LA to Boise, Christmas 2021

 I hadn't been on a proper trip since 2019, when I was in Australia visiting with family. This year my spouse and I felt safe enough making the drive down to Idaho to see my parents for Christmas since all of us are vaccinated and boostered. We usually make the drive every year with some scenic stops and an overnight stay in Fallon, Nevada. This year we wanted to take a different route to mix things up a bit (and avoid the horrible snow we encountered in previous years where the route took us into Oregon). This time we opted for a route that'd take us through Las Vegas and with an overnight stop in Ely, Nevada. It was a good choice, given that there was quite a bit of snowfall in Nevada and Idaho, and we got to see interesting new things along the way.

Usually when we make the LA to Boise drive there's planned stops in little towns en route so that we can have a meal and and stretch our legs. This year was a bit different because neither of us felt safe with indoor dining (rightfully so) so instead I packed a lunch and lots of snacks. We relied on drive-throughs for more substantial meals. Not ideal, but worth it for safety reasons. I do miss the unique pleasure of eating at a diner or a surprisingly good hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, but not enough to take any risks. 

We were a bit concerned about passing through small towns since most people weren't wearing masks, so we minimized any time spent at rest areas or gas stations.

We encountered quite a bit of snow on our two day drive into Boise and took things slow. When we arrived in Ely we were much later to our hotel than expected and the clerk said "you made it, that's what matters". We stayed at a very charming hotel/casino that was decked out in wild western themed decor, mineral specimens, Native art, and kitsch. There were also dinosaur and wild life statues lining the front of the property. Our stay also included free drink tickets, but we opted not to drink since we still needed to eat dinner. Anf braved the snow again to get us dinner from the only open restaurant at 11pm, Carl's Jr- which was actually decent since the food was made to order instead of just sitting around under heat lamps waiting to be served. I slept like a log until 5am that night, when I noticed that our hotel provided us with complimentary ear plugs for a reason- you could hear everything from the floor above. Noise aside, it was a nice stay and the room was clean and comfortable.

 

Snow-covered dinosaurs at The Prospector in Ely, NV

The Prospector's decor was immaculate.

"Look at what these fool white people are doing!"

 

The following day was Christmas Eve and we awoke early and prepared for day two of driving. Ely was snowy and picturesque, so we took a little time to look around the town, snap some photos, and look at the historic railway. Then we headed out again and drove through on-again-off-again snowstorms that followed us into Twin Falls and into Boise. 

Sadly we could not visit the Northern Nevada Railway Museum but we took photos of the landmark and train- which takes scheduled trips that passengers can enjoy.

 

One of our stops was a rest area at scenic Salmon Falls Creek. For a laugh I'd brought my fursuit on the drive, so we took the opportunity to have a brief photoshoot against the snowy mountains. 

 

In Twin Falls we were starving and got drive-through food from Taco John's, a chain neither of us had ever heard of. Apparently it's a midwest chain that had its start in Cheyenne Wyoming in 1969. It tastes exactly like what you'd expect Mexican fast food from the midwest would taste like.

Twin Falls is home to the College of Southern Idaho and a pretty nice on-campus museum called the Herret Center for Arts and Sciences that I visited during a 2019 summer trip with my parents. The museum has a selection of natural history things- fossils, geological specimens- as well as some art and archeological artifacts. Something interesting I'd learned during that visit is that the museum also has some incredible replica Clovis artifacts on display, based on real Clovis blades/points/bifaces in their collection which generally are never shown to the public. Known as the Simon Clovis Cache, these artifacts are the oldest known lithic objects ever found in Idaho. Also of note- the replicas were once stolen from the museum, but they were recovered in 2017.

Twin Falls is also home to- you guessed it- twin waterfalls. I also visited these in 2019. Shoshone Falls Park is a beautiful area to walk and take photos.

My photo of Shoshone Falls from August 2019

We didn't get to do any sight-seeing there this year, but I hope there will be a time when I can return and explore more. Something that caught my eye while we were driving was the Idaho Heritage Museum in Hollister, boasting natural history and indian artifacts. A google search will bring up pictures of taxidermy wild life specimens but also news of a 2001 indictment of the museum's owner for the theft of 1200 indian artifacts from public lands and an eventual jail sentence for illegally excavating from an archeological site. That bit of news serves as a reminder that so often museums have had a historical role in pilfering art, artifacts, and graves from Native Americans (as well as from myriad other cultures around the world). The colonial nature of museums is something that we're still wrestling with to this day, with efforts for the return of artifacts and human remains to countries or communities that lay claim to them. It's also a reminder that when it comes to things like fossil hunting or rock hounding, you have to be careful about local laws regarding collection and where you're allowed to dig.

We arrived safely to my parents place in Boise and settled in, had a beer, and got in our pjs. Mom and dad were happy to see us and it was very emotional finally getting to hug them after two years of video calls and text messaging only. The family cats were a little spooked but quickly realized they had familiar company. I spent most of the visit with a cat on or around me, including one night where I watched The Night House while Billy and Pinto sat on me in rotating shifts.

 

 I distinctly felt the absence of Boris, who unfortunately had to be put to sleep earlier this year due to his failing health. Boris was quite old and had enjoyed a very spoiled life with my family, but it hurt all the same that I didn't get to say goodbye in person. It was weird sitting at the dinner table and not having him begging for scraps. 

Rest in peace Boris. You had the funniest way of sleeping.

