Let the Longggg Slowww Journey Begin!

May 5, 2011

After Barney’s doctor’s appointment, we really are leaving on this longgg (we got all of two miles down the road and stopped for lunch at Taco Bell,) slowww (another five miles down the road and we slowed to a crawl through a construction zone,) journey.

Our first stop was at the Hagerman Fossil Beds Visitor’s Center (VC in ranger talk) where we got stamps in our National Parks Passport book. They are also the VC for the Minadoka relocation camp, so we got five stamps in one stop! The fossil site is not open to visitors, but If you have a shovel and a broom, maybe you could sneak in to the dig. They do have a few fossils in display cases in the VC.

We drove down state road 30 so we could see Thousand Springs, which were running very strong, and then on to Twin Falls. We stopped at the Perrine Bridge which crosses the deep Snake River gorge (where Evil Knevil tried to jump the gorge in his rocket cycle many years ago). Perrine Bridge is approximately 1,500 feet (457 m) long and 486 feet (148 m) above the Snake River. Originally named the Twin Falls-Jerome Intercounty Bridge, a Steel cantilever bridge was opened to traffic in September 1927, and at the time, was the highest bridge in the world.

The bridge overlook area is the prep point for base jumpers, and today we watched seven jumpers packing their chutes. When they headed up to the middle of the bridge, we went to the viewing area. They jumped one at a time and tried to land closest to the big red X beside the river. The last two jumpers went together and came down one right after the other. Perrine Bridge is the only man-made structure in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit.

Continuing our exciting sloww journey, we again slowed to a crawl in a construction zone.

We chose the lovely truck weigh station/rest area at the I84/I86 junction for dinner.  Had a nicely located picnic table, and truck traffic for entertainment. What a feast we had. Life is good!

Then it was on to the next rest stop for an overnight stay.

Great day! Back at you tomorrow.