Utah-Idaho

When I visited Plymouth in June, I felt as though I had entered Thanksgiving Town. But if Plymouth is Thanksgiving Town, then I work in Pioneer Day Town.

And indeed, July 24 was very busy at This Is the Place. I missed the free day back in June, so July 24 was the busiest I have ever seen it as an employee. (I did go there as a guest at Christkindlmarkt. Ooh, boy...)

One thing I was excited for was that we had a mini parade down our "Main Street." The attempt was to make it similar to the first July 24 parade from 1849, so some of us men in the parade wore white crowns and white bandanas. In the original parade, the men carried copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. In the print shop, we print copies of the Declaration of Independence, so I brought copies for each of us to carry! That's a historical fact that I doubt they would have done if I hadn't been there. I'm glad I could contribute in a positive way!

We also had Native Americans in the parade. It's a good thing we weren't trying to recreate the 1854 parade, because they would have had to have a sign that said "We shall become a white and delightsome people." (Hey, no holiday has a flawless history.)

My boss held a BBQ for those of us on his team, and after that, I was too exhausted for fireworks. We have another holiday hiatus for a while now.

On Wednesday, I went out on a short trail run in the evening, and I took the headlamp I got for Christmas, which I haven't used until this month. 

As I was coming down in the twilight with my headlamp, I noticed something shiny on the ground. I wondered if it was mica or some other shiny, granitic mineral. But then I saw another shiny spot, so I took a closer look. I wish I had continued to believe it was mica, because that's less freaky than what it really was: spider eyes.

They were all over! And even the tiny spiders had a big shine. The biggest one I saw was like two inches long. 

Don't you love how flashlights make enormous shadows?

I'm not that freaked out by spiders, but it was a little creepy. The feeling of grass rubbing on my skin wasn't as tolerable after that.

After the holiday, the highlight of the week was going up to Idaho. My generous friend Susan invited a group of us to her homestead in Jerome for the weekend, and I just happened to have Saturday off. Everyone else (Susan, Megan, Alexa, Kierstin, Camille, Nate, Shane, Leslie, and Meleea) drove up on Friday morning, so I drove up by myself on Friday night. 

I really do like my car. I like that I can put on cruise control and not have to worry about accelerating or braking. I like that I can take it long distances, unlike "my" last car. 

As I crossed the Idaho border, I thought, "I don't really have a connection to Idaho." Then I remembered: "I lived in Idaho for nine months." Nine years ago. The good ol' 208.

On Saturday, we went to the Perrine Bridge above the Snake River. I remembered visiting the spot on August 30, 2014. 

 We got to see some parachutists jumping off. Good for them. There are plenty of things that I will never do in this life, and I'm OK with it. This is one of them.

Once we were done up there, we headed to lovely Shoshone Falls, the "Niagara Falls of the West." It was beautiful, but there were lots of people, and all you can do is look.

I hope you like basalt, because you can't get away from it in southern Idaho.

 Next we headed to nearby Dierkes Lake, where I didn't take any pictures. I was having too much fun recreating. I swam around in their designated swimming area. The lake was nice and warm, but I found swimming more difficult than in a pool. I also spent some time on a paddleboard--just on my knees, because I'm too scared to stand up.

We admired Susan's family garden, with authentic Idaho potatoes, corn, raspberries, green beens, and onions (which Susan pulled up, thinking they were weeds). (I accidentally spelled it "beens," then changed it to "beans," then changed it back to "beens" because I like it better that way.

Then we headed to a docking port on the Snake River for boating. After some boating excursions, we all got in the water. The river was much colder than the lake, but we were glad we got in.

Then this morning we attended the Jerome 2nd Ward. I was embarrassed by my friends for eating snacks during church. Guys, we are adults! (At least it wasn't sacrament meeting--or fast Sunday!) Then we dined on homegrown produce and drove back to Utah. It was a fun weekend getaway.

Being in a parade, going on a road trip with friends, and paddleboarding were all on my bucket list, so I'm glad I got to check them off this week.

And now that Pioneer Day is over, I have already begun preparing to review a candy corn product. Look for it in the coming week or two.