Tuesday August 2, Twin Falls, ID

Not far from camp this morning we stopped at Register Rock which has been well preserved. The names and dates of some of the people travelling on the Oregon Trail have been carved into the rock.

We are now travelling on the Oregon Trail which between 1840 and 1869, 500,000 pioneers travelled west from Missouri on the 2000 mile trail to start new lives in Oregon. It invokes a real sense of history as we travel west along the banks of the Snake River. Unfortunately the watering system at the Rock, meant that I couldn’t get out to take photos as both me and the camera would have received a fair dousing.

We managed a back road through to Twin Rivers which at times meant we were driving right beside the freeway! This area was a desert until the early 1900’s when a dam was built on the Snake River enabling 360,000 acres to be irrigated by gravity fed canals. There are endless areas growing quite a variety of crops including the famous Idaho potatoes.

We passed a number of huge factory farmed dairy farms. I have to say that I found it hard seeing all the animals easting, sleeping and feeding on dirt yards, and that smell was something else. Seeing dairy cows grazing on fresh green grass all year round like in NZ is perhaps what we expect, but guess to get enough milk for the population of US, these sorts of operations are a necessity. I hope we never get them in NZ. The surrounding fields were cropped with lucerne and maize to provide some of the feed needed for these animals.

We could see some really stormy skies around us, and drove through areas where it appeared there had been huge rain storms, but luckily we missed it all. It has been quite humid with heat showers for a few days, and guess that is why there has been no harvesting of the wheat and barley which look really golden and ripe.

First stop in Twin Falls, a city of about 50,000 was at Walmart for a restock of the pantry, then it was off to find somewhere to get a 3,000 mile service for Ruakiwi. Came across a suitable garage quite quickly and we only had a wait of about an hour before they could fit us in. It was after 5 before we were all finished, thought it a good chance to check out the bridge over the Snake River Canyon which sits almost 500 feet above the water. It really was a breathtaking view, and we were able to walk over it as well, must admit to feeling a bit odd when the big semis drove over and everything seemed to move! Had heard that BASE jumpers take off from the centre of the bridge and hoped we might see one, but no luck….maybe have to check it out again tomorrow.

The historic centre of town is a very pretty tree lined area, but as seems to be happening in so many towns, the opening of all the “box” stores further out has taken the trade away and many of them were empty.

Decided to stay the night at Walmart, so had a meal out and called in the Barnes and Noble bookstore for a wander around afterwards, they are open until 10pm!

Joined a number of other RV’s in the carpark for an uneventful evening.