“We were gone all day and I was grateful for the respite. ”

We drove south today. Usually, when we travel down Highway 75, we make a right turn onto Route 20 to begin the beautiful drive to Portland. Today, we just kept going . Our first stop was Magic reservoir. This 3700+ acre body of water is formed by the Magic Dam, an earthen embankment across the Big Wood River completed in 1910. It stores water for irrigation, flood control and hydroelectric generation. It is also a mecca for outdoor activities during the hot summer months. We saw a few homes as we drove a bit of the perimeter, but mostly we were alone. The wide expanse beautiful - sitting amidst the brush and volcanic rock.

There were remnants from days gone by strewn about including an old rail car from the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad was a critical part of transportation in Idaho for many decades. I’m not quite sure what Ron Stewart’s prominent quote on the car means, as I have always thought romance involved a roll of the dice!

Union Pacific car in Magic Reservoir, Idaho April 2020

A little further down the road a tall statue came into view. Just past the “Welcome to the Shoshone Ice Caves. We Are Closed” sign we found 2 giant statues and a gift shop and what looked to be a caretakers residence. The Caves date back to the to the 1880’s when they provided ice to the nearby town of Shoshone. In the 1950’s the Cave’s were restored by the Robinson family after falling into disrepair and opened to the public. Tours are given through the 1700 foot cave, 100 feet underground. Personally, I was glad it wasn’t open. Standing guard was the 30 foot tall statue of Chief Washakie of the Shoshone tribe. The Chief was a prominent and respected leader of the Shoshone people during the mid 1800’s. He died in 1900. The other statue was an enormous green dinosaur. No history available on “Dino”.

Ice Caves outside Shoshone, ID April 2020

Our final stop, just outside Twin Falls was Shoshone Falls. Often referred to as the “Niagara Falls of the West”. It is 212 feet high, 41 feet taller than Niagara, and flows over a rim 1,000 feet wide. Willamette Falls, for you Oregonians, is 40 feet high and 1500 feet wide and is the largest falls by volume in the Northwestern United States - not that Oregonians are competitive or anything. It is a stunning site and it felt good to feel the power of the natural world so close at hand.

We were gone all day, and I was grateful for the respite away from the news and the worry and the waiting. We’re learning about Idaho and its deep and rich history on these Sunday Drives. This is one silver lining of the awful pandemic. There will be others, to be sure, and I’m looking carefully for them, so that on the other side I may be a little bit wiser and a good deal more at home with myself and the world around me.