We moved today so lots of driving, but our stop in Twin Falls was amazing, what a beautiful place!
Today is moving day. We are driving to Boise today, and staying at the Boise KOA / Meridian. If we leave early enough and the drive is good, we will try to stop in Twin Falls and see what we can while not leaving too much driving so we can arrive during day time yet.
We were all up early enough, and with the wind advisories coming in saying 25-45mph winds, and gusts up to 55mph, I wanted to get out ASAP. I told Carol we should not even do the usual clean up inside, just get things ready to go, and let’s get out before crazy winds get there. We got going, and moved quick, and were leaving by 10am, which is great.
I was feeling good about our ride… new tires on the trailer (at least rear ones), maintenance done on the truck, only thing to watch for was the wind.
The drive towards Twin Falls was very cool, lots of open fields and mountains behind them. Lots of different shades of greens as the fields unfolded. I had to take a few pics while driving, the views were just amazing. The wind was very strong, and at the strongest point we were getting hit head on with 25mph winds (according to Siri). The truck is a beast and just pushed right through it like it was nothing, I could only tell as I was watching the fuel economy here and there, and would see it in the 7-9 range sometimes, which just shows how much harder it was working to fight against that strong wind, but that was the only indication, nothing got warmer, or louder or anything.
We stopped for fuel, restroom and lunch about 45 mins away from Twin Falls, and still had not decided if we’d stop. Carol was not feeling like unhooking the trailer, to go into town, to then hook it back up, so we decided to make a decision as we got closer. And, as it got closer, we could see a pretty big canyon somewhat far, but it looked big, and the GPS showed water in that area, which seemed like a good combination.
I decided we’d stop and check it out, so we drove to the Flying J Truck stop, found a spot next to the trucks, parked, unhooked and left the trailer there. We were about 4 miles from Twin Falls, and our first stop was the Perrine Bridge, which is basically the entrance to the city, and connects the highway side of the canyon to the city side.
Right there it was already amazing. The bridge itself is an amazing piece of engineering.
And the views of the canyon from there are breathtaking. The river runs in the middle of the canyon, the snake river. One side has a park, and even a golf course, which has got to be one of the most amazing views for a golf course, in the ranks of Whistling Straits amazing, if not more (for the views).
We took some pictures, enjoyed the view a bit, and crossed the bridge stopping at the visitor center, for some more views of the bridge and canyon.
From there we went to Centennial Park, which is down the canyon and at the level of the river.
Awesome ride down there, right next to a water fall. Amazing views from below too, the park is very nice, access to the water, playground, views of the bridge.
We spent a little more time there, girls played in the playground a bit. Then we went to Shoshone Falls, which is the highlight of Twin Falls. On the way there we could see a bit more of the city, which looked beautiful. Very nice shopping areas, very nice houses and neighborhoods, everything we saw was nice. We already said we should come back here and explore more, really liked it so far.
The falls area is beautiful, the canyon coming in and the falls right there. There was not a lot of water this time due to the drought in the area. They said the farmers up stream use the river’s water so the levels are low, and we could see both in the amount of water coming down and the water level down below. I overheard a guide saying this is a rare sight as the water down below was over 2 ft lower than usual.
Amazing views nonetheless and I’m really glad we stopped by to see Twin Falls. We definitely want to come back, and maybe next time in warmer months so we can try some water sports.
We drove back to get the trailer and were hoping nothing had happened as it kind of felt weird to just leave it there at a Truck stop. I didn’t think anything would happen to the trailer itself, but the bikes on the racks were just there hanging, so they were easy picking if anyone wanted to take them. Fortunately, everything was just as we left. It took us about 10 minutes to unhook and leave when we arrived, and only 5 minutes to hook it back up, and we were on our way. The rest of the little over 2 hours drive was the same, lots of wind, and beautiful views.
Ohhh and I can’t forget that for the last few trips Bella has been talking about her farm and raising chicken and animals… it’s getting serious. Hahahah.. She even has called Heraldo and Ana Lucia, talked to Judy, about needing help to care for her animals, and needing land. It’s fun to hear her excitement and how long her imagination goes.
Our KOA was just a mile off the highway, and I was hoping it was not in another industrial or crappy subdivision. This time, it wasn’t. This one, the KOA Boise / Meridian is actually right in the middle of a neighborhood, surrounded by stores and shopping areas, a nice location. It’s a bigger, yet tighter KOA. The space between sites looked minimal and the place looked packed.
Carol went to check us in, then we waited for the guy to escort us to our spot. He came quick, took us around the corner, and surprise! There was a truck from the trailer next door right in the middle of the spot. The escort guy knocked on the trailer door and got the guy out to get his vehicles out of the way, not only was his truck on our spot, his other car was also in the middle of the street and in front of his other neighbor. He moved his car first, further into the middle of the street hahahaha… left the door open and went to move his truck… and surprise number 2, his battery was dead! Hahahahah. Comical now. By then, there was another trailer behind me waiting to move, and the escort guy came by to apologize, so I took the opportunity to tell him we would not fit in that spot, and would prefer to move. He went to the front desk and got us moved, along with the person behind us. Our new spot was much better, roomier in the front and sides. Much better, but still pretty close to the neighbors, but that’s ok. Weather was good, warm enough.
We got going setting it up, then once the truck was disconnected, Carol left to the store to get some stuff for dinner. I stayed and finished setting up, while the girls played. Carol got some tortillas and we made pizza in the grill, ate outside and chatted, it was nice. It’s nice to be outside. It was a relaxing night, and from there we got ready for bed time.