Author Archives: Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

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About Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

We are a husband and wife team living in St. Paul MN. Both of us retired by the end of 2012 and decided to travel and visit areas of the U.S. and Canada that we had not seen before. Most of the time we head out for 3-7 weeks; usually by driving, first in our 2001 Saturn and then when it hit 225,000 miles we traded it in for our 2016 Subaru Legacy . This travel blog is written to help us remember the great places we have visited and people we have met as well as to inform family and friends of our whereabouts. Contact us at ckeh72@comcast.net In 2013 we took the following trips: Trip 1-January--2 weeks in Florida to visit Orlando, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Amelia Island. Trip 2-February and March-4 weeks in Hawaii, visiting the four major islands. Trip 3-March and April--several weeks in New Mexico visiting family followed by traveling cross-country to VA for VA Garden week. Trip 4-May and June--6-7 weeks driving to Las Vegas, the Sierra Nevada Mtns, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia N.P, Salt Lake City, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Devils Tower and home. Trip 5-June- a quick trip to Boston to visit family. Trip 6-July and August-a 6-7 week trip to Calgary, Banff, Mt. Ranier and Mt. St. Helens, Olympic N.P., North Cascades N.P., Victoria, Vancouver, Whistler, Revelstoke, Jasper, Yoho,Whitefish lake, Theodore Roosevelt N.P. Trip 7-August and September- our daughters wedding in MD and returning home through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Trip 8-October and November-3-4 weeks in the Ozarks, Arkansas, Missouri. Trip 9-December and January 2014-Christmas in Santa Fe and New Years in Flagstaff and points in between. In 2014 we took the following trips: Trip 1--a week in Ely MN, most of it dog-sledding in late Feb. Trip 2--6 weeks in the Deep South including LA, MS, AL, GA and FL in March and April. Trip 3--a trip to Boston to visit family Trip 4--May and June houseboating on Lake Powell followed by Monument Valley, Arches and Canyonlands N.P, Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P, San Juan Mtns of CO Trip 5--time spent in MN and the Midwest Trip 6--visiting Ontario, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, the Adirondack Mtns of NY, our daughters wedding in CT and home through Philly and Ohio, 7 weeks in September and October. Trip 7--Southern California including Joshua Tree and Mojave Desert N.P, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, and then to Flagstaff for Thanskgiving for three weeks in November. In 2015, we took the following trips: Trip 1- 8 weeks traveling around FL in February and March, most of it on the panhandle, penninsula and Gulf Coast. Trips 2 and 4 to Boston in April and July. Trip 3 was to Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. Trip 5 was to southern MN. Trip 6 was to Voyageurs National Park and northwestern MN. Trip 7 was to the Great Smoky Mountains and neighboring areas. In 2016 Trip 1 was to Chicago IL. Trip 2 was to southwestern MN. Trip 3 was to Boston. Trip 4 was to southwestern United States. Trip 5 was to Lake Superior. Trip 6 was to Winona MN. Trip 7 to western Massachusetts (the Berkshire Mountains). Trip 8 to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Trip 9 to Boston and Rhode Island. In 2017, Trip 1 was to the Mississippi River Headwaters. Trip two will be a month long tour of Texas and another month traveling to and from Texas across the southern US. Image

2023 Trip 7: Northwest US: History and Adventure: Oct.4

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Soda Springs, ID, Oct. 4

Suddenly it was fall in Idaho. And thankfully so, since several of our planned activities bummed out.

Until now, we have not seen any true fall colors. A little bit here and there, nothing dramatic, and not a lot of it. Then we left Pocatello. We were to spend some time in south east Idaho. We had a short hop down Interstate 15 and thought we saw some nice red colors far off on the mountain slopes. We left the Interstate and headed for our first destination of Paris Idaho. It would take us over Emigration Pass. Thankfully, these were gentle ascents through the mountains, and we finally saw deciduous trees brilliantly adorned in fall colors.

Paris, Idaho had a temple of the Latter Day Saints that was able to be viewed as part of a guided tour. The website indicated tours were offered during the summer, but other locations indicated that data was outdated and tours were still being offered. In any event, we were going to check it out. The town is small, only about 500 people but the temple goes back to 1888 with a Romanesque style. We arrived, saw the outdoor building where the guides would wait for people, but the building was empty, and no tours were offered today. Disappointment number one.

To soothe our disappointment, we went back to a small store that we noticed on the way in. El Camino Donuts. A small shop in a small town but they had wonderful donuts. We talked, of course, with the owner who had moved here two years ago with his artist wife. She has a gallery inside the donut shop. They had moved up here from Albuquerque where he had made donuts before. The style and flavors were excellent. There were soft chairs to sit in, so we had donuts, coffee and milk, and conversation with the owner. As we left, he gave us two free donuts to take with us.

Bear Lake in the south east corner of Idaho extends slightly into Utah and is a well-known, beautiful blue lake with high tourist potential. But we’ve seen it before, so we settled instead for the Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Several varieties of ducks were visible on the ponds in the refuge, and it made for a pleasant diversion after missing out on the Paris Temple.

Montpelier was next. Our main target was the Oregon California Trail Center and Museum. We drove in and parked in the lot just as another car arrived and parked close to the front door. A banner on the building advertised the quilt show which was going to end October 15. Chris was hoping to see some good examples of quilts along with the historical information about the national trails. Or maybe, it was Ed that really wanted to see the historical information. In any event, we got out of our car.

The gentleman left his car and walked to the doorway on the left-hand side of the building. It was locked. He unlocked it and went inside. It was a Forest Ranger Station. We went to the door on the right hand side which was for the Trail Center. It was open. It should not have been. The interior door to the museum was locked and the Ranger was nice enough to tell us he has no idea what their hours are and why they can’t keep it straight. He did encourage us to come into his area where we chatted about the forests in southeast Idaho. The website for the National California-Oregon Trail Center, which we had checked this morning, said the trail center would be open until 3 PM today. Disappointment number two.

