The Ben Vacation 2015 – Crossing Idaho
Since we would be entering the
Mountain Time zone when we crossed into Idaho, we got up earlier to try and
compensate for the loss of an hour. We had all slept very well; the inn
had completed its job well. The Horseshoe Inn is a “no frills” hotel,
which, in my book, means there is no continental breakfast (I guess they offer
a free cup of coffee, but that wasn’t anything I was interested in partaking J), but
it accomplished for us what we needed—a place to sleep at a reasonable price.
Actually, one of the things that also intrigued me about the hotel
(besides the two queen bed room for roughly $20 more than I would have paid at
the KOA in Medford), was that the name isn’t just something pulled out of a
hat—the inn actually is built in the shape of a horseshoe! I’ve made a
screenshot of the aerial view of the hotel in order for you to see what I mean.
Since we arrived after dark, it was difficult to get the full feel of
this unique configuration, but as I began to load the car this morning, I
realized just how pronounced the curve in the building is. I’m always on
the lookout for fun, unique places like this. If the hotel is affordable,
I'm more likely to plunk down the money to lodge my family there for the night.
At the moment, I recall one year when we vacationed in Zion Park, staying
in the Bumbleberry Inn because I could afford it and I liked the unique name
(the diner wasn't bad either). If by some chance you happen to find
yourself in Burns, Oregon, I’d recommend the Horseshoe Inn as a place to stay. J
Showered, refreshed and ready to take on the next leg of our journey, I
put the room key in the drop box in the office and we got back on the road and
entered the leg of our journey that broke away from our 2008 vacation.
 |
| Boise Temple |
We left the Horseshoe Inn at a
pretty decent time (for us J).
Only a few miles later highway 395 broke away from highway 20 to head
north toward Washington State and we lost that small connection to home.
The remaining portion of Oregon that we traveled through was pleasant.
The only annoyance was the road work that stopped us a few times along
the way. There were only a couple of very small towns along the 100+ miles
we drove as we followed along the Malheur, River. Not until we came into
Vale, Oregon and stopped to get gas at a Sinclair station did we finally come
across a bustling town (good thing too, otherwise we would have run out of
gas). For about 15 miles before entering Vale and as we drove toward
Ontario, Oregon, we passed many farming fields. Corn (easy to spot the
stalks), onions (we’d catch whiffs of their smell), potatoes (we're close to
Idaho, so that shouldn't be surprising) and other vegetables passed whisked by
in rapid succession. One of the missionaries who recently transferred
into our ward, Elder Haueter, is from Ontario. When we told him we would
be passing through his home town, he tried to convince us to stop by his house,
"My Mom will feed you," he assured us. I felt a bit weird about
popping up on his parent's doorstep: "Hi, I'm your son's ward mission
leader from California and he told us that if we stopped by you'd feed us.
Here we are! When do we eat?" I told Elder Haueter that
if he wanted us to deliver something for him (a letter, note, something) it
would at least give us a reason for stopping.
I did not expect to be fed, but I thought it would definitely be a
surprise for his parents to have us pop up to give them something from
him. Unfortunately, he didn't give us
anything before we left, so we waved at his home town as we drove through and
left it at that. J
When I was putting the vacation
plan together for this portion of the trip, I put two scenarios to a vote.
Scenario A was to drive to Craters of the Moon and spend some time in
that national park and monument area before continuing on to West Yellowstone.
Scenario B was to stay on the freeway south of Craters and visit the LDS
temples in Idaho. The 2nd scenario won quickly and unanimously.
Today's plan was to visit the temples located in Boise, Twin Falls, Idaho
Falls and Rexburg. A new temple is being built in Meridian, Idaho, but I
decided that attempting 5 stops like this in one day and still making it to
West Yellowstone at a decent hour was too much of a reach. Besides,
Meridian was somewhat out of the way, while the other temples were located
along our journey.
