<\/a>The weather was calm and sunny in the morning but 15 degrees colder! The large family\u00a0was very busy milling around their four trucks by the time I took down my privacy screen and joined the outside world. They\u00a0started leaving soon after, and by the time I went outside at 10:30-ish, they were all gone, not a trace of them.
<\/a>I left around noon, and continued my counter-clockwise circumnavigation of the lake, heading north into Idaho. At the state line I passed the Idaho version of Bear Lake State Park I stayed in three years ago. It is slightly more upscale, nicer bathrooms and nicer sites. Not sure which one I prefer. It is FULL on Labor Day Sunday.<\/p>\n
At the northeast corner of\u00a0the lake I pass Bear Lake Hot Springs<\/strong>. I am always intrigued, but camping is quite expensive – $25 just to park in a field, hot springs NOT\u00a0included. It’s\u00a0really hopping today!\u00a0I probably will stay\u00a0here some day, but definitely not this in madhouse today.<\/p>\n The road veers left to cross the top of the lake, following the causeway with the Idaho State beach on my left and the marshes of the Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge<\/strong> (another place I will get to some day) on my right. I rejoin US 89 at St Charles ID<\/strong> and turn north.<\/p>\n I slowed but did not stop at the really very striking Mormon temple in Paris ID<\/strong>. Wasn’t feeling it today, I am ready to eat. I think my bad experience at Ouray NWR discouraged me from driving the 8 or so miles of gravel road to get to the\u00a0Bear Lake\u00a0Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour. I press on straight to\u00a0Montpelier\u00a0<\/strong>… where the only grocery store is closed for the holiday – really!?!?! \u00a0Since I can’t stock up on food items, I do the two things I always do here – a walk-through on the\u00a0Oregon Trail Visitors Center<\/strong>, then across the highway to the good ole\u00a0reliable Arctic Circle<\/strong> for passable food and good wifi.\u00a0If there were more choices in Montpelier I probably would\u00a0never have even tried\u00a0the Arctic Circle, just another fast food dump after all, but it turns out to hit the spot and fulfill all my needs quite nicely!<\/p>\n I am feeling pretty low energy today. I think it’s the change in the weather, but come to think of it I’ve felt the same kind of “blah” way the other times I’ve passed through here, so maybe there’s some kind of negative energy vortex here :-|<\/p>\n Anyway, onward, north to Soda Springs. A few nights out of town I\u00a0passed that awful truck stop from last time<\/a>. They appear to be out of business. They deserve it, they were fer sure mailing it in last time. Soda Springs<\/strong>, as you may or may not know, has a geyser that does its thing every hour on\u00a0the hour<\/em>! I chose not to hang around to see it last time, so I kinda wanted to see it this time. Success! I parked, walked up the little travertine hill just in time to see it blow. \u00a0 Very entertaining.<\/p>\n Tonight’s fun time destination is Lava Hot Springs<\/strong>. Not my favorite to be here on Labor Day Weekend, but here I am nonetheless. There is a nice campground along the river, but it is like $30\/noght, so I am going to try a new place a little out of town but cheaper.<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Portneuf Bend Campground<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n I had an initial bad impression because not only do I not get a shower for $24, I don't even get a flush toilet! There is water for RV hookup, but no indoor plumbing, just a clean, unisex outhouse. The lady makes the very good point that everyone is here for the hot springs, and they have showers.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n On the other hand I am in a nice, grassy, spot a three minute drive (or a long walk) from the Lava Hot Springs pools. So all in all, pretty good.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n There are some heavily used, long haul train tracks a few hundred yards away that shake the earth a couple of times in the night.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p>tonight<\/b>: \n I had an initial bad impression because not only do I not get a shower for $24, I don't even get a flush toilet! There is water for RV hookup, but no indoor plumbing, just a clean, unisex outhouse. The lady makes the very good point that everyone is here for the hot springs, and they have showers.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n On the other hand I am in a nice, grassy, spot a three minute drive (or a long walk) from the Lava Hot Springs pools. So all in all, pretty good.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n There are some heavily used, long haul train tracks a few hundred yards away that shake the earth a couple of times in the night.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div> As noted in the description I was mildly outraged by the lack of services when I got here, but looking back the place served it’s purpose very well – that purpose being an almost reasonably priced place to sleep convenient to the hot springs.