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Hi Everyone,
Another day, another adventure. We started off this morning in Lava Hot Springs bathing in the warm mineral springs. The springs come from an ancient volcano that supplies 2 1/2 millions gallons of hot spring water every day. They have 5 separarte hot springs with varying water temperatures of 104-110 degrees. It contains very little sulfur, magnesium, and they do not add any cholorine, the native americans in the area claim that they water have healing powers. It was a mildly cool day at 77 degrees so the hot water felt very relaxing. The Shosone Indians believe the hot springs to be their sacred lands but the State of Idaho now has control over the hot springs in Lava. The town of Lava itself has about 500 residents and is considered to be one of the funkiest towns in Idaho. The people sure had character and the downtown area itself was very quaint. There were quaint little shops and down home markets lining main street. The people were friendly but I don't think they were used to two girls from the East Coast stopping through their little town.
The drive through Idaho was really nice, you were
really able to see just how rurall Idaho is. Farms, horses, hills, and mountains were all that you could see. There was varely any traffic except for the random farm equipment traveling on the roadways. It was quite different than I had expected but extemely peaceful and beautiful. Our next stop was to the Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park to see the largest free standing sand dunes in North America. It’s something that you would not expect to see in Idaho as it is a landlocked state. Bruneau Sand Dunes is in the south western corner of Idaho, only about 50 miles or so from the Nevada line so we were in desert type area.
The dunes were disappointing from afar but once you were up close they were magnificently beautiful. They were a couple of sand dunes and the largest rises up 500 feet, with razor sharp edges and pinnacles. It just seemed so out of place that it was really amazing that they were nestled in the green, lush, rolling hills of Idaho. You could hike up the dunes and there was also a lake that you could take boats out onto, we choose to just enjoy
the scenery by taking a short walk around the area reading the information aboutthe dunes and how they were created. We also had a picnic in the nice open air pavilion on the lake overlooking the dunes. The sand dunes were created 11,000 years ago when Lake Bonneville flooded the entire area; apparently it was one of the biggest floods in history. Lake Bonneville was once part of the Great Salt Lake but after the flood the only part that remained was what’s left of the Salt Lake. They now stay in place because the prevailing cross winds keep them together.
Our last but not least adventure for the day began with an ominous looking storm headed in our direction. The forecast called for severe thunderstorms, hail, and 60 mph winds. We thought that we could tough it out at a campground but they advised against it and to be honest we did not feel safe camping in weather like that. So we decided to find a Motel 6 in the Boise area, well on our way we had a little accident. We were driving along minding our own business when we blew a tire. Thankfully we were in
the right land and there was an immediate exit so we pulled off of the highway safely. We remained calm and didn’t freak out and attempted to use our fix a flat so that we could drive to a repair shop. Well with a nail and two metal objects sticking out of your tire and a tear at the rim, they fix a flat just leaked out. The whole situation was just compunded by the dark clouds, thunder, lighting, and howling winds that were fast apporaching. I must have run something over in the road that I wasn’t able to see. So roadside assistance it was, they came and put on the spare in a jiffy. The man who changed the tire was a bona fide cowboy with wrangler jeans and worn out cowboy boots. So not all was lost. They even directed us to a place to stay for the night, Motel 6 of course. Apparently it’s our favorite hotel chain. So in the morning our first stop will be to get a new tire (hopefully it won’t blow our budget) and get the other ones checked out. This was the first time I have ever got a flat
tire while driving, it was pretty scary. I was kind of shaken up but I think we handled it well. Such is life on the road; we are about 4,500 miles already! Tomorrow we head into Oregon and I am so very excited. I fell in love with Oregon the first time I visited and can hardly wait to go back.
I hope that all is well back home and I would like to congratulate my mother for a successful first day at her new job! Yeah! Take care.
Love
Laura
PS- It is now tomorrow and lucky for us my fancy new car with All Whell Drive requires 4 new tires instead of just one. There were too many punctures in my old tire to repair it, so we had no other options. The people at the tire place were really friendly and helpful, even though we were not too happy at the turn of events. We also had one of our old tires turned into a full size spare in case we run into any more trouble later on down the road, especially in really rural parts of Canada and Alaska. We are currently
in Oregon but since I have been having trouble uploading pictures the post is a little later than expected. Sorry!!
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jennyfromtheblock42
jenny
save a horse ride a cowboy.
man oh man, i sure did love that lovely cowboy who helped with our car!