I learned something about us that I probably should have understood a long time ago (I guess I've just never truly paid attention until now), but we are very deliberate when it come to visiting temple. Last night, as I was thinking through the itinerary in my head, I said to myself, "Okay, we'll probably spend 30 minutes at each temple," as I attempted to estimate the timing in order to have a loose idea as to when we might arrive in West Yellowstone. As we drove into the parking lot of the Boise Temple, we decided to eat lunch on the grounds (that took nearly 30 minutes alone). Then as we walked slowly around the temple, enjoying the ambiance of the grounds and soaking in the Spirit, we probably added an extra 45 minutes to an hour. We love being around the temple and we can't just quickly take a cursory look, hop back into the car and drive away toward our next destination. This and the other temples we visited were even more poignant for Ben as he is only a few weeks away from taking out his own endowments in the Redlands Temple. This realization hit him especially hard while we visited the Boise Temple and those feelings made it more difficult for him to leave when the time came.
 |
| Twin Falls Temple |
When we finally did leave, we
drove over the bridge spanning the freeway to fill up again at the Costco
before continuing on. I deliberately asked the girl who helped me at the
Sinclair station to only put about $15 worth of gas in the tank because I had already
planned to buy gas in Boise. But as we had exited the freeway to drive
toward the temple, we had also seen a sign for a Cracker Barrel store (cue the
choir of angels). Ever since our first encounter with a Cracker Barrel
store in Joliet, Illinois and our first taste of buttermilk & herb potato
chips two years ago, I think we subconsciously look for these stores. This
time it was buttermilk & herb and baked potato flavored chips (my mouth is
watering as I type this). I had to make sure we didn't start eating them
until after I gassed up the car and got us back on the freeway or I wasn't sure
if I'd be able to eat any. As it was, the ravening hoard in the back seat
nearly finished off the buttermilk chip mere moments after we opened the bag. J
From Boise, we moved on to Twin
Falls. We drove over the Snake River Canyon in order to drive into Twin
Falls and I was reminded of Evel Knievel's attempt at jumping the canyon back
in the mid '70s. The Twin Falls Temple was very nice. Again the
grounds were beautiful and the spirit comforting as we walked around and took
our pictures. As we moved on toward Idaho Falls, we drove past Burley,
Idaho and I was reminded that I had my first ride in an airplane there.
If memory serves, we had driven up to the area for a Toner family reunion
(my Grandma Petersen's family). I don't remember exactly how old I was at
the time, but I do remember it being one of those affairs where my cheeks got
pinched a lot. One of my grandmother's brothers owned a Cessna and he
took Dad, Aaron and I (as I recall; there may have been others) for a ride in
it. I'm not sure if I can say I had fun. I think it was fascinating
being up that high in the sky, but I got air sick at some point during the
flight. I didn't throw up (thank goodness), but it wasn't one of my fonder memories. The negative aspect of the memory was strong enough that it was the main reason I
had misgivings about my first commercial flight when I was a missionary. Fortunately, I've never had those type of symptoms since that time.
 |
| Idaho Falls Temple |
The Idaho Falls Temple is
closed for major renovations. As we walked up to the chain link fence
surround the perimeter of the temple, we all noticed that the construction
company signs had the Okland insignia (Joanna's husband, Chad, works for them).
We took some pictures of the temple and then entered the visitor's center
for what we said would be a brief visit … it lasted 30 minutes or so (what can
I say J). I wasn't aware that the Idaho Falls
Temple had been dedicated in 1945 (for some reason, I thought it had been built
in the '80s). The two sister missionaries gave us a nice presentation.
Afterward, while Jennifer and Ben talked with one of the sisters, the other
sister missionary showed Isaac and me the conception pictures of what some of
the rooms inside the temple will look like when the renovations are completed. From what I saw in the pictures, the
upgrades will be very nice. We decided
to continue walking the perimeter sidewalk of the temple grounds after leaving
the visitor’s center. On the southwest
side of the temple grounds, we saw the Snake River on the other side of the
street and decided to cross and take some pictures. I’m not quite sure how Idaho Falls gets its
name because there are no water falls anywhere near town of which I’m
aware. However, there were some falls on
the river just down the street from where we were standing, maybe that’s where
the name comes from (update: I looked it up on the internet and it appears that
these are the falls referenced in the
city’s name J).
