Road Trip with Newell

August 13 – Once we had breakfast out of the way we touched base with Newell to set a time to start on our outing for the day.  He came over and we headed for what I thought was a “Scenic Byway”.  Actually as I re-read it, it said Fort Henry Historic Byway.  The history

Fort Henry Monument

part didn’t start until we drove 20 miles on paved road and then 5 or more on gravel.  The stop was a sign about Fort Henry and a row of metal cuts outs of Indians.  The monument marks the first European settlement in Idaho.  It was a bit disappointing since it took quite a while to get there.

Escapees along the road

We continued on the gravel road for what seemed like ages and I suffered the digs and remarks of Bill and Newell along the way for setting us out on this journey!  Geez, get over it guys!  It was a relief when we finally reached paved road again as I was concerned we somehow missed the road!

The only animals we saw were cows and horses and sheep.  Nothing to get excited about for sure.  The road turned east

Kelly and Newell

and eventually took us to the St. Anthony Sand Dunes.  Too bad it was hot out, we had no cardboard pieces and I had to go to the bathroom at this point really bad.  It would have been fun to climb one and take a slide back down!  The dunes are part of the Sand Mountain Wilderness Study Area and are 135 miles long

ATV's hit the dune

and 5 miles wide.  They go from 50 to 400 feet high and are a very popular ATV destination.  There is a nice campground beside it at one spot and the place was filled with toy haulers and RV’s with trailers. 

Mormon Temple

We headed on to Route 20 and into Rexburg for a bathroom and lunch.   Bill picked up his prescription and we had lunch at Dairy Queen and Newell treated!  Thank you, Newell!  Somehow Bill’s order got messed up and he ended up with 2 hot fudge Sundaes and Newell already had a milkshake so I forced myself to eat it!  It didn’t take much!  After lunch we went in search of the Mormon Temple there.  Easy to spot, on the highest hill and all white, beautiful building!

Back on 20 we headed north to Ashton and this time we got on the Scenic Byway for Mesa Falls.  We went backwards from when Bill and I went before and stopped first at Lower Falls this time.  Since it was a much warmer day than when Bill and I went, there were a lot more people there.  The Lower Falls drop 65 feet.  After a photo session and bathroom break we drove the couple of miles to the Upper Falls that drop 114 feet.  It was here that Bill realized he only had one hearing aid in.  The toilets at Lower Falls were vault toilets with nothing but a toilet so he took off his hearing aid since it was buzzing in the confined area.  He forgot it and left.  We drove back and he thought someone might have tossed it in the toilet or the trash (that would have been so much better) but luckily it was sitting on the floor undisturbed!  Lucky him and our budget!

When we got back Newell went to his RV for a break from us!  Later he came back over and we grilled some fish, Italian sausage and burgers to go with BOUGHT potato salad and Waldorf Salad.  It was a nice evening but the sun was hot still and we put the awning out and sat outside and continued to visit.  Newell warned us about the route we were taking in September when we leave here so we will have to do some re-routing.  We couldn’t thank him enough for making the trip up here to see us.  We have been very blessed to meet some wonderful people during our summer trips that we now consider to be our friends.  We hope to see Newell in Florida some time since he’s now fully retired, even from volunteering.  He’s now truly a Nomad!