Headed on a road trip!

August 23 – The plan was to leave on our excursion at 9 but we didn't get up until 8 so it was about 9:15. I packed us a lunch and snacks and Bill loaded the car after a nice big breakfast.

It was still very smoky and hazy out and it was a brisk 50 degrees. Burrr! Our first stop was about 20 miles down the road when Bill thought he forgot one of his pills. He did forget one but it's an over the counter so we stopped again in Blackfoot way down the road. There was a Wal-mart right at the exit so I went in first and got the pills and a Sunday paper and used the facilities while he stayed with Molly. Then it was his turn.

There were so many wheat and hay farms along the way and more baling to be done. Once you see all the cattle you realize how much hay it's going to take for a winter up here. We passed Idaho Falls and Pocatello, both which we will catch on the way back. We didn't stop again until the exit for Lava Hot Springs. We fueled up at a Flying J at the exit assuming prices will be higher in the tiny towns along the way.

We arrived In Lava Hot Springs around lunchtime. First we stopped

City springs

at our hotel, Riverside Hot Springs Inn, to see if our room was ready in hopes of leaving Molly while we went out exploring. Since they were full last night they didn't have our room ready yet so we just took her with us. We stopped at the city park where there was tubing in the Portneuf River. We had our lunch at a nice picnic area and then walked down the path to the end of the city “spring baths”. It was beautifully landscaped.

On the way to Soda Springs there were a number of Historical Markers that we stopped at to read up on the local history. This is an area where the Oregon Trail crossed, geysers, a ghost town, all sorts of interesting places. The drive over the pass would have been amazing of it wasn't for all of the smoke in the air. The vast fields of wheat, new crops and harvested, the colors were beautiful from the top of the pass.

Soda Springs Geyser

We missed seeing the Soda Springs Geyser at 2:00 but circled

Geyser Run off

back and saw it at 3. It really shoots straight up and the flow from it is beautiful. It looks coppery or golden. We drove up just in time to see it go off.

We stopped at Octogon Springs where the water is carbonated by nature. I had an empty water bottle that Bill filled and later put a packet of Snapple in and said it was pretty good. I tasted it and it was nasty before the Snapple. There were 3 middle school kids at the spring just relaxing on their

Bill filling his bottle with
carbonated water

last day before school starts. They told us to put grape kool-aid in the water and not to drink the water from Hooper Springs as he heard they swim in that spring.

Man made lava flow

We drove out to see Hooper Springs and Park which is across a big field from the Monsanto Slag Pour. They call it a man made lava flow. I would like to watch when they do the pour as it is molten rock being poured and would look like lava from a volcano.

Around the city park, Corrigan, are several historic monuments. We saw the Dinkey Engine, which was a miniature locomotive used in 1926 to haul supplies to

Conda Bus

the dam for the Alexander Reservoir. It was located at the bottom of the reservoir in 1976 and restored by the Union Pacific Railroad. There is a Conda Bus that was used between 1922 and 1936 to carry phosphate mine workers between the towns of Conda, 8 miles north to Soda Springs.

Along the main highway is a monument where Brigham

Monument to mark Brigham
Young's cabin site

Young had a summer home cabin built in 1870. It was being moved in 1944 to make room for a motel and was destroyed in the process.

Now isn't that a big bale of hay?

We attempted to go to Sulpher Springs and when we turned off the main road to a gravel road, it wasn't bad at all. Then I turned off that to a very rutty dirt road and stopped and we both agreed it was not the road for the car, so I backed out and we headed back into Soda Springs. Along the gravel road I got my chance to have my picture taken on a huge hay bale.

Back in town is the Fairview Cemetery where the Wagon Box Grave is and they have a sign pointing down the aisle where it's “supposed” to be.  We could not find it. This isn't the first time a cemetery has said “go this way” and then there are no further instructions. We drove around a bit but didn't see one the shape of it. It was the first grave in the cemetery. It contains a family of 7 on their way to Oregon in 1861 and were killed by Indians. Others in the wagon train found them the next day and used the family's wagon to bury them all together using their blankets and quilts.

Oregon Trail ruts

As we headed back towards Lava Springs we stopped to see some of the Oregon Trail ruts along the river and a spot called Sheep Rock where the Oregon Trail and the California Trail separate.

It was nice to get back to Lava Springs and only took us 2

No Molly didn't go!

loads to bring our stuff and Molly's stuff in the room. The hotel was built in 1904 and has 3 hot thermal tubs in the basement that we got to use. They are at 108 degrees and boy was it hot! She showed us how to add cold water to cool it down some.

Our private tub

We went after dinner, which was in the hotel and absolutely delicious! Bill with with a filet but I had the duck pasta primavera.  Homemade pasta even!  After our nice dinner and 30 minutes in the thermal tub we were so relaxed and barely able to get back up the stairs, as there is no elevator. Molly loved having a big room to roam around in and with the king bed we should all get a good night's sleep with lots of room!