Our Road Trips

9/6/2014 (cont.)
Yesterday morning, we woke up at a hotel on the Snake River in Idaho Falls, ID. We arrived so late last night that it was dark, so we didn't see our surroundings. Were we in for a surprise, Out our 2nd story window was the river and right across the street was Idaho Falls...dumb luck gets even crazier as the day goes along. We went down for the free breakfast and found a lady making to order omelettes to go with potatoes, sausages & hot waffles...nice way to start a day. We walked across the street and took some pictures of the falls and the parks that were lining the river as it made its way down the falls and began its journey to the Columbia in Kennewick, WA. What a pretty start to the day. The folks who designed & built the falls & the parks alongside certainly got it right.

We looked for and bought an additional journal Barb has been keeping (her current one is almost full) and headed east. First stop was Swan Valley (I passed through here in 2005 on a motorcycle) for Barb to see. Then just east of there is Palisades Dam & Reservoir, which stretches all the way to the Wyoming line..beautiful lake. with 6-8 campgrounds on the shoreline (we may be back). At Alpine Jct. we turn north to Jackson, tourist trap of the west :). We sail through and enter Teton National Park on a gorgeous day (my dad would be envious). We drove through 3/4 of the park and take the Teton Park Rd back south, stopping periodically to take pictures. When we got back to Jackson, we took WY 22 over the pass (8431') to Victor, where we turned north. I have been listening to the discussion about the Idaho side of the Tetons getting less notice than the Wyoming side, so it was on the agenda. With our table mates giving us a new reason to go to Driggs, we decided to take a look.

Upon arrival in Driggs, we looked up the airport and sure enough, there was a Warbirds Cafe at Teton Aviation at the Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport. We got a seat outside looking at the 30/210 runway and taxiway, with a 42" high fence in between. We ordered lunch and ate our lunch with a minimal amount of air traffic (a Piper Cub landed & took off) and were preparing to leave when someone told us to stay a few minutes. We hear a jet start its engine, then another, then two prop planes, right behind the restaurant. Shortly, 4 planes taxi out and turn onto the taxiway right next to our seating area. The taxi east to the end of the runway and take off, one at a time. What a cool sight. They fly out of sight so we go inside and ask when they might be back, if at all. The gal at the flight desk says they will be back 'soon'. We wander back out side and this little girl starts telling Barb her dad is flying one of the jets and her grandpa is flying the other jet. Just as she is done speaking, the two jets fly by side by side at about 300' off the ground...so cool I am getting goose bumps just telling you the story. Then here comes the two prop planes, similar formation, a little further apart.

This went on for about 25 minutes, before all 4 had made several passes, cool maneuvers and finally landed. I took 98 pictures...better to be lucky than good, but a huge thank you to the folks we met in Stanley for giving us the heads up. Never in my life have I had such marvelous entertainment while having any sort of meal, and we have had been at about 50 dinner theater type events. Amazing!!

By the way, while not quite as spectacular as from the Wyoming side, the Idaho side has a pretty nice view of the Tetons too, and it is not nearly as crowded as the park. We really enjoyed the view, the lunch, and certainly the entertainment afterwards. The owner of the restaurant was the father of the little girl who Barb was talking to and who was flying the gray jet, who I thanked for the show. His grandparents were also sitting there watching the show. He was a very gracious person who thanked me with one of the firmest handshakes I have experienced in a while and told me "the lunch was free, we charged you for the after lunch entertainment' with a huge grin. We were then invited to visit the museum, 5 more warbirds in a hanger attached to the restaurant. One of those was a rare MIG 15, which was shipped to Washington from Poland, refurbished and flown to Driggs. What an
unexpected lunch adventure, and it all started so innocently at the small Bridge Street Grill
overlooking the Salmon River in Stanley, Idaho, It is much more fun to be lucky than good...and yesterday was a priceless day.

We made our way back to our camper over unfamiliar roads and part of it in the dark again. Our ride home was over 2 hours so I connected Barb's phone to the stereo in the car via Bluetooth and we called our grandson back in Florida who was celebrating his 17th birthday. We had a nice chat and sang Happy Birthday to him. Fun times! It is amazing how many unexpected fun things have happened to us this summer...hard to even imagine. We hope you have enjoyed riding along. We figure we have about 2500+ miles to get home, so there are plenty of opportunities for more amazing stuff. We hope you stay tuned...

Steve & Barb Larson