Formation Springs


We moved on. It was but a short drive to Soda Springs, where we were to spend the night, although we thought we would arrive later. Two activities for Soda Springs. First, they have a geyser which is attached to a timer and goes off every hour. Second, Formation Springs was to be a natural area where water bubbles out of the ground over travertine rocks. We thought it might be a miniature Mammoth Springs as is in Yellowstone.


Phosphate Processing

On the way to Formation Springs, we passed a huge phosphate mining and processing center. It stands out like a sore thumb on the countryside. 40% of the nations phosphate reserves are found within a 100 mile radius in the highlands of southeast Idaho. We found Formation Springs after driving up a bumpy, rutted road to the parking area. All we could see were one or two springs flowing into streams very nice and clear. The travertine rocks were nowhere in sight for us. Disappointment number three.


But the geyser works! We knew it was not a huge one. We knew it went off on the hour, every hour. So we pulled into Soda Springs at 1:59 p.m. and watched the geyser going off for a full seven minutes. You might argue that a natural geyser would not be attached to a timer and go off on a regular basis. However, in 1937, while looking for a hot water source for a local swimming pool, a well driller accidentally set off the natural geyser. Later they set up the timing feature after the Secretary of the Interior said that this geyser was upsetting Old Faithful‘s flow, many miles away. Who knows. In any event, it’s capped, goes off regularly, and we saw it in the nick of time.

Disappointment number four. Next to the geyser is Eastman’s Drug Store. It was supposed to have an old-fashioned soda fountain serving delicious ice cream. It is the oldest drug store in Idaho and Chris checked the website this morning. Open until 3 pm. After the geyser went off, we walked over and saw that the door said the closing time was “Twoish”. Well it was 2:20 and they were closed. After checking two other restaurants that were closed for various reasons, we did find a place open and had a delicious lunch.

At least our hotel was open for 3 PM check in and we are here for the evening. Tomorrow, off to Yellowstone via back roads. Maybe we’ll see more fall colors.

Ed & Chris, Soda Springs, Idaho, October 4.

Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest US: History and Adventure: Oct. 3

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Pocatello, Idaho October 3

Readers of this blog know that we can do some unusual things that don’t excite the average traveler. Today was a good example of that. We visited the Museum Of Clean in Pocatello Idaho. This is a museum spanning four floors and 75,000 ft.². It was begun by a gentleman who started a cleaning company and went on to be a motivational speaker and author. He was born and raised in eastern Idaho.

Once again, we did not know fully what to expect when walking into this place. We left over two and one half hours later overwhelmed and probably still had not seen everything. They say in their promotional brochures, it’s not meant to be a clean museum, but a museum about clean. Our visit started with one whole floor devoted to vacuum cleaners. Evidently someone else’s collection was purchased by this museum, causing the extraordinary number and variety of vacuums to be on display.


Hand operated vacuums began in 1860 and electrical ones around the turn of the century. Familiar names from the past are spotlighted plus companies never heard of by anyone but the most vacuum crazed individual. The walls have copies of written advertisements, most, of course, depicting how their vacuum will make a woman’s life easier. Some of the designs of these vacuums were simply weird.


The mop totem pole


Vacuums are not the only items on display. A video on how to clean windows. Cleaning golf clubs. Cartoon humor about cleaning. Devices for dusting. Sponges, polishes, and floor cleaners. Money laundering. Early dental cleaning and, of course, toilet cleaning. One whole room is devoted to artwork. Even a section on chimney sweeps from England. Did you know before little kids were stuck down chimneys to clean them that the chimney sweep business would put a white goose on a rope and toss it down the chimney, and as the goose flaps its wings to get back up, it cleaned the chimney?

In addition, to being overwhelmed by the items displayed on these four floors, we were frequently delighted by the written descriptions of the items. Many clearly reflected a satirical bent.

As we were leaving, we talked with the son-in-law of the founder. He asked our opinion and advice about their addition of a section devoted to cleaning up the environment. We shared our thoughts with him, now we will have to return to see how this new section turns out.

Display showing the closeness of the Shoshone and Bannock languages

Fifteen miles north of the Museum Of Clean is the museum for the Shoshone Bannock Indian tribe. These were two tribes that were relatively close in language and traditions, who were forced together due to the decimation of their peoples. They now inhabit the Fort Hall Reservation which partially surrounds the city of Pocatello. Their museum focused on their history and some examples of their craft work.

Ed and Chris, Pocatello ID Oct. 3

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest U S: History and Adventure: Oct. 1-2

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Pocatello, Idaho Oct. 2


It has been interesting to visit different churches along this journey. Just as in Bismarck, we found the local church in Twin Falls, there was only one from the town of over 50,000, to be very crowded. They did offer six masses, one in Swahili. Rather than an audience of mainly elderly people, there was a preponderance of families with multiple children and pregnant mothers.

After church, just for a lark, we drove around the downtown and came to a food court, one of the initial rejuvenators of the downtown area. Inside we had some wonderful crepes for lunch. Chris saw the family that had been sitting next to her in church. She asked the mother why they had a mass in Swahili, but the woman did not know. Looking it up on Wikipedia, it appeared that a resettlement center at the local University had helped to bring refugees to Twin Falls. Idaho is not a major destination for refugees. However, the top two countries with people resettling here are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan.

Sunday was rainy and cold. We had scheduled, after church, to go to parks and waterfalls in natural settings. We decided our lives would be happier and more settled if we made Sunday a logistical planning day. Besides doing the laundry, we reviewed our schedule up until our return date of October 12.

