They have a "Lineman's University" there. No, not football. Telephone and electrical wires. There's even a field full of telephone poles--I assume a practice field? We got a kick out of that.
On the same road, there's a castle. It's a little astonishing to drive past fields and stereotypical red barns and farm houses, and then a castle. That was a surprise.
My daughter LOVES animals and was really excited by all the signs in Boise about a "Birds of Prey Conservation Area," so we asked Tim's sister about it. She took us out there. We drove out past the farmland into scrubland. It was so dry, so vast, so forbidding that I kept thinking, "Who on earth came out here and said, 'I know--Farmland!'" Right in the middle of a big windy desert, we parked in a tiny parking lot and started down a trail. The wind was fierce, the heat worse, and it looked like no place for a pregnant lady.
We walked about a quarter of a mile--maybe even less--and came upon a long concrete barrier. Just over the barrier was an enormous canyon, with the Snake River at the bottom. The black cliffs towered nearly straight up on both sides of the gorge, and it was a stunning sight! I enjoyed it more than the Grand Canyon. Who knew the desert hid such a fantastic view?!
After we left there, we drove down to the Swan Falls Dam (where there are no falls or swans). We didn't realize until we went around the bend that we would be driving down into the gorge on a steep road--with our little Honda Odyssey towing a trailer full of sound equipment. The road was narrow, and dropped down into the gorge with no place to turn a trailer around. I was immediately worried the poor van wouldn't be able to climb back out of the gorge. The old Dam was very neat--lots of cool old buildings. We had a tricky bit trying to turn around, but Tim is good with backing the trailer and we made it. And we made it out of the gorge with no trouble, despite my worries.
We topped the adventure off with ice cream cones all around, for which Tim got applause from all the children. Best applause ever.
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