Yellowstone Vacation Day 8: Mesa Falls
Today we took a little break from Yellowstone and decided to see what Idaho had to offer us. Plenty, as it turns out.
First of all, if you've ever taken the time to look at a map of Idaho, you'll notice that a large portion of the land is used for parks. I'd never really thought much of Idaho - aside from their potatoes - but I really want to go back some day and see more of this beautiful state.
We drove through Harriman State Park to Mesa Falls. There's not a lot of info on this park and their website is lacking so I wasn't really sure what to expect. It turns out it was well worth a stop!
The Visitor's Center was small, but it was really well done. It was a log cabin that was used as an inn in the olden days. They had a TON of things for kids to touch, feel, and do. I can't even recall how many pelts and antlers and the like they had out for kids to explore. Along with JR books they also had a whole table full of coloring pages, handouts, and activities for children.
Someone there takes a lot of pride in the place because there were hanging baskets filled with beautiful flowers and several berns of wildflowers outside in the front. They had a telescope set up on the porch that was strained on an osprey's nest clear across the falls.
All of that and we weren't even to the falls yet!
The falls were stunning! Just so beautiful.
[caption id="attachment_3134" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Mesa Falls...and another rainbow![/caption]
We drove to the lower falls overlook, too, but it was just a stop. It was nice to take it in but just a quick look and we were back on our way.
We were ahead of schedule by this point so we decided to spend more time in Idaho and stop for the night in Idaho Falls which is just an hour and a half away.
I'm so glad it worked out to see Idaho Falls because it's a really nice little town! The park runs the entire length of the falls. Sculptures, flower beds, and neat benches are dotted throughout the park.
[caption id="attachment_3138" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Finally, a decent bear sighting![/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3139" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Idaho Falls[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3141" align="aligncenter" width="200"]
Garden[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3143" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Snake bench[/caption]
It turns out that the Mormon temple sits close to the falls, on the other side. It cracked me up because on our last vacation we saw the Mormon temple in UT. Not because we're Mormon, but because the building itself is pretty. I joked that we should try to visit a Mormon temple on every vacation. As it turns out, I wasn't able to get a good shot of the temple, but I took this sunset picture from the temple grounds.
[caption id="attachment_3144" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Idaho Falls Sunset[/caption]
Thank you for a lovely time, Idaho. I hope to get back to see you some day!
First of all, if you've ever taken the time to look at a map of Idaho, you'll notice that a large portion of the land is used for parks. I'd never really thought much of Idaho - aside from their potatoes - but I really want to go back some day and see more of this beautiful state.
We drove through Harriman State Park to Mesa Falls. There's not a lot of info on this park and their website is lacking so I wasn't really sure what to expect. It turns out it was well worth a stop!
The Visitor's Center was small, but it was really well done. It was a log cabin that was used as an inn in the olden days. They had a TON of things for kids to touch, feel, and do. I can't even recall how many pelts and antlers and the like they had out for kids to explore. Along with JR books they also had a whole table full of coloring pages, handouts, and activities for children.
Someone there takes a lot of pride in the place because there were hanging baskets filled with beautiful flowers and several berns of wildflowers outside in the front. They had a telescope set up on the porch that was strained on an osprey's nest clear across the falls.
All of that and we weren't even to the falls yet!
The falls were stunning! Just so beautiful.
[caption id="attachment_3134" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Mesa Falls...and another rainbow![/caption]
We drove to the lower falls overlook, too, but it was just a stop. It was nice to take it in but just a quick look and we were back on our way.
We were ahead of schedule by this point so we decided to spend more time in Idaho and stop for the night in Idaho Falls which is just an hour and a half away.
I'm so glad it worked out to see Idaho Falls because it's a really nice little town! The park runs the entire length of the falls. Sculptures, flower beds, and neat benches are dotted throughout the park.
[caption id="attachment_3138" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Finally, a decent bear sighting![/caption][caption id="attachment_3139" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Idaho Falls[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3141" align="aligncenter" width="200"]
Garden[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_3143" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Snake bench[/caption]It turns out that the Mormon temple sits close to the falls, on the other side. It cracked me up because on our last vacation we saw the Mormon temple in UT. Not because we're Mormon, but because the building itself is pretty. I joked that we should try to visit a Mormon temple on every vacation. As it turns out, I wasn't able to get a good shot of the temple, but I took this sunset picture from the temple grounds.
[caption id="attachment_3144" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Idaho Falls Sunset[/caption]Thank you for a lovely time, Idaho. I hope to get back to see you some day!
Comments
Post a Comment