 |
| The falls of Idaho Falls |
With our visit to the temple
completed, it was now 7 p.m. We were
ready to eat and we still had the Rexburg Temple on our itinerary. I didn’t want to waste time “dining in,” so
fast food that could be consumed in the car was the goal. A Carl’s Junior rose up before us and the
consensus was to get our food there (second time in as many nights). I wasn’t interested in a second day of Carl’s,
but a Wendy’s was next door, so I gave Jen some cash and went to the Wendy’s. When I walked inside, I noticed two things:
1) the soda spigots were located behind the counter (which would have made it
difficult to drink and then refill before exiting the establishment; something
I could do at Carl’s); and 2) the
entire staff was in the back yapping happily away without a clue that someone
was waiting at the counter. I waited for
about a minute. No one bothered to come
out from the kitchen, so I left and went back to Carl’s (good thing too, the
$30 I’d given Jen wasn’t enough to cover their order because of Ben’s specialty
burger and the extra chocolate chip cookies J). With time at a premium, we decided to hold
off on the Rexburg Temple and visit it on Saturday when we’d be returning that way to visit the former Elder Sheppard in Rigby.
I had Jennifer call ahead to
the West Yellowstone KOA (actually there are 2 of them in the area, our
reservations were for the Yellowstone Park/Mountainside) to tell them we might
not make it before the office closed and were told it was open until 10
p.m. We made it to the office with about
12 minutes to spare and had to put our tent up in the dark, but it all worked
out. J The camp
site is next to a stream, which is nice, but it also has some rocks in certain
spots (which makes me glad we have air mattresses; although Isaac’s is still
losing air). Tomorrow we’ll see if
entering Yellowstone from the west entrance makes as big of a difference as I’m
hoping it will.
Since we would be entering the
Mountain Time zone when we crossed into Idaho, we got up earlier to try and
compensate for the loss of an hour. We had all slept very well; the inn
had completed its job well. The Horseshoe Inn is a “no frills” hotel,
which, in my book, means there is no continental breakfast (I guess they offer
a free cup of coffee, but that wasn’t anything I was interested in partaking J), but
it accomplished for us what we needed—a place to sleep at a reasonable price.
Actually, one of the things that also intrigued me about the hotel
(besides the two queen bed room for roughly $20 more than I would have paid at
the KOA in Medford), was that the name isn’t just something pulled out of a
hat—the inn actually is built in the shape of a horseshoe! I’ve made a
screenshot of the aerial view of the hotel in order for you to see what I mean.
Since we arrived after dark, it was difficult to get the full feel of
this unique configuration, but as I began to load the car this morning, I
realized just how pronounced the curve in the building is. I’m always on
the lookout for fun, unique places like this. If the hotel is affordable,
I'm more likely to plunk down the money to lodge my family there for the night.
At the moment, I recall one year when we vacationed in Zion Park, staying
in the Bumbleberry Inn because I could afford it and I liked the unique name
(the diner wasn't bad either). If by some chance you happen to find
yourself in Burns, Oregon, I’d recommend the Horseshoe Inn as a place to stay. J
Showered, refreshed and ready to take on the next leg of our journey, I
put the room key in the drop box in the office and we got back on the road and
entered the leg of our journey that broke away from our 2008 vacation.
When I was putting the vacation
plan together for this portion of the trip, I put two scenarios to a vote.
Scenario A was to drive to Craters of the Moon and spend some time in
that national park and monument area before continuing on to West Yellowstone.
Scenario B was to stay on the freeway south of Craters and visit the LDS
temples in Idaho. The 2nd scenario won quickly and unanimously.
Today's plan was to visit the temples located in Boise, Twin Falls, Idaho
Falls and Rexburg. A new temple is being built in Meridian, Idaho, but I
decided that attempting 5 stops like this in one day and still making it to
West Yellowstone at a decent hour was too much of a reach. Besides,
Meridian was somewhat out of the way, while the other temples were located
along our journey.
I learned something about us that I probably should have understood a long time ago (I guess I've just never truly paid attention until now), but we are very deliberate when it come to visiting temple. Last night, as I was thinking through the itinerary in my head, I said to myself, "Okay, we'll probably spend 30 minutes at each temple," as I attempted to estimate the timing in order to have a loose idea as to when we might arrive in West Yellowstone. As we drove into the parking lot of the Boise Temple, we decided to eat lunch on the grounds (that took nearly 30 minutes alone). Then as we walked slowly around the temple, enjoying the ambiance of the grounds and soaking in the Spirit, we probably added an extra 45 minutes to an hour. We love being around the temple and we can't just quickly take a cursory look, hop back into the car and drive away toward our next destination. This and the other temples we visited were even more poignant for Ben as he is only a few weeks away from taking out his own endowments in the Redlands Temple. This realization hit him especially hard while we visited the Boise Temple and those feelings made it more difficult for him to leave when the time came.
