Adventure Saturday: The Bizarre Edition

I have been to some admittedly weird places in my life. Tickertown or Tinkertown or whatever that bizarre place in New Mexico was called. The City Museum in St. Louis. The fantasy forest of Blarney Castle. I'm sure there are more...

But, I'm not sure what compares with the Walter's Ferry Museum south of Melba, right next to the Snake River. Also known as Cleo's Ferry Museum and Nature Trail. At the site of the original Walter's Ferry crossing, it became the home of Dr. Sam Swayne and his second wife, Cleo, who essentially spent 30+ years putting together this place. Guys, I'm am a loss for words to figure out how to describe this place. There were there kitschy gatherings of garden gnomes and figurines and ALL OVER THE PLACE these birdhouses with cheerful messages on them. There were a few closed up houses built of stone (fascinating architecture though!) that were locked up, including a museum, Cleo and Dr. Swayne's former home, a chapel, and Cleo's barn. Also, for some inexplicable reason, there was a replica of the Church of the Nativity... because why not? 

While it was difficult to figure out what exactly was the "museum" part of this place, the nature walk path was VERY clear. You literally just followed those inspiration mailboxes. "Have the Merriest Day!" "Keep a Smile on Your Face!" "Listen to the Birds!" "I'm Not Making These Up!" As you walked along the path, every few feet you came across another gathering of gnomes, African mammals, a moose head, weeping angels (not really but close!), trolls, ceramic animals, and whatever other bizarre thing you could imagine. There were also some incredibly well done, beautiful bronze sculptures of children playing games, exercising, enjoying the sunshine and watching parades. These were my favorites. We also can't forget stumbling across a recreation of Jesus' tomb, with the added bonus of the stone that was rolled away from the entrance. This was right next to the serenity garden, complete with a little fountain, fake swans and ducks, and more creepy angels.

Also there were several benches with bronze sculptures of Lincoln, Einstien, Ben Franklin, Shakespeare and Mark Twain. Because again, why not?

Up on the top of the hill, which you got to after a short hike, there was a large rainbow (let's not be fooled though- it was DEFINITELY there to remind us of Noah's ark and certainly not to remind me to be inclusive to any certain groups of people....) and three large crosses. The best part though was the incredible view of the river. So gorgeous.

                                       

Guys, I really can't tell you what I think about this place. The entire time I was there, I kept saying to myself "this is so bizarre!" But at the same time, it was somewhat delightful. Maybe a little over the top at times, but delightful nonetheless. Right down by the river, close to the white "piggy bridge", there was was covered picnic table where I sat and did some Italy planning and some reading and it was so quiet and peaceful. You couldn't really hear the cars crossing over the bridge and you could hear birds and crickets and frogs.

However, it was time for some normalcy after an afternoon at the "museum"... So I crossed over the river myself and drove along the river through Marsing. The water was so calm and clear and and the reflections of the mountains were gorgeous. I parked down at the bottom of Lizard Butte after crossing back into Canyon County and scrambled up to the top to see the views. Again, just gorgeous. And hot.... so hot...

So I finished up the afternoon at Ste. Chapelle. There were plenty of seats outside so I bought a bottle of moscato and did some Italy planning. Adventure is good for the soul- take advantage of it and go find some of your own!

Mini Idaho Road Trip

For the first time in several years, I happened to be in Idaho when Amos and Karen were in Sun Valley for a conference. So, with a week of teaching behind me, I packed up Tex and hopped onto the road. The drive was just gorgeous and went by really quickly. I got a chance to meet Amos and Karen at the Sun Valley Lodge (and also ogle some famous people at the conference!!!) and then headed to my AirBnB for the night. Because Amos and Karen were in conferences in the morning, I took advantage of the hiking outside Sun Valley and trekked up and down a few mountains. I got a bit lost but the views were stunning, the podcasts were fascinating, and the weather wasn't too warm so I wasn't gross and sweaty when I met back up with them in town after lunch.

Even though I didn't have a ton of time with them, just being able to see Amos and Karen and catch up with them (and stumble through conversations in Hebrew) was worth the drive. I would have drive twice as far to see them! An added bonus of the trip to Sun Valley was that I got to wander the Ketchum Arts Festival with Blair, who was there with her mom. Such a happy coincidence! I got to see Amos one more time quickly Saturday morning and then they were off to the airport and I was on my way north to places yet untraveled (by me, of course... )

The views were again, just absolutely stunning, and I had a cool hike in my sights. The gravel road out to the trailhead SUCKED but the hike itself was worth it. As per usual, I made a wrong turn and ended up on a totally different trail but the lake I wound up at was just stunningly gorgeous. And yes, I realize I keep saying the same thing but I'm lacking in words that can justify how incredible what I was seeing was. Phyllis Lake was like a mirror and reminded me a lot of Cleveland Dam in Vancouver. The benefit of being on the wrong trail was that there wasn't another soul around and I felt like I had the whole forest to myself.

After driving through Stanley, I drove along the Salmon River to Challis, where I panned for some gold, and then turned south to drive down the Peaks to Craters Byway. This took me past Grandview Canyon, Mt. Borah and the High Peaks of the Lost River Tanger, Mackay Dam and Reservoir, until I stopped for awhile at the Mackay museum. This was the starting point for the Mackay Ghost Towns on the Mine Hill tour, which was a driving tour through the most awful gravel and pothole filled roads but went up through the hills to drive past old remains of when Mackay was a booming mining town.

 

While the drive was awful (I was speeding along at top speeds of 10 mph) and I felt like I needed to be in an off-roading commercial for Nissan, the things that I saw were really cool- old quarries, old homes and school houses, and once again, the views were just beautiful! I also ended up helping two guys push a dead 4-wheeler onto their trailer, which made me feel like I had done my good deed of the day.

Then it was off to Craters of the Moon. I have wanted to go here for years and years and years and I finally made it! Thanks to Greg and Aly, I had a little tent that I erected in my little campsite, had a sleeping bag thanks to Brooke and Kevin, and had my little chair for my dinner and my reading. I popped over to a ranger talk about planetary geology, which I only sort of understood, and then did some wandering around the are right by my campsite. The geology of Craters is unreal- and again, I totally don't get it- but there are no words to describe how strange and beautiful and unusual it all is. I got to see the sun start to set a bit and then ate my sandwich dinner and read before bedtime in the tent.

The next morning, I wandered around more of Craters of the Moon, walking around the Devil's Orchard, climbing up to the top of the Inferno Cone, weaving through the different spatter cones, and wandered through the tree molds trail. Again, no words to describe so use the pictures to help give you an idea.

 

Then it was down to the Shoshone Ice Caves. This place was bizarre. It is a part of the same geological feature as Craters but also reminded me a lot of the Underground Cistern in Istanbul. When it comes down to it though, the cave is cold! Like really cold! Which was perfect for such a hot day. I didn't want to leave! I tried to hold on to that feeling as I got back into the car and drove down to Twin Falls. I had wanted to see the Shoshone Falls but didn't feel like paying $5 for it so instead, I took some pictures from the overlook and then drove to the Perrine Bridge, wandered through the museum, and the gazed down as the gorge way down below. I've wanted to see the Perrine Bridge for awhile as well and I wasn't disappointed. It was beautiful- such a majestic architectural feature- and I was glad to hang out there for a few hours before heading home.

I'm so glad I did this little trip and I'm so glad I got to see parts of Idaho I hadn't yet gotten to! What's next!? North Idaho, I think!