Montpelier, Idaho to Pocatello

WELCOME TO SOUTHERN IDAHO!!!!

Okay, it hasn't been as bad as all that! Actually, today was one of our best days of the entire trip so far. We did end up staying here in Pocatello (our first wild birkenstock sighting since leaving Massachusetts!) for a second night, which allowed us to backtrack about 60 miles in order to see the sights we missed yesterday.

Our first stop was in Montpelier, Idaho (where I took the photo above), to visit the National Oregon-California Trail Museum. It was well worth the drive--Phoebe said it was the best one we've seen yet (and we've seen a few!). In this museum, visitors are escorted by Oregon Trail "emigrants", dressed in period costume and NEVER out of character. They take you through the museum, helping you buy your wagon and supplies, talking to you by the campfire as if you are a fellow pioneer, telling you their stories of the trail. It was fantastic, and Phoebe had many opportunities to show her knowledge--when one of the pioneer women asked her why she was going to Oregon, she said she was going for good land for farming. It wasn't the kind of place you could take pictures, but you can see it for yourself at their website, which is at the top of the links section. Wonderful place.

We then moved on to the pioneers' next stop, Soda Springs, Idaho, where there are geysers and springs. The pioneers stopped here and drank from what they called "Beer Springs", as they were convinced that the spring water was inebriating (one man drank a gallon!) The one spring that is still active, called Hooper Spring (thank you again, wonderful guide book!), has a plaque that tells you all the mineral content levels.


It was freezing cold, bubbling vigorously from its source (it's pretty heavily carbonated, not to mention mineral-laden), and the sign advised visitors to "Drink Deeply of Nature's Best Beverage". And so we did.

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....and those of you who know Phoebe know she does NOT like seltzer, so it seemed only fair that you should see her "AFTER" photo as well:


We then moved on to our third stop of the day, Lava Hot Springs, a place originally called "Poha-Ba" or "Land of Healing Waters" by the Shoshone-Bannock Indians (read about it at www.lavahotsprings.com). There are many natural hot springs (around 110 degrees) throughout this little town, all easily accessible, and with purported healing powers. As it was 0ver 90 degrees outside, we didn't feel moved to partake, but the photos of the springs in winter, surrounded by snow, made us want to come back here again! There is also a beautiful campsite here, making us wish we had known and camped by the river here.

While we read a bit and drove by some of the historical sights and hot pools, we focused most of our attention on the ENORMOUS swimming pool complex that the state of Idaho has built near the hot springs. One of the biggest pools we've ever seen (and the best one, according to Phoebe) with 7 diving boards and platforms, 4 water slides, an enormous green sea snake in the shallow end (check it out!)


in-water basketball courts, you name it. (you can see photos of the pool complex at the above website too). We swam there for four, count 'em, FOUR hours, and had a blast. Phoebe demonstrated her ever-improving swimming skills, including more than 20 jumps off the diving board, something Mommy had never seen before! WOW! We've come a long way from not-getting-her-face-wet!! (thank you, Phoenix!)



And now we want to close with our two "It's a Small World After All" moments of the day (now we've got you humming that song, don't we? HA!). The first came in the morning, when we chatted with a couple from Texas in the hotel parking lot (we had chatted with the same people yesterday at check-in as well, mostly because they were traveling with a darling miniature schnauzer and because she was interested in the necklace that I made). It turned out that they were driving home to Texas from visiting family in Montana, where they both were raised. I asked where in Montana they were from (like I know Montana, right?) and it turned out that she was from Sand Springs, Montana, which is near Jordan (where Phoebe and Audrey--and me, last year--went to the dinosaur dig). After she got over her total shock that a person from Massachusetts knows where Jordan is, it turned out that she was a high school classmate of Tim Lervick, whose ranch we stay at for the dig, and that she knew some other people that we knew from there as well. In the hotel parking lot in Pocatello, Idaho! Go figure.

Then, while we were swimming in the pool in Lava Hot Springs (you have to understand, this is in the middle of nowhere), Phoebe made a friend named Victoria. After playing together for a while, I asked Victoria if she lived nearby. She said "No, I'm from Massachusetts". It turns out she's from Medway. Go figure again.

These experiences prompted an interesting discussion about the nature of the expression "It's a small world...", which Phoebe had not known of or understood previously. After today, she's catching on!