Our last week of traveling was scheduled to include two nights at Yellowstone National Park and two nights at Badlands National Park. A week or more ago we had made hotel reservations at alternate locations in case a federal budgetary shutdown closed Yellowstone and Badlands National Parks starting on Oct. 1. Since the budget was passed, after review, our resolution was to spend two fewer days in this eastern section of Idaho and two more days in Yellowstone. So I booked a reservation for two nights in West Yellowstone, canceled the two nights in eastern Idaho, and canceled the reservations for all of those alternate hotel locations we had made just in case the national parks closed starting October 1.

Barbed wire, ground sloth skeleton, and Shoshone Bannock drum cover at Museum of Idaho


Monday continued the cold and wet weather with rain most of the day. Luckily, we were leaving Twin Falls to visit museums in the eastern section of Idaho. Our first stop was in Idaho Falls at the Museum of Idaho. Their special exhibition area was closed for the installation of a new exhibit but we were there to focus on their exhibit about Idaho itself. Some of the topics covered included geology, prehistoric animals, agriculture, a sample small town Main Street from pioneer days, and the Shoshone-Bannock Indian nation.

Some of the facts I found interesting included: a.) Idaho state is the third highest producer of milk and cheese after California and Wisconsin; b.) Idaho is a made up name, not an Indian name; c.) the potato originated in the New World, was brought back to Spain, and then throughout Europe; d.) the potato grows well in Idaho due to warm days, cool evenings, predictable watering through irrigation, and fertile volcanic soils; e.) agriculture is Idaho’s top industry with 20% of the state’s economic base; and f.) hay is a top crop and Idaho produces more certified organic hay than any other state and is the second largest grower of alfalfa hay. No wonder we saw so many large trucks hauling hay everywhere we went in the state.

All that irrigation we saw? Well it’s critical for potatoes since they need about 24 inches of water per crop while the average here in rainfall is only about 10 to 12 inches. The museum had the usual display of samples of barbed wire. What I thought was particularly interesting was the examples of different barbed wire per ranch with the name and design shown for each ranch.

A docent volunteering in the exhibit area collared Chris and proceeded to have a discussion of the eastern US vs western US and the fact that she is here in Idaho to be closer to her family. I believe she was lonely as the crowd was not large inside the museum and she needed something to do.

It was 30 miles from Idaho Falls to Blackfoot Idaho. Blackfoot is the county seat of Bingham County. Bingham County is the top producing potato growing county for Idaho. So naturally, it was to be expected that the potato museum would be located in Blackfoot. We just had to stop and visit. What was not expected was to discover that the student handling the cash register was not in school since this is harvest week and some of the schools close down so the school children can help with the potato harvest. The actual days off vary from year to year, depending on when the potatoes have ripened.

Before we toured the museum, we went to their small café. The cafe offers a variety of potato products as a meal break. We each had a baked potato with all the trimmings, and of course, a Coke to wash it down.

The factoids in the potato museum are interesting and numerous. Idaho produces about 1/3 of all of the United States potatoes, and most of those are grown in eastern and central Idaho. The museum has a stupendous collection of potato mashers. Exhibits described the best uses for the variety of potatoes being grown. The information about the spread of potatoes from the New World to the Old World, and back again, was repeated from what we read at the Museum of Idaho. There was a nice video about the old time tractors used for harvesting, compared to the current, mammoth contraptions that harvest, clean and convey potatoes from the field to trucks hauling the potatoes to the processing centers.

The Russet Burbank potato was developed to help combat the devastating potato blight epidemic in Ireland. The great famine killed so many Irish (about 1,000,000) and de-populated the country so heavily (about another 1,000,000) that is the only European country with fewer residents now than 180 years ago.

Mural in our Airbnb


After the museum, we checked into our Airbnb in Pocatello, Idaho. Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and Twin Falls all have between 50,000 and 80,000 people and seem fairly robust economically. This Airbnb has a cute theme, modeling it after a mineshaft. There are many nice touches, including a mural painted on a wall resembling a mineshaft, and we found it a comforting location to stay in.

Ed and Chris, Pocatello, Idaho Oct. 3

Sunday crepe lunch

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest U S: Adventure and History: Sept. 29-30

Posted on September 30, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Twin Falls, Idaho, September 30

Friday and Saturday were primarily days of natural beauty with a little bit of history tossed in for good measure. We retraced our steps from Mackey, Idaho, south through Arco, Idaho, and onto our first stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. All of the hype we had read about this place described its similarity to the surface of the moon. Not having been to the moon, we cannot attest to the accuracy.


Craters of the Moon

As we drove to the park, the terrain started to show evidence of lava. However, the impact increases dramatically once you enter the park’s boundary. The impact continues as you travel through the Loop Road demonstrating the impact of the lava flows over millenia. Yet we see only a portion of the park, much of it is protected as wilderness. However, the multiple types of lava were well represented in this huge park and preserve (750,000 acres). This is 30 times larger than Lava Beds National Monument in northern California, which we saw a few weeks ago.

The visitor center had a well prepared introductory video. However, I found more helpful the 3-D map in the visitor center showing the movement of the thermal hotspot underneath the earth’s crust that has moved from the south west Idaho border with Oregon to its with current location underneath Yellowstone National Park. The Snake River valley follows much of this path of the movement of the earth’s crust.

The loop road allows multiple opportunities to stop and take short hikes observing the various types of lava, its slow erosion, and the steady growth of small living plants which continue to break down the rock. Over time, enough soil is created to allow for the growth of trees and shrubs. We had our lunch surrounded by lava rocks and a few of those shade trees.

Inferno Cone, do you see the people on the hill?


A real highlight for us was climbing Inferno Cone, which has a steep grade to its top with a wonderful view of the surrounding area. Unfortunately, by that evening, I realized that the steep climb up and down the cone had a negative impact on my left hip. The result was unsteadiness in my step, which limited our hiking on Saturday.

