Devil Boat

On a day that was very overcast and far too warm for this time of year, we made a brief out-and-back visit to Arco to pick up a few groceries and to gather insurance information.

While LC spent some time talking with an insurance agent, I wandered across the road with my dog and headed towards the sub tower.

The first time we saw the submarine was during our first house hunting trip to the area in the late winter and early spring of 2013.

As we pulled into town (tired from a long trip from Cody Wyoming that included circumventing the then-closed Yellowstone National Park) one of the first things I noticed (aside from Number Hill) was the tower.

As we passed it on the way to the motel I looked at it in surprise, and then actually turned in my seat, still trying to confirm that I had actually seen what I thought I had seen.

I had.  

The very top of a submarine.  Resting in a small park close to the outskirts of town...............

We have stopped at this small park a handful of times over the past year and a half and of course I have since learned the story behind this massive and unexpected black vessel..

A link to information about its journey to the small, high desert, farming community of Arco, Idaho:

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=8661 

Close to the sub tower I found this sign.

It was attached to a small metal building that did not look like a Mega Peace Museum, and when I pulled on the handle to the door I found that it was locked.

Does this museum even exist? 

Are there plans to built a museum in the future at this place?

Was the small stone museum in town that was closed the last time I tried to open ITS doors, this museum?

I have no idea the answer to any of those questions...............

Also close to the sub tower was this torpedo................

The park is only a small green space, but it is an intriguing combination of submarine tower and torpedo and monuments and informational boards.

I love this little place.

It is hugely interesting, located right on the main highway coming into town, and provides visitors with endless information on the surprising navy influence possessed by a tiny town at the base of both a desert and a mountain range in SE Idaho.................

I remember talking to an Arco resident not long after we first moved to this area.

We were talking about the submarine tower and I mentioned that I thought it was funny that a town with such a strong Mormon presence would have a sub tower containing the number 666.

The woman smiled at me and then told me that for a good while after the tower was installed in its new home, it was not unusual to find that the numbers had been painted overnight - the sixes changes to eights.

The numbers had to be repainted back to sixes repeatedly for a while.............

Glancing back across the two lane highway I realized that LC had still not walked outside from the insurance office.  

It was damp outside, and the sky was valiantly fighting a battle between blue sky and grey.

Looking up at the sky I was disappointed.

it had snowed overnight a handful of times over the past month, only to see most of it quickly melt away in the unseasonably mild temperatures of mid-December.

Walking across a quiet side road, Kory and I left the submarine park and slowly wandered towards a Christmas display that was set up in one more small green space.

I snapped a few quick pictures of it, and then smiled each time because somehow a wandering Kory always seemed to manage to get all or part of herself in each shot.

My dog photo-bombing my Christmas display pictures.

Finally she wandered to my right and (struggling to hang onto her as she pulled on her leash, while at the same time trying to keep my camera still with my other hand) I finally was able to get a decent picture.

Glancing across the road again (and still not seeing LC) I turned my attention back to the religious figures in front of me.

They troubled me as they always do when I see these figures.

But someone had taken the time to carve these out of wood, to carefully paint them, to carefully set them up at the edge of town in recognition of the season, and I appreciated the effort.................

Grey sky was reluctantly turning to partially blue sky.

Beyond the temporary Christmas display was a permanent flag display, recognizing all branches of military service.

Looking across the road one more time, I saw my Mountain Boy walking out of the building.

He walked towards the side of the building where the Tahoe was parked, realized that Kory and I were not inside the Tahoe, and I stood and watched him for a moment as he looked around in search of us.

When he saw me I waved, scooped up my dog and crossed over the two lane highway.

It was time to head for home..................

I am not happy without you on this Christmas..........Author Unknown

The Twin Falls, ID

After spending a good deal of time at Shoshone Falls (and then making a quick trip to a hardware store to pick up batteries for my camera) we drove back the way we had come, this time in search of the Twin Falls.

They were only a mile from Shoshone Falls, and as before, we dropped down into a huge, rocky canyon before parking the Tahoe and climbing out in search of whatever it was that we would find in this new-to-us place.

Also as before, we found a silent parking lot, a silent and empty park, overlooks that.........over looked.........and a series of falls that were unimpressive aside from the promise of what they COULD be at a different time of year.

No matter.

We needed to begin thinking about heading home.

We had three hours or more of driving, and so we did not spend a lot of time at Twin Falls...............

Also as before, Twin Falls was a monochromatic blend of endless rock, dam and cables, low flow grey water and grey sky.

Before posting this blog I briefly searched the Internet, trying to find some more information about the Twin Falls, but instead found this:

http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/idaho/twin-falls 

As I read the info I finally realized just how much we had crammed into a few hours, and just how little we had actually seen.

There were bloated falls and a fast moving river, the lush green of spring growth, canyons and extraordinary bridges and more falls.

Even a town that looked blue collar and bleak on this rushed late fall day, that LC and I had barely seen in our hurry and therefore knew little about.

As I stood on one more concrete walkway looking through iron bars down at the falls and river I again - unexpectedly - found myself missing the crashing waterfalls of Tennessee.

I couldn't relate to all the rock.

Was surprisingly overwhelmed by the uninterrupted beige and grey that lay all around me

Was overwhelmed by the hard edges of only rock and concrete, and suddenly and unexpectedly I found myself needing the soft edges of lush green-ness...................

After loading back into the truck we followed one more sign that we knew would take us down to a boat dock and quiet pools of water.

Heading towards a public restroom that stood in the shadow of a huge rock bluff, I looked up at it and was suddenly enamored.

The rock face had all kinds of character to it and (if you looked closely) endless subtle shades of green and brown and grey.

As I stood regarding it for a moment I remembered carefully studying a rock face up in West Virginia while hiking on trail during the middle of a race.

It had started at midnight (as the races put on by this particular race company were prone to do, which usually meant that we had already been up for sixteen hours or more before the race even started) and we had been on the move for well over 24 hours.

As we were trekking I looked ahead of me and saw a huge rock face to the left of the trail that looked very much like this one.

As I kept walking and kept looking at the rock, I actually saw a face.

Eyes.  A mouth.  A nose.

I kept watching it in my overtired state, fully expecting that the rock face would at any moment begin talking, in some deep and slow Harry Potter movie kind of way.

It didn't.  But at the time I expected it to...............

The water by the boat dock was quiet and calm, and was surrounded by the fading green of late fall in south eastern Idaho...............

Apparently Daniela hearts somebody, whose name I could not make out.

After the sharpness of the terrain surrounding the dam and the falls, it was calming to wander on grass and among the trees, surrounded by still water for a short while.

We wandered.  We looked.  We enjoyed.

And then it was time to finally begin heading for home................

We had seen them from the interstate as we made our quick trip down to Twin Falls earlier in the day to pick up a Russian SKS, and as LC sped back towards Blackfoot on our way home I snapped pictures of these windmills.

There were many through this section of the highway, just as there are many on the outskirts of Idaho Falls, and throughout this section of the road there were signs informing travelers that we were in a high wind area.

These are wonderfully relaxing and graphic things to look at.  

Extremely tall and towering over the terrain, they are veritable farms of windmills that slowly and methodically and silently rotate while creating power.

There are places across the country that have a NIMBY attitude about them (Not In My Back Yard), but I love the sight of them................

As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing.  I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche.  I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can..................John Muir