Idaho Falls, Idaho

June 25 - July 2, 2021

By Marty

 

Next up after Grand Teton NP was Idaho Falls, Idaho. Our initial plan was to spend nine days in and around Grand Teton NP followed by five days in Idaho Falls. However, it was difficult to find a suitable RV park in the Teton area. The best one we could find had the worst reviews of any the 100+ RV parks in which we have stayed over the past two years. So to hedge our bet we subtracted a few days from our Teton stop and added them to the Idaho Falls stop.

As it happens there isn't all that much to do in and around Idaho Falls so our eight day stay there was more than we needed.  That said, we find that extra time to catch up on computer stuff, work on the blog and Janell's shutterfly albums, do motorhome chores, and have some down time is always welcome.

 

 

It was only 146 miles to our Idaho Falls RV park so we had time for lunch on the way at Melvin Brewing  in Alpine, WY.  Melvin Brewing was started in 2009 in the back of Thai Restaurant in Jackson, WY and has won a number of prestigious industry awards. They built a larger brewery and tap room in Alpine a few years ago.  The setting is awesome and the food was the best we have ever had in a brew pub. Oh, and the beer was good too...

 

A few of their awards on display. I bought some Melvin IPA and MPA (Melvin Pale Ale) to take with us so that I could give myself a Melvin later!

Another tin tacker for the Livermore beer garden!

Perhaps Wyoming is more progressive than you might think...

Driving through Alpine we stumbled onto the Great Western Antler Rendezvous! Never having been to an antler rendezvous before we decided to check it out.  There were about 25 vendors selling all things antler.

As Janell explained in her Grand Teton post the antlers, at least for the elk and moose, are shed each year so, to our understanding, no animals were harmed in the filling of this trailer.

Idaho added to the "states we have visited so far" map, making it 39 states to date.

Shortly after arriving at our Idaho Falls this big fella pulled in with a spare RV! Kind of like the Apollo 11 and the lunar lander, right?

Can you guess what the primary physical characteristic of Idaho Falls might be? If you answered water falls you would be correct!

The Snake River runs through downtown Idaho Falls where it has been discretely and creatively dammed to provide hydroelectric power for the city. There is a well done river walk and greenbelt flanking the river on either side for several miles.

Driving in from Alpine, WY there are brilliant yellow fields flanking the highway. We later learned that they are Canola plants (not granola plants; Janell set me straight on that...) Canola is a popular rotation crop for wheat (wheat being the main crop in the area.) Thus the Canola/Granola blooms are rarely found in the same spot from year to year.

A one hour drive back toward Wyoming took us to Palisades Creek trail where we did a ten mile round trip hike to lower Palisades Lake.

Wanting to see the Teton range from the west side we took a drive on the Teton Scenic Byway, which passes through Victor Idaho....

...where an art and craft fair was underway in the town park. The restroom facilities were artful in themselves!

Driggs, Idaho, also on the Teton Scenic Byway

The Teton Range as seen from Idaho. Except for some foothills in southeast Idaho the range is entirely in Wyoming.

Teton range from the west side of the Teton Valley