Leaving Craters of the Moon, we continued our journey on our usual style of two-lane roads. We stopped for a popcorn and potato chips snack at a city park in Shosone. Next stop, Minidoka National Historic Site. At Minidoka, over 13,000 of the 120,000 people with Japanese ancestry who were imprisoned during WWII were housed. The Japanese American imprisonment is a sad and disturbing story during a shameful period of our history. However, the story needs to be presented so we can discuss and learn about its implications for the future as well as the past.

On our way to Minidoka, we had railroad tracks to the right of our car. It made me realize it was probably the same tracks used by the railroad to transport the Japanese Americans from the West Coast area to this eastern side of Idaho. As compared to Tulelake in northern California, the displays and residual buildings were much better preserved and presented. The visitor center was closed, only open during summer months, but the outdoor exhibits were available to be viewed.

Saturday morning, we stopped at the Perrine bridge over the Snake River here in Twin Falls. The canyon here presents a stupendous view of the river and its power to erode the basaltic rock of this area. The bridge is well known and its impact as a visual treat was exceptional. The Perrine bridge is 1500 feet long, nearly 500 feet tall, and is the fourth tallest arched bridge in North America.

We had not realize that the Perrine bridge is one of the countries only bridges where people can do BASE jumping without obtaining a permit throughout the year. BASE is an acronym that stands for each of the categories of objects people jump from: buildings, antennae, spans, and earth, such as a cliff. A simple explanation: it’s basically strapping a parachute on your back and jumping off a bridge with hope that you land safely down below.

We discovered this as we were looking at the bridge and walking to diverse viewpoints. At one viewing point a gentleman was sitting. OK, you know the rest of the story. Chris started talking to him, and we discovered that he and his wife are from Rochester, New York. That morning, his son, who lives in Medford Oregon, had done a tandem jump from the bridge. His 64 year old wife was scheduled to do it in the next 15 minutes. A tandem jump means that a novice holds on, and is harnessed, to an experienced jumper and they go down together. Of course we had to stay to watch this. We had not seen anyone else doing it that morning nor had we come to the bridge expecting to see such a spectacle.

BASE jumping from Perrine Bridge

Well, the jump went great. We even took pictures for the couple since the husband’s camera was a bit shaky as he was trying to watch and not be nervous. After the wife jumped, there were four or five others making a jump, most of them as singles. They were the experienced jumpers who come here often.

Our next scene of adventure was 90 minutes away at City of Rocks National Reserve. Today is September 30 and when we were at City of Rocks, we did not know if the federal government would go into a shut down mode for lack of a budget. City of Rocks was our last Idaho National Park Service unit to visit. If there was to be a shut down, we would’ve been able to get all of the Idaho parks visited before the October 1 shut down date.

City of Rocks


Other than rocks, we had no idea what to expect when visiting this NPS unit. We did gain 3000 feet of elevation going from Twin Falls to City of Rocks. The road was not too curvy so the ride was pleasant. One half of the journey was on Interstate 80 so we zoomed along towards our destination. Of course, the final half of the trip was through high desert plains, or very small towns. When we arrived at the visitor center, we discovered it was like Hagerman Fossil Beds, that is, co-managed with the State of Idaho and a state park. City of Rocks would have remained open, even if the federal government had gone into a shut down mode.



Driving into the park, we discovered huge granite rock monoliths littering the landscape. They stuck up like sore thumbs, with a swift transition from open fields to the rock monoliths. What we also discovered was that City of Rocks is a huge rock climbing location, even internationally renowned. Experienced rock climbers are able to tackle a large number of the rocks. There is even a training area for novices; sort of a bunny hill. As you can expect, we did not sign up for any training. There are many scattered, diverse campsites throughout the park. We observed more people camping and actively using this park than we had any of the previous parks. It is a well-known rock climbing destination among those who are interested in that. There are over 700 different climbing routes developed throughout the reserve and state park.

At lunch among the rocks and trees, we had a recurring happening. Just two picnic tables at the site and the other table had a gentleman who had grown up in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Only in this case, he approached us first once he saw the Minnesota license plate.

Our final adventure for the day was Shoshone Falls. This is hyped as a falls taller than Niagara. Well, we were disappointed. I’m sure the height is accurate. However, the falls have been so developed for hydro power and with low rainfall lately, that the view is less than impressive despite the wonderful canyon setting.


We did manage to rescue the day with sampling a new ice cream supplier- Reed’s Dairy. We tried their location in Twin Falls, although they have several in southern Idaho. The ice cream was fine, worthy of a stop, but maybe not quite up to par with our previous experiences on this trip.

Ed and Chris, Twin Falls Sept. 30

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest U S: History and Adventure: Sept. 27-28

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Our going away breakfast at Syringa Lodge B&B in Salmon, Idaho


Mackay, ID, Sept. 27

We will be returning to the flatter, southern portion of Idaho after this last stop in the mountainous portion. Mackay is at 6,000 feet elevation, surrounded by the high mountains in the Lost River Range. Most of Idaho’s peaks over 11,000 feet are around here. For instance, Mount Borah, the highest mountain in Idaho at 12,662 feet is just 25 miles up the road.

To get here, we had two major road options. The quicker route would have retraced some of our previous mileage over those curvy mountainous roads. The longer route would keep us primarily down in valleys between mountain ranges. We opted for the longer route.


Driving down Idaho Highway 28 in the valley between mountains.


Our air bnb host mentioned to us an Amish market less than half an hour south of Salmon. It would be too early for lunch, after all we had our second great breakfast at the Syringa Lodge B and B. A freshly made, large sandwich to go, though, fit the bill for us to pack in our cooler for lunch later on. The route we chose, primarily Idaho 28, is the Sacajawea Scenic Byway. It was a pleasure to drive 65 mph without constant curves. The mountains on either side of us had snow on their peaks, the first time we had seen snow on this trip.

Driving the Sacajawea Scenic Byway

Forest Service ranger stations are frequent in this state; we stopped at two of them to chat and pick up localized information about places to visit. At one of them, the employee had a son living in Fairmont MN and the other person looking for information was originally from Aurora MN. Unlike us, that guy was actually going to fish and camp.

