August 27, 2013

We left the AmericInn and headed to the Craters of the Moon National Monument. On the way we stopped at Goodale's Cutoff, which sounded familiar (as in one of those things those settlers were talking to on the Oregon Trail. (Although talking to people was never as much fun as hunting buffalo!)

In order to go in the caves we had to get a permit. We knew that, but we didn't realize that going to the Shoshone Indian Ice Caves yesterday put us in jeopardy. White-nose syndrome is killing bats and humans can spread it when they visit caves. We had to promise to wear other shoes (which left us with our water shoes) and I couldn't take my camera or my watch in since I had taken them into that cave (Jon's camera hadn't recovered from its dip in the Boise River until last night so he was able to take his.)

This place was incredible. The website recommended what you should do if you only had a certain amount of time (e.g., if you just had a half hour, just take the scenic drive.) The one can't miss hike was the North Crater Flow Trail. From our day at the Shoshone Indian Ice Caves we learned that much of Idaho is composed of these lava tubes that reminded explorers of moon rocks. Knowing that didn't make it any less incredible. The coolest type of rocks were the lava "bombs" that came in different shapes like "spindles." This trail was just 0.3 miles and every turn presented you with an even cooler view.

Trailhead of the North Crater Flow Trail

The Devils Orchard Nature Trail was short (0.5 miles) and easy but it was all very repetitive and the messages on the signs were all preachy, showing us how careless tourists trampled down the fragile rocks.
 
The Inferno Cone was much cooler, because you could get in the cone that spit out all those "bombs" -- when the rocks cool before they hit the ground and are essentially frozen in place.

In the Inferno Cone

We skipped the longer trails so we'd have time to see the caves, having back-timed to make sure we'd have time for the Museum of Clean in Pocatello. We went in first Indian Tunnel and then Dewdrop (although I skipped Dewdrop as we had to walk 1.6 miles in our water shoes (the sacrifices we made for the bats!) and one cave was hard enough. The tunnel was cool but you had to walk over rocks throughout the process so maybe I would have liked it better if I had had shoes!

Next we took the two-hour drive to Pocatello to see Don Aslett's Museum of Clean. The AAA book had said to allow 90 minutes, so we budgeted three hours. We were there 2:45 so it was a good thing we did! When we first arrived, it was very much as I had expected it, with old-fashioned vacuum cleaners (that you could try!) and old-fashioned washing machines that had been turned into seats.

Vacuum Village

More vacuum cleaners

And hand vacuum cleaners

But what I didn't expect was that the 80-something-old founder, Don Aslett, to give us an hour+ tour!

He started a cleaning company in college and has gone on to write a ton of books and do a lot of media. (In re-reading the brochure, I see in addition to his clutter books, he also has books called Idaho Potato Cookbook and Write Your First Book. One of his speaking topics is "how to have a 48-hour day (accomplish twice as much and have fun doing it!) I had never heard of him before today but when I mentioned his name in Idaho, the person I spoke with was familiar with him.

 

We also learned that it is the "Museum of Clean," not the "Cleaning Museum," as we'd been calling it, because it is about the value of being clean, including clean living (slated for the fourth floor, under construction) and clean language. Case in Point, the Noah's Ark replica, demonstrating clean animal pairs. He was also big on reducing clutter and commented how not many people in Idaho recycle. I only saw two recycle bins my entire time in Idaho (one at our Boise hotel and one at the airport.) Perhaps if they offered 5 cent deposits on cans and bottles that would help. All in all, it was a great tour, although he made me tired running from place to place (he even had an entire fireplace/chimney setup to demonstrate to the kids how they used to clean the chimneys with ducks!) - we had to go back and see some of the stuff over again so we could see it more in-depth.

I asked to take a picture of him after our tour and when we told him what he did, he took us into his library/screening room and said since we were media, we could pick out a book. (I picked Pet Clean-up Made Easy.) Here's a link to the CBS Evening News On the Road story (my favorite segment) on the museum he showed us (he said they contacted him about doing a follow-up): http://museumofclean.com.s158603.gridserver.com/portfolio/cbs-features-the-museum-of-clean/
It was very clear that this museum is very much a passion project for him. He was telling us about a guy who wrote a book about soap and soap advertising and said he met with him a few weeks back and he's donating his whole collection to the museum.

With Don Aslett on a washing
 machine

After the Museum of Clean, we stayed in Pocatello so we could go to the Fort Hall Replica, another one of the Oregon Trail stops. We discovered we also had to purchase admission to the Bannock County Historical Museum so we did that as well. They had a nice cleaning/household exhibit of their own, as well as some other cool displays. The fort looked very different on the outside, setting you up for a different experience of the inside, something one of the displays said the settlers noticed too. (The real fort was divided up into lumber -- the site location is part of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.)

Outside the Fort Hall replica

Inside the Fort Hall replica

It would have been cooler if it hadn't been a replica, but it was still fun to read the stories (two different people at the fort told of how someone there said they wouldn't be able to continue as is to Oregon but then the same person told both sets of people that that same guy was essentially full of it) and imagine. Outside we saw a buffalo, part of the Pocatello Zoo adjacent to the museums.

By this time it was after 5 but we decided to make a few more stops on our way back to the Comfort Suites Airport Hotel in Boise. Our first stop was Register Rock, part of Massacre Rocks State Park in American Falls, Idaho. This was where people carved their names as they passed by on the Oregon Trail.

Hard to see, but a 7-year old, J.J. Hansen carved his name in this rock

It was much more impressive than the puny Plymouth Rock, although the constant sprinklers going off made it hard to get close.

Register Rock

The park itself (down the road from Register Rock) mentioned Devil's Gate, which I mentioned from the Oregon Trail game so of course we had to stop. We couldn't figure out how to get down to the water, but it offered a nice view and was getting late anyway.

Devil's Gate

Our final stop was the Minidoka National Historic Site. A few buildings are standing of what housed Japanese Americans during World War II. This is a sad part of our history and one I didn't really know much about until this trip. Here were people who were forced to leave their homes (while continuing to pay mortgages and other responsibilities), forced to work for the government working in the fields, and were only given bus fare home on the way out, years later. I'm a history buff and these displays were hard for me to look at and stomach. The tour book advised us to check on road conditions but they were fine; perhaps advice for the winter?

It was 9 p.m. when we arrived back in Twin Falls. The shake place we'd picked out in Garmin was closing 5 minutes before we arrived so we went to a Sonic and had that on the 2-hour trek back to Boise. When booking the trip, it was a tough call - whether to stay in Twin Falls or go back to Boise. The ability to sleep in on Wednesday meant for a long trip back. I spent most of the time in the car throughout the trip reading the biography of L.M. Montgomery I'd brought along that Kindred Spirit Stefanie Jochman recommended, but by now it was too dark to read so I took a snooze while Jon got us to our destination safely. -- POSTED BY COLLEEN