a peak rising 470' above the surrounding desert floor."  That's a quote from the Idaho Parks & Rec website for this park.  It took me a long time to find somebody who would tell me what a "single-structured sand dune" is, but I finally found a blog by a science teacher who said it's a "dune not braced against other dunes."  So now we know.  That state park also has an observatory, though it was closed for Covid and I don't know if it's reopened yet.

We picked up the Snake River for a while.

I'm starting to see Alaska license plates now and then.

I stopped at a rest area and after I'd parked, this big semi pulled in next to me with its load.

It was the blade of a wind turbine, which is why the semi is parked in 2 spaces - the blade is curved, so the load takes up more than just the usual amount of room.  I've noticed this on roadways before, too.  Trying to pass one of those takes concentration.

Back on the road, a sign told me fire danger was medium right now.  I guess they didn't get the rain we got in Washington, and that I'm hearing Montana got.

At the highway exit for Twin Falls, I learned that I should turn right for the town of Twin Falls but left for tonight's campground, which is actually in the small town of Jerome, though I never saw the town itself.