At a park in Arco we had our picnic lunch. Arco’s claim to fame is that on July 17, 1955, the town was the first in the free world to be powered by energy from nuclear power. The Nuclear Reactor Testing Station located in the desert just south of Arco was the source of the power.

Chris had noticed there was supposed to be a mom and pop potato chip company located in Arco. On our first swing through town, which did not take long in a town of under 1,000 people, we could not find it. After lunch, we tried harder and came upon the Atomic Potato Chip Company. Yup, true name. We went in the building and met the owners-and sole employees. Of course, Chris got the back story about previous careers, second marriages, why they are in Arco, etc. The husband had worked in real estate in Pennsylvania, and actually knew of my law firm when I had worked in Harrisburg. Atomic Potato Chip Company had won an Idaho state innovation award and sells their product through stores. Sun Valley Resort is a big client of theirs. We went across the street to the local grocer, bought two bags, and are doing the taste test now.


An Airbnb in Mackey is our lodging. It advertises itself as a vintage style cottage. It has lots of cutesy stuff around, that’s my interpretation. It’s located on the back of a store which sells vintage clothing, housewares, and jewelry. The owner of the store also has the Airbnb. We looked around the store, but there was nothing that really met our needs enough to transport back to Minnesota. Chris, of course, had a delightful visit, chatting with the woman running the store for the owner. The store employee has moved here to be closer to her children, and she was tired of doing nothing so she runs the shop. In her spare time, she paints and makes jewelry, both of which are on sale in the store. The store owner takes bare-bones furniture, redecorating, and makes it available for sale.


Mount Borah


Today, Thursday, we had Wheaties for breakfast. It was part of our food stash we have taken with us on this trip. After breakfast, we headed up north to get a closer view of Mt. Borah and the site of a 1983 earthquake. Evidently Mount Borah is quite climbable. Many people come to the area to reach the milestone of ascending to the summit of Idaho’s highest peak. On the way there, we passed the Mackay Reservoir. They must be having dry times because this reservoir is way down.

A view of the earthquake scar from 1983


Of even more interest was the October 28, 1983 earthquake that hit this area. The earthquake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale. While the area was sparsely populated, the earthquake still caused over $12 million in damage. An area 21 miles long opened up and separated the mountain peaks from the valley. It is estimated that the mountain peaks increased in height about 1 foot while the valley area dropped over 7 feet. We were able to stand at a portion of this scar and gaze along a line where the height differential is still visible.

Mackay Mines


Returning to our lodging, we had lunch and then headed out in the afternoon to visit the Mackay Mine Hill. In operation from about 1900 to 1950, the mines in the Mackay area produced gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper. The Mackay mines produced more copper than anywhere else in Idaho. We saw one of the dilapidated mine buildings and the remaining towers for the aerial tram that transported ore down to the smelters and supplies up to the mines. Visiting the Mackay mines was a challenge for a car, the initial portion of the gravel road not too bad, but then it became more rutted. The mine tour is actually heavily advertised as perfect for an ATV/OHV outing. We did not drive all the way to the end of the road.


Encountering a small cattle drive on the mountain pass

Driving past Mud Lake Canyon over Pass Summit


Instead, we turned around and then drove another gravel road. We were looking for a pleasant hike the Forest Service office had told us about. We never found it. Instead, we went through a ranching area, with both free range cattle and a small cattle drive complete with guys on horseback, through a narrow mountain canyon, to discover on the other side of the mountains a beautiful valley.

We had our fill of gravel roads and decided to simply return to our lodging and pack up for our departure tomorrow to Twin Falls, Idaho and several national park units.

Oh, the Lost River name? It has its name because it begins in the mountain ranges here, goes south towards the Snake River, but before reaching the Snake River goes through a high desert area where the surface of the land is porous. The river water goes underground into the aquifer. The water either travels underground for 100 miles before emerging at Thousand Springs State Parks near Hagerman or is captured by pumps and used for irrigation.

The valley on the other side of Pass Creek Summit after Mud Lake Canyon.

Ed and Chris, Mackay ID Sept. 28

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest U.S.: History and Adventure: Sept. 25-26

Posted on September 26, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Salmon, ID Sept.26′

Syringa Lodge

Salmon Idaho is a town of 3000 people without any major employer or large shopping store. Even the nearest Walmart is over 100 miles away. However, it has a beauty with the mountains, the Salmon River, and the valleys along the river. The town is a jumping off point for remote adventure trips in this part of Idaho.

Salmon River
The Salmon River starts down by Stanley, flows northwards, and north of Salmon the river will go west through the mountains, where it’s too narrow for any road to follow its path. That location is a big multi-day rafting trip experience. The Salmon is the only major undammed river left in Idaho, and according to some sources, the longest undammed river in the United States. It also has a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon. That’s some river.

However our journey from Stanley to Salmon is generally along a quieter, early section of the river. That does not mean that the road has given up its curves. Of course, the road is called the Salmon River Scenic Byway. Leaving Stanley, we see a small herd of sheep, the first ones we have seen, despite the heavy connection of Idaho with the Basque sheepherders. It brought to mind two other thoughts regarding sheep. First, several days ago when we were at Hagerman Fossil Beds, we talked with a visitor who was an itinerant sheep shearer. He travels around the west doing the shearing as needed. In addition, we read an article in the local paper about the large herds of sheep starting to move down from the open ranges at the higher elevations to the lower valley area. We have not seen them ourselves yet.

When we finally arrive at Salmon, we go to the Sacajawea Interpretive Center – which was closed. Our earlier research indicated it should be open, but evidently it’s now being closed at Labor Day. This area of the Salmon River is where Sacajawea, traveling with the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, met her brother. The Nez Perce were critically helpful to the explorers. All along the byway, there are signs for the Corps of Discovery Trail and the Nez Perce Trail. We are back in an area rich in history.