From Boise, we moved on to Twin
Falls. We drove over the Snake River Canyon in order to drive into Twin
Falls and I was reminded of Evel Knievel's attempt at jumping the canyon back
in the mid '70s. The Twin Falls Temple was very nice. Again the
grounds were beautiful and the spirit comforting as we walked around and took
our pictures. As we moved on toward Idaho Falls, we drove past Burley,
Idaho and I was reminded that I had my first ride in an airplane there.
If memory serves, we had driven up to the area for a Toner family reunion
(my Grandma Petersen's family). I don't remember exactly how old I was at
the time, but I do remember it being one of those affairs where my cheeks got
pinched a lot. One of my grandmother's brothers owned a Cessna and he
took Dad, Aaron and I (as I recall; there may have been others) for a ride in
it. I'm not sure if I can say I had fun. I think it was fascinating
being up that high in the sky, but I got air sick at some point during the
flight. I didn't throw up (thank goodness), but it wasn't one of my fonder memories. The negative aspect of the memory was strong enough that it was the main reason I
had misgivings about my first commercial flight when I was a missionary. Fortunately, I've never had those type of symptoms since that time.
The Idaho Falls Temple is
closed for major renovations. As we walked up to the chain link fence
surround the perimeter of the temple, we all noticed that the construction
company signs had the Okland insignia (Joanna's husband, Chad, works for them).
We took some pictures of the temple and then entered the visitor's center
for what we said would be a brief visit … it lasted 30 minutes or so (what can
I say J). I wasn't aware that the Idaho Falls
Temple had been dedicated in 1945 (for some reason, I thought it had been built
in the '80s). The two sister missionaries gave us a nice presentation.
Afterward, while Jennifer and Ben talked with one of the sisters, the other
sister missionary showed Isaac and me the conception pictures of what some of
the rooms inside the temple will look like when the renovations are completed. From what I saw in the pictures, the
upgrades will be very nice. We decided
to continue walking the perimeter sidewalk of the temple grounds after leaving
the visitor’s center. On the southwest
side of the temple grounds, we saw the Snake River on the other side of the
street and decided to cross and take some pictures. I’m not quite sure how Idaho Falls gets its
name because there are no water falls anywhere near town of which I’m
aware. However, there were some falls on
the river just down the street from where we were standing, maybe that’s where
the name comes from (update: I looked it up on the internet and it appears that
these are the falls referenced in the
city’s name J).
With our visit to the temple
completed, it was now 7 p.m. We were
ready to eat and we still had the Rexburg Temple on our itinerary. I didn’t want to waste time “dining in,” so
fast food that could be consumed in the car was the goal. A Carl’s Junior rose up before us and the
consensus was to get our food there (second time in as many nights). I wasn’t interested in a second day of Carl’s,
but a Wendy’s was next door, so I gave Jen some cash and went to the Wendy’s. When I walked inside, I noticed two things:
1) the soda spigots were located behind the counter (which would have made it
difficult to drink and then refill before exiting the establishment; something
I could do at Carl’s); and 2) the
entire staff was in the back yapping happily away without a clue that someone
was waiting at the counter. I waited for
about a minute. No one bothered to come
out from the kitchen, so I left and went back to Carl’s (good thing too, the
$30 I’d given Jen wasn’t enough to cover their order because of Ben’s specialty
burger and the extra chocolate chip cookies J). With time at a premium, we decided to hold
off on the Rexburg Temple and visit it on Saturday when we’d be returning that way to visit the former Elder Sheppard in Rigby.
I had Jennifer call ahead to
the West Yellowstone KOA (actually there are 2 of them in the area, our
reservations were for the Yellowstone Park/Mountainside) to tell them we might
not make it before the office closed and were told it was open until 10
p.m. We made it to the office with about
12 minutes to spare and had to put our tent up in the dark, but it all worked
out. J The camp
site is next to a stream, which is nice, but it also has some rocks in certain
spots (which makes me glad we have air mattresses; although Isaac’s is still
losing air). Tomorrow we’ll see if
entering Yellowstone from the west entrance makes as big of a difference as I’m
hoping it will.
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