<\/p>\n I got to my spot and chilled for a while.\u00a0It is noticeably colder this afternoon than yesterday. I’m not really feeling that stoked about hitting the hot tubs … \u00a0still pretty low energy. So I step back and have a very pleasant, restorative nap before mustering off to soak.<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Lava Hot Springs<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n Six pools. The big rectangular one, around to the right in the grotto, is the very hottest - 112°. \r<\/p>\n They get progressively cooler moving left. Next is the biggest and ranges from 110° to 103° according to the sign.\r<\/p>\n Beautiful setting at the opening of a little canyon with the busy highway and railroad tracks right above..<\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p>tonight<\/b>: \n back again on Labor Day Weekend - eek! \r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n On Sunday night it was very crowded, but it's a big place and I was able to eventually get to the prime spots I wanted to get to. It's really a very nice place.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n Back on Monday late morning, where it is confirmed that hot springs on a hot, sunny day just aren't that much fun.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Oh that was fun!\u00a0I feel great now! Easy little three minute drive back to the campground, eventually identify my site in the pitch darkness and chill out for the evening. I’m still pretty jazzed – the opposite of my low energy self of four hours ago\u00a0-so I stay up for a while. Long enough to experience one of the hundred car freight trains that rumble through here every few hours. I’m glad I will be able to shut the van door on those later.<\/p>\n Beautiful\u00a0morning here at the campground. It’s Labor Day, the last day of summer. The grown-ups are packing up and getting the fifth wheelers un-chocked and hooked up and ready to roll. The little kids are roving in packs, exploring and burning energy\u00a0before they get belted in for the ride back to ole, boring home. My site is on the edge of the mowed field, so the kid-pack spends quite a long time in the view from my van, chasing bunnies that munch on the lawn for while then hop back into the tall grass when the kids get near. Lot of excitement!<\/p>\n I know from last time that the food options in LHS are pitifully limited, so getting on with this particular day entails driving to Pocatello<\/strong> and finding a coffee\/wifi place open on the holiday. Fifth St Bagels<\/strong> was open and whipped me up a lox bagel that got me on the path to feeling good.<\/p>\n Pocatello has the first decent\u00a0grocery stores I’ve seen since the Salt Lake megapolis four days ago. I had a grand ole time at the Albertson’s<\/strong> buying too much food.<\/p>\n Thence to the hidden gem of:<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Pipeline Campground<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n Five sites at a boat ramp into the Snake River. A few miles upriver from the very expensive Massacre Rocks SP. Really cool little spot!<\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p>tonight<\/b>: \n Phone reception seems better :) I scored the primo spot by itself next to the river. It's excellent to be rocketing down I-86 and know this is here, so close.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div> I really enjoyed this little place last time on a gloomy, rainy day in October and it was even nicer on a sunny, cold day in September. There’s nobody here and the road is dry, so I got\u00a0the best spot.\u00a0I could have gotten it\u00a0last time also, but I was afraid to drive down short but very steep\u00a0muddy road, so I just parked in the main lot. This is nicer. I’m\u00a0looking right at a bend in the Snake River. Very\u00a0buggy down here, but really pretty.<\/p>\n Gosh this is a perfect spot. The van is facing straight onto some rapids on the Snake River, so when the cold drove me inside I could\u00a0sit in the driver’s seat and watch the show, including moonset over the river.<\/p>\n Beautiful here in the morning also. The little road down to this site is a loop, but I really do not like the size of those ruts, so I “K-turned” my way into facing the other direction\u00a0and returned as I came. Getting stuck would be a drag.\u00a0 A few miles down I-86 is a rest area, that must really call to me, because once I got there I realized I stopped here last time, when I was going the other direction. It’s an Oregon Trail commemorative site. There is a little paved path where you can follow the trail for quite a ways. Exactly as last time I follow it only a short ways, until it crosses under the interstate via a tunnel.<\/p>\n Back on I-86, which is a very short interstate, only a connector from I-84 to I-15. After it becomes I-84 I get off at Burley<\/strong>. I get my coffee and wifi\u00a0at a little coffee shop downtown, then follow US 30 through the rich farming country that follows the Snake around here.