Lemhi county Historical Museum
The local historical museum in Salmon is called the Lemhi County Historical Museum. The Lemhi portion of the name comes from the role of the missionaries of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, exploring and settling this area. The museum has been promoted in numerous periodicals, but we were not impressed.

Our lodging for the two nights in Salmon is at the Syringa Lodge, a bed-and-breakfast. This building was built to be a bed-and-breakfast and home for the owner. The initial builder died, and a couple took it over. The husband of the couple died and it is now managed by the wife with help from her daughter and son-in-law. It is a large, custom built log building with a fantastic view towards the mountains to the east. It has six bedrooms plus living areas for the woman and the daughters individual families. We are the only guests for our two nights.

Driving along the Salmon River Scenic Byway

This morning, Tuesday, after breakfast, we drove to Big Hole National Battlefield, just over the border in Montana. Just over the border does mean an hour and a half drive through the usual mountainous terrain. Big Hole was the site of a major battle between the fleeing Nez Perce and US Army forces. The Nez Perce had camped at a valley they were acquainted with. The valley is at 6300 foot elevation but as we came down from the mountain pass at 7300 feet, the valley spreads out before you giving the impression of being at a much lower elevation.

Big Hole National Battlefield
The Nez Perce were trying to reach safety in Canada and had been doing a good job evading and/or defeating the US Army. They had 700 men, women, and children and 2000 horses but were caught by surprise by a second, unknown to them, Army unit coming from the east. 60-90 Nez Perce of all ages and sex were killed, 31 soldiers died. As the Nez Perce warriors held off the soldiers, the rest escaped. Less than two months later, just shy of the Canadian border, at the Battle of Bear Paw, the Nez Perce were finally defeated and forced to move to Oklahoma.

We returned to Salmon, after an ice cream break, rested, had dinner at a local brewery, and started packing up for our journey tomorrow to Mackay Idaho.

Ed and Chris, Salmon ID Sept. 26

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest U.S.: History and Adventure: Sept. 24

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Driving to the Sawtooth Mountains
Salmon, ID Sept. 25

Sunday would be a travel day. We were going through mountainous regions of Idaho with those hilly, curvy roads and with such fantastic scenery. The distance was not far, but it would be slow going. We only had one stop planned, at Idaho City. We would be following Idaho Highway 21, also called the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway. Our final destination would be the city of Stanley Idaho.

Sunday morning traffic was not heavy, and we had no major tailgaters following us up the highway. It is hard to repeat, over and over again, but the road alternates between several basic types of scenery. First, is a plain with agriculture evident on both sides of the road. Usually the plain is framed with some higher terrain on either side. Second, would be a narrow gorge, usually with the river on one side, and hilly, even mountainous slopes covered with pine trees. Third, would be a more rocky, steep, high mountainous area with few trees, and sometimes with valleys opening up briefly for agricultural pursuits.


Colors would vary between the yellowish sage brush and the deep green of irrigated fields. Deep green of the pine trees was periodically, but infrequently, interrupted with a few fall colors from deciduous trees. Rock formations would intermingle brown, red, green, gray, white, and beige variations.

The road itself was always two lanes, sometimes with a reasonable shoulder, usually without. Passing lanes were very infrequent, but there were some turnout lanes where slower cars were supposed to move over for faster cars. 45 mph was a standard with a few sections of 65 mph. No matter the basic speed limit, the road was constantly interrupted with curves that needed to be taken at a speed between 20 and 40 mph. Compared to other roads, there were not a lot of really steep, several hundred feet or more, drop offs from the edge of the road side. Drop offs were for only 2 to 100 feet.

Almost the entire area is a national forest or pieces of several national forests. Periodically, land owned by the Bureau of Land Management will also be interspersed. Given the limited space between the roadway and the mountains, camping areas are frequent and close to the roadway. Recognize that there is still private land, called in-holdings, that are located within acreage owned by the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.

Idaho City Museum


Our one stop was to be the city of Idaho City. Idaho City now has a population of about 500 people. However, during the time of the Civil War, it was the largest city in Idaho and the site of the largest gold rush outside of California. It had a population of over 7000 with about a third of those Chinese. Today’s situation in terms of population is much different. The situation in terms of buildings is very similar. Wood buildings, with sidewalks, dirt roads, and yes, some tourists, constitute the current Idaho City situation.

We spent an hour inside the Idaho City museum with its panels and displays harkening back to the good ol’ days. For a Sunday morning, the museum was pretty busy.

Stanley is at an elevation of 6275 feet above sea level. It’s listed population is 63, but that must be year-round people, because there seem to be a few more than that running the restaurants, rafting adventures, and lodging locations. Like Idaho City, sidewalks are practically nonexistent, most roads are dirt, and the buildings are all wood or log structures. It is located in the middle of the Sawtooth Mountains. These are the mountains that Lewis and Clark saw, and wisely decided to avoid and go around. The pointed peaks of these mountains are strictly different from the rounded edges of most other mountain ranges.

Stanley Lake


Redfish Lake and Stanley Lake are two of the lakes in the region that are written up as being quite beautiful. They are alpine lakes with mountains surrounding them. We stopped at each for pictures, and at Redfish for a walk around to explore the lodge and attractions it offers. We considered a one hour boat ride on Redfish, but the temperature was dropping, the wind picking up, and we did not think we would really enjoy it. So we passed. As usual, we seem to run into Minnesota people wherever we go. This time it was people from Mendota Heights just across the Mississippi River from our house. In addition, we ran into a Nebraska Cornhusker fan who was working in the gift shop. She’s been doing that for several years now where she works for five or six months up there and takes the rest of the year off to travel around the world. She was appreciative that the current Huskers football team is doing well, although not as well as those from the Tom Osborne era.

