Craters of the Moon had better be spectacular!
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2011
1
16
18
Trip End
Sep 16, 2011
Arco, Idaho
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
We're in Arco, Idaho. Home of the Atomic Burger (that would be Pickles' Place), the first town ever illuminated by atomic energy, and the county seat of Butte County, Idaho.
With Bozeman behind us, we had a plan of action: spend the night in Arco, a little town near Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. We had been wanting to see it and it fit in nicely with our plans to make it to California by Thursday, so it was perfect. We stopped in Rexburg (close to Rigby, the home of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of the first TV!) for lunch and moved on. Aside from an inadvertent separation on a highway merge – the first time the whole trip that it's happened, actually – all was going swimmingly.
Until we left Idaho Falls and headed west on U.S. 20 towards Craters of the Moon. We started to realize that things were not what they usually are (were we in a cosmic vortex? A weird government testing area? Australia?) when the city fell away quickly and the scrub on the side of the road started to last for miles and miles. I laughed when I saw the first tumbleweed – I had expected to see more! – and the signs for "Game Crossing." I was picturing large animals – elephants? Giant kangaroos? – but sadly, didn’t see anything besides several more tumbleweeds. I stopped laughing quickly as the wind picked up to huge gusts that I was afraid were going to blow Gabe and Jay from their bikes. The Trailways buses, all going in the opposite direction at 70 miles per hour, didn’t help with the wind factor. I figured we could make it the 70 miles or so to Arco with no problem…until the skies started to get darker and darker in front of us.
W e all pulled over and talked about what to do. We didn’t see any rain yet, but the lightning and thunder were getting fiercer and closer. By the time we had decided to repack the car and make space for Gabe and Jay to get in and sit out the worst of the storm, we looked again on the horizon, only to find a brand-new plume of smoke. Lightning had hit the acres of underbrush and started a brush-fire.
A truck pulled up behind us and a lanky guy got out. “Did y’all report that?” Huh? “Did y’all report that. The fire.” Oh…um, no. We’re not from around here. How do you do that in the Middle of Nowhere, Idaho? “Well, I don’t have a phone. I’m a firefighter in Arco. On my way to work. Y’all have a phone?” Yep.
So, our new friend Firefighter Allan called in the brushfire. He described exactly where it was (which we wouldn’t have been able to do, since we had no idea what was ahead of us) and said it was “at least 5 acres.” I’m not sure I can even fathom what 5 acres looks like when it’s not burning.
And then the day started to get weird
“So, y’all staying in Arco?” Yep. “Where at, at the DK Hotel?” Um, no. We’re at the Arco Inn Motel. ---Dead silence from Allen. --- “Y’all know how to get there?” Um, no. “Okay. You’ll see a blinking yellow light. Make a left. You’ll see a fuel station. It’s right after that.” Great, thanks for the directions. What do you think about this weather? “This is nothing. Y’all will be fine.”
So…we forged on. Another 19 miles in pouring rain…followed Allan’s directions to a T….and ended up at the Bates Motel.
Okay, it was the Arco Inn Motel (seems redundant, right?). We were the only car in the parking lot. It’s a one-story motel with a mountain in the background, a gorgeous sunset after the rainstorm, and a 20-something guy with a pregnant wife who run the place. Okay, fine, Norman Bates didn’t have a wife, but still.
We put our stuff in the room, put on rain gear to weather the dregs of the storm, and headed to the highly-recommended fried pickle restaurant. (One of our missions this trip has been to sample at least one thing from each town, whether it’s food, drink, or local entertainment!) Along the way, we saw NO ONE. We saw a Baptist church, a Masonic hall, multiple empty store fronts, and a creepy legless doggie in the window. We couldn’t find anyone to ask how much it was. There were lights on in some of the houses, but I’m convinced they were decoys. We got to the Pickle Place and the conversation – literally – stopped as we walked in the door. There were Pittsburgh Steelers pennants and posters on the walls. (We’re in the Middle of Nowhere, Idaho!)
So – we made it through dinner and survived our walk back. Our plan for tomorrow is Craters of the Moon and then down into Nevada. We’re all convinced that we’re in a low-budget horror movie, though…so if you don’t hear from us in the next couple of days, come and look for us in Arco!
Comments
Westward Ho Travelers,
I'm quite familiar with double rainbows, my dear little whippersnappers. Fried Pickles must be exactly what you're supposed to garnish the Atomic Burgers with.
Would you expect anyting less, in Arco Idaho? I would have bought the legless dog as a souvenir or for the dashboard of the Jetta. priceless
please check behind the shower curtain, please........
Love,
Dad
Nancy, We are going to be in Reno on the 15 16 17...I think you'll be in Fiddletown by then, but if not, call us. So glad you had the same reaction to Yellowstone that we did...absolutely incredible and almost unbelievable. You were standing right in the middle of an ancient, but still rumbling volcano. Like they say, "It DON'T get much better than that"!