<\/p>\n By the time I got to\u00a0Twin Falls<\/strong>, I was ready to eat. Did not have great luck. The place that sounded perfect on Yelp had closed for the day. I ended up at a little sandwich shop\u00a0in a converted fast food restaurant. Not much in the way of ambiance, but my steak wrap was pretty tasty. This time I did not check out the\u00a0the sights of Twin Falls.\u00a0Neither Shoshone Falls<\/strong>, which I enjoyed last time or that very dramatic\u00a0bridge over the canyon of the Snake, I just pressed on on US 30, heading for my hot springs for the evening.<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Miracle Hot Springs<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n Co-owned with Banbury Hot Springs. \r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n Banbury has better camping, Miracle better pools, so here's how it all shakes out:\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n Banbury: tent sites: $10 | campground: park on the grass next to your picnic table in a pretty spot | soaking: big concrete rectangle pool (see their Spot entry)\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n Miracle: must pay for hookups: $20 | campground: dusty and shabby | soaking: wonderful set of modern, interesting pools - a really hot one under the sun deck I call the Grotto :), a bigger cooler pool, then a long, skinny, segmented parallel pool that is a hot zone, a cold zone, and a slighter hotter zone. \r<\/p>\n Really nice layout!\r<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p>tonight<\/b>: \n Did not camp here this time, turns out Banbury has much better camping. They are now the same owners, so paying for one gets you in both.The pools here are beautifully laid out. There's a big warm pool. The hottest pool is semi-enclosed, under the sun deck so it has kind of a steam room vibe. There are two more hot pools to the side, one is bordered by a long skinny pool with turns out to be a cold plunge!Very nice!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div> Miracle Hot Springs<\/strong> is perfect little gem of a place to soak, but the campground is kind of low-rent trailer park-y. It also lives in infamy as the place where I got the plague of flies<\/a> in my van last time.<\/p>\n Last time through the competing hot springs across the road was closed for the season, but since then it has been bought by Miracle, so it’s open and part of the same operation. I decide to check out their camping first, and that was a great choice, because their camping is just delightful – a large grassy field with trees around the edges where I just pull my van in next to a picnic table and chill.<\/p>\n WHUFU page for: Banbury Hot Springs<\/a><\/b><\/p> \n Oh, this place is soooo nice!\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n It is now the same management as Miracle Hot Springs, so for your $10 ($8 for senior) you can go to both.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n Camping over here is both cheaper and way nicer. The Miracle soaking setup is way better (see their Spot entry), so driving to Miracle for your soak and staying here the rest of the time is the best bet.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n Banbury is a very large concrete pool, with very hot water coming out one place and cold water as many other places as needed. It is next to the river. No wifi.<\/p>\n<\/p> <\/p>tonight<\/b>: \n The Banbury camping area is a beautiful grassy area ringed by trees. Much nicer than the Miracle camping area, which is kind of slummy.\r<\/p>\n \r<\/p>\n The flies are like a biblical plague here just they were at Miracle. The mosquitoes are coming out at dusk. Idaho has ... robust flying insects! :(<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div> My assigned site was not very level, so I moved over a few to one that was. After that is was a question of where to soak? Banbury did not nearly as inviting as Miracle, so I hopped in the van and drove the 3 or so miles across the highway to there.<\/p>\n It was just effing awesome again!\u00a0My tough\u00a0decision is whether to enjoy sunset at Miracle and have to drive back and, park in the dark or leave now and enjoy sunset at the campground. I went for option 2, worked out fine.<\/p>\n After\u00a0sunset I walked over to try out the Banbury pool. There are private tubs, but the main deal is a gigantic concrete rectangular pool. There is a diving board at the deep end, and this cool rolling log thing that is part of the divider between deep and shallow. The water is pretty warm. The water pouring in from a 4 inch pipe is f***ing hot! \u00a0140\u00b0 the dude said! \u00a0So hot there are a couple of cold pipes around it. \u00a0It’s not nearly as pleasant and well laid out as Miracle, but a great place to grab a floatie or two and just chill.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The weather was calm and sunny in the morning but 15 degrees colder! The large family\u00a0was very busy milling around their four trucks by the time I took down my privacy screen and joined the outside world. They\u00a0started leaving soon … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-july-2016-nostalgia-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>Monday<\/a><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Tuesday<\/a><\/h3>
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