Our lodging is at the Sawtooth Hotel, a small hotel with about a dozen rooms. We were on the second floor, no elevator, and a room that was not large, if you understand my drift. This hotel has been around since 1931. Five nights a week they have dinner served downstairs and I must admit, the food was excellent. We ate early, and then came back two hours later for dessert. They do not offer breakfast, but this morning we walked three blocks over to the Stanley Baking Company. I believe there is some inter-ownership between the two, but in any event, the baking company is well known and deservedly so. Our food was excellent and the place was quite busy at 7:30 AM. Even for a town of 63.

Ed and Chris Salmon ID Sept. 26

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2023, Trip 7: Northwest US: History and Adventure: Sept. 23

Posted on September 23, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

The dark wavy line in about the center of the photo is the Oregon Trail.


Boise, Idaho, September 23.

Hagerman fossil beds is a quick hour drive east of Boise along Interstate 84. It was actually kind of fun taking an interstate and zipping along at 80+ miles per hour. Fossil research started here in the 1920s and 1930s. A local rancher was the first to find the fossils. It is one of the best locations for fossil hunting from the period of three to four million years ago.

The cliffs that are typical of the Hagerman Fossil Bed area
The geology of this area was impacted by lava, volcanic ash, sediment from river floods, and ancient Lake Idaho. Now the Snake River crosses the southern portion of Idaho, in a basin like, high desert plains that are much distinct from the mountains and forests of the north, and in its terrain are cliffs revealing layers of fossils.

Hagerman Fossil Beds, are famous for the Hagerman horse, the initial and unique findings of the existence of horses here, many millennia ago. The Hagerman horse was unique because it most resembles the current horse with a single toed hoof. But there are fossils here of over 200 different animals, including 45 species first described here and eight not yet found elsewhere.

This is a new visitor center but the number and extent of real fossils are limited. Many of the fossils from this area were distributed to universities and the Smithsonian decades ago. The fossils in their archives have yet to be organized and arranged once new cabinets and display cases are prepared. The Hagerman horse on display, for instance, is a replica.

This National Park Service national monument also includes portions of the Oregon Trail, that heavily used path taken by tens of thousands of immigrants traveling from the East out to the Northwest. We have written many times about what has happened to the Native Americans as settlers came from the East. However, let’s also recognize the tremendous hardship and determination shown by the people traveling on foot, horse, or covered wagon, thousands of miles through a strange territory with limited supplies. As we looked down on the rutted path, still visible from over 150 years ago, we were utterly amazed at their struggles, and how easy we have it in comparison.

After a picnic lunch, at an overlook by the Oregon trail, we went to Bruneau Dunes State Park. These dunes are unique in that they represent the highest single structured sand dunes in the United States. They have one dune that is 470 feet tall, towering above the desert floor. The park also has smaller dunes as well as two lakes and associated marshes.

The dunes were created during the time of the Bonneville flood about 14,500 years ago. Lake Bonneville in northern Utah spilled over resulting in the flood the followed the approximate path of the Snake River canyon. This area received a slower moving back waters of the flood which deposited large amounts of clay, silt, and sand. The arrangement of the dunes and the neighboring mountains creates winds which are relatively equivalent from all compass points throughout the year, making the sand dunes relatively stable.

We did not climb the dunes, but enjoyed watching others do so. The day ended with church and laundry and a nice barbecue meal.

Ed and Chris, Boise Idaho Sept. 23

Replica of the Hagerman horse

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest U.S.: History and Adventure: Sept. 21-22

Posted on September 22, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Boise, ID Sept. 22

The blue turf at Boise state university football stadium

Thursday we traveled down the Payette River scenic byway, southerly this time as we are going to spend three days in Boise, Idaho. Our first priority was the Basque museum, as we have frequently read about the culture and influence of the Basque minority in Idaho, particularly in sheepherding.

Our first surprise was that the Basque did not arrive in the US with any history of being sheepherders. At that time, most Basque were into shipping and sailing. Raising sheep was a solitary, less desirable job that did not need English speaking workers. The Basque were used to hard work, did not speak English, and were able to step into that job without experience. Like the practice in many other European countries, the family farm or land was given to the oldest son. When there were more than one son, the others had to look for work, and went into shipping, sailing, or emigrating to other countries. America fit the bill at that time. 

Basque women followed the men, either as spouses, potential spouses, or siblings. They also were important economic components in running boardinghouses where the single males would live when the sheep had been slaughtered, or the sheep were housed at lower elevations during the winter.

We also learned that the Basque language is unique, and it does not have the standard Indo European heritage that other European languages have. In fact, it precedes them.

As time progressed, changes in sheepherding reduced the need for that job. The Basque who were here and new Basque immigrants have progressed into general, American culture and jobs, while still maintaining a vibrant Basque culture and neighborliness.

The Basque community is now dispersed, but there is still a city block that emphasizes the Basque history. The museum is on that block. We had lunch at one of the restaurants, but I will admit, we were not terribly adventurous.

After lunch, we walked a few blocks up to the Idaho State Capitol. The capitol building is composed of several types of marble, has a very nice dome, and you explore it through a video presented there, educational displays located on the lowest level, and a self guided tour booklet. Overall, the building is not pretentious, that may be the working and functional image that they wish to present. However, there were also almost no people walking around, so we’re not sure where all the state workers are.

When you are on a seven week trip, estimated to reach 8000 miles, a mid trip oil change is always a good idea. We took time out in the latter half of the afternoon to get that accomplished here in Boise. The dealer did find two of the turn signals lights had been burnt out, so we had those replaced also.

Today, Friday, we made a particular stop that might be considered out of our usual style. We made a stop at Boise State University. For those of you who watch football, you may immediately understand. This is the home of the blue colored football field. Yes, you read that right. Their field is not green, but the artificial turf is blue. The blue color goes back to 1986, and has since been trademarked to remain the only non-green football field in United States for D1 teams.