 

Anf and I slept in on Christmas morning, with Anf having an especially long snooze after all the stressful winter weather driving. This year I'd given everyone gifts from my inventory (vintage items thrifted or bought at auction for my etsy store) and presented my parents with vintage jewelry- a charm bracelet and a zuni fetish necklace for mom, a geometric designed cuff bracelet for dad. I also gave dad a signed print by a Nez Perce artist, AC Bowman, who was active in the 70s. I'd asked for mostly practical things- books dealing with antique jewelry and silver for my vintage store- and was also surprised with tea, a vintage cicada brooch, and some holiday treats. Anf got coffee, a moka pot, a nice new hoodie, and a fancy electric tooth brush. It's cliche at this point to say "when you're an adult you're glad to get socks and underwear" but it's true. Practical gifts from family are great and also less awkward than asking for things related to one's more niche interests (like horror movies or obscure vinyl records).

Our stay in Boise was largely uneventful, since covid and a fair amount of snow meant there wasn't a lot to do. Anfael and I spent most of the visit in our PJs and slippers, played lots of board games- scrabble, rummikub, some mancala- and relaxed. One night Anf and I watched the very bad children's movie Rumble and I watched very the very good children's movie Shaun the Sheep with my parents on a different night. Mom and I also did some beading together and I repaired a necklace of mine that had broken.

 

 I did accompany my parents for a couple visits to thrift stores to acquire inventory for my store. I still had to bring home inventory acquired on previous visits, so at the end of the trip we had to load seven or eight boxes of vintage goods into our car.

 

I also thrifted a good bunch of sci fi novels and some books about Native American history. I'm reminded that I want to write more book reviews on here.

 

One event we felt safe attending was the Winter Gardens A-Glow at the botanical gardens, since that was outdoors and attendance was relegated to specific timeslots. What we did not expect was the amount of snow fall. It was beautiful, but by the end of the night our phones had shut off due to the cold and my glasses were wet and streaked from snow. 

 

We'd planned to drive home on New Year's Day, but snow storms prompted us to delay our return journey. NYE was quiet and I was a bit moody and introspective about the passage of time. 2020 and 2021 felt very much like lost years- no events, no travel, no family visits and very few visits with friends. I can probably count the social outings on my fingers. I drank a little too much champagne and had a little too much junk food that night and ended up puking as my first definitive act of 2022. I was glad that we wouldn't be driving until Tuesday. For what it's worth, I did sleep like a baby after throwing up. Out with the old, in with the new.

The drive home was quiet and the weather was clear. Day one was smooth sailing. I noticed, with interest, a sign for Miracle Hot Springs in Buhl Idaho, which also read "Caution: Alligators." I'd immediately googled it and learned that the spring's owners figured out that gators would thrive in the warm waters of the hot springs, since they replicate the warm swampy climates that gators naturally live in. I can't picture anything more quintessentially American than that. The gators of course have their own enclosed spring. The rest of the area features luxury camping, space for rvs, lots of pools and massage. In the future I really would not mind planning for a visit there.

On the return trip our hotel was The Ramada and Copper Queen Casino. I liked the look of the place a lot and it was peaceful on the second floor, but I found the room wasn't as nice and had few working outlets. The interior was incredible though, with a wood paneled mountain cabin look and a full pool and hot tub up against the casino. There was a dining room inside the hotel too, but we didn't feel like that was a good idea since it was busy when we arrived. We opted instead for Chinese takeout, which wasn't good but also wasn't bad. I relaxed and watched a couple movies on my laptop- Mohawk (2017) and The Dead Lands (2014).

My camera lens was greasy but that really just enhances these photos I took before check-out.

Day two of driving was also fairly easy with clear skies and dry roads from Ely to Los Angeles. We also had some stops at scenic areas- one being a wild life area somewhere in the desert where we stopped for photos and to stretch our legs. Unfortunately, Anf had unwittingly left their phone on the roof of our car when we were repacking and shuffling some items around in the car and we drove off not realizing it was there. About 30 minutes away Anf realized their phone was missing and they realized what had happened. We doubled back and miraculously found the phone lying on the dirt road about 1/4 mile away from the spot we'd taken photos in. The case was missing but the phone was unharmed.

Because we'd turned around, we decided to take a look at some other scenic spots that we'd passed too quickly the first time around. Somewhere near Hiko Nevada we pulled off in the middle of a beautiful canyon to take photos.

 

 

And once again, we decided to do an impromptu fursuit photoshoot.

At some point I also had to pee somewhere out in the middle of nowhere and I found some jasper. Winter isn't the best time for rock hounding, but next time I might return to this spot and look for more. Or, if we're going the other route- I'd read that Walker Lake (a favored stop of ours) is a place where you can find agates, chalcedony, and turquoise.

Because we'd been delayed by the wild phone chase in the desert, we ended up driving past the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge right at sunset and Anf caught some stunning photos of the water.

My own photo was less stunning but it is still pretty nice.

We got home to Los Angeles around 11pm. The last few hours were kind of tedious- the Las Vegas to Los Angeles part of the drive is hectic and not very fun- but we powered through by singing along terribly to music, talking and joking, and getting a sandwich from Jack in the Box. Again, I do miss stopping at real restaurants, but eating curly fries in your car is also fun.

There's nothing like your own bed after a trip though. I didn't realize how much I missed traveling along with the pleasure of coming home.