Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Twin Falls Idaho

We passed from the high plains desert environment of sage and more sage into the bountiful agricultural paradise of south-central Idaho. Irrigation transformed the desert into fields of wheat, corn, alfalfa, and grass. Sprinklers were going in everyother field we passed.

Twin Falls is unremarkable as towns go. The spectacular Snake River gorge on the north side of town makes it a place to see. We tried to visit Shoshone Falls but the road to it was closed and all we got was a peek over an overlook 1/2 miles away. The falls are beautiful as is the park next to them. Great place for a picnic. We went on down the road to Twin Falls. Problem with Twin Falls is that its name is dated. It is no longer twin falls but a single, large fall. The other fall has been converted to a spillway for production of hydroelectric power. Twin Falls must have been a sight to see in its day, but now it is a testimony to man's engineering ability. There is a place to picnic and swim.

We were thinking about dry camping at Lowe's but after checking with the manager we decided not to. He didn't say we couldn't stay but told me that they have perimeter security and any movement within the perimeter sets off alarms. He said that the police would probably pay us a visit. Twin Falls is odd in that it does not have a Wal-Mart. So we could not dry camp there. The town fathers, in their ultimate perverted wisdom, decided to not allow Wal-Mart to have a store there. They did allow Target to build a Super Center, Home Depot and Lowes to build big box stores, and Fred Meyer (Kroger) to have a large Wal-Mart-like operation. Explain that.

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