The Athletic Director recognized that a town with a unique, overriding impression would gain a home-field advantage. A blue field was chosen, as our guide said: “Why not blue?” Of course, some people call it the Smurf turf. Boise State started out as a very successful junior college but it does extremely well now as a regular Division I team. The current student population is about 26,000. In USA Today, in a readers choice survey done this summer, this field was voted the number one sports fan attraction. It beat out such attractions as Cooperstown and the Kentucky Derby museum. One complaint, they could use a better visitor parking arrangement. We could not find any so Chris went in and talked to a staff member who came out and had us park in a donor parking space, for free.

After the blue field, we visited the Idaho Botanical Garden. It is located in part of the old penitentiary, which is also a tourist attraction. We skipped the penitentiary, but enjoyed the botanical garden. While not huge, it was well done with several different areas and colorful flower arrangements. There was one smart section delineating how Idaho residents could make their homes wild fire safe in this heavily forested state. We also had our picnic lunch there.

Next stop, the Idaho Mining and Geology museum. Another small museum, it’s run by volunteers and has an excellent selection of gems from the State of Idaho. This too is located within a portion of the old penitentiary. There are several mining areas of the state we had already seen. I was not aware that Idaho has a large phosphate mining area that we will come across in the south east corner of the state.

This museum is about gems and mining; there was a another section devoted strictly to the gem collection of Henry Fujii. He immigrated after high school from Japan in 1906 and made his money from the growing of onions. He was a pioneer in large scale farming of onions. In retirement, he took up rock hounding. Fujii amassed one of the largest gem and mineral collections in the northwest United States. During his lifetime, he played in important role in the moderation of anti-Japanese laws in this area. Due to his efforts, Japanese, while still not able to own land, could lease land for five years.

Another interesting display discussed the Chinese miners who were miners in Idaho. Many of them came from the same area of China, Guangzhou, a province of south coastal China. They were used to mining and frequently had smarter techniques so that they would buy up mines that American miners thought were worthless, and make a profit off of them.

Our final stop of the day was a popcorn hunting endeavor. We chose to get some popcorn at Cracklin Gourmet Popcorn. The store is a locally owned endeavor of a husband and wife couple. Unfortunately, they were heavily hit by a local football weekend and were not carrying my preferred cheddar popcorn. They did have scads of popcorn in a wide variety of flavors. We spent a while talking to them about the popcorn store, how it’s run, and how they got into the business. The wife has a relative in Hastings Minnesota. We told them to check out Candyland popcorn in Saint Paul if they visiting in the future. We ended up buying a small bag of white cheddar popcorn, and they gave us a gratis large bag of their regular, classic theater popcorn. We enjoyed both when we got back to the hotel before we went into the hot tub.

As I was finishing the text portion of the blog post, the front desk of the Homewood Suites called. There was a package for us at the front desk. I went down and it was a boxed package of the large size of Cracklin Gourmet cheddar cheese popcorn. They had made some this afternoon, and they dropped it off for us to have, free of charge. Isn’t that the epitome of a quality small business?

Ed and Chris, Boise ID, Sept. 22

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2023 Trip 7: Northwest U.S.: History and Adventure: Sept. 20

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net
The Payette River in Cascade Idaho

Cascade, ID Sept. 20

Today wraps up our time in the northern and western part of Idaho, north of Boise. We are in Cascade, Idaho, and yes, it was once the site of a Boise Cascade paper mill which closed in 2001. Cascade’s population is 1000 people, is at an elevation of 4800 feet, and is surrounded by the Boise National Forest. There is a forest ranger district office right next to the hotel, and in our chat with him this morning, he was insistent that the area needs no more residents to move up here. Tell everyone we meet all of Idaho is covered by potato farms he said.

The Payette River flows through the town and the dam here in Cascade creates Lake Cascade, the fourth largest lake in Idaho. The dam was built after World War II for irrigation purposes, and a little bit of hydropower. This area is part of a recreational portion of the state, with two state parks, and the tourist hotspot of McCall Idaho. McCall is the big city with a population of 4200.

Hotel NoBo had the best continental breakfast of any of the free breakfasts provided by hotels so far. Combined with a pleasant hot tub experience, and a very spacious room, this would be a great place to come back to.

At Ponderosa State Park

The day started with a walk along the Strand. This is a gravel path along the river highlighting several features such as an osprey nest and river rapids. McCall was our next stop, particularly Ponderosa State Park. The state park is positioned in seven mile long Payette Lake on a peninsula. The lake was created by glacial action into the basalt rock layers, with the town of McCall located on the end moraine that created the backed up lake.

Payette Lake at Ponderosa State Park, McCall Idaho

As happens to us frequently, while gazing at the lake from a scenic overlook, we talked to several different groups of adults also enjoying the view. Two of the groups had a Minnesota connection somewhere in the members of the party. We shared travel experiences and comments about the area. The northern Idaho residents that were in these groups reiterated the forest ranger’s comments: discourage any more people from moving up here and driving up home prices.

Donnelly Idaho farmers market

We had one final stop of the day in Donnelly, Idaho, population 260. It is located halfway between McCall and Cascade. On Wednesday afternoons they have a farmers’ market. We are not likely to purchase much at a farmers market since we can’t carry tons of fresh fruit and produce as we travel around. However, there was one booth by a local cattle rancher, selling their hamburgers and hotdogs from Angus cattle that they raise. The male partner was originally from Amboy Minnesota by Mankato. The female partner was from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, not far from Ambler. We convinced them to cook two hotdogs, burnt the way Chris likes them. Very tasty. Plus, there was free music from two musicians serenading the buyers and sellers.

Dinner tonight was at the Lakefront Inn, the same location as last night’s very tasty meal. The restaurant is situated on the lake and provides a nice view while dining.

Ed and Chris, Cascade Idaho September 20

Sunset at Cascade Lake
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