Cross Country Road Trip, 2019 - Day 9

Shoshone Falls in Snake River Canyon

Our view for the whole day

Today we spent 9 ½ hours on the road. We’ve done so many things this past week that the days are blending together and we’re beginning to forget where we’ve been. So, we thought today would be a perfect day to do nothing but drive, and we took the Great Basin Highway north to Twin Falls, Idaho. We chose that route because there is absolutely nothing to do and no weird things to see. If there were, we would do it, so we forced ourselves to just drive. Our activities today included:

• Listening to the entire audio book Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Holding my arm out the window and when a bug splattered on my hand, I showed Chad the guts
• Showing Chad how strong I am by squeezing his wrist as hard as I can. I waited until there was a long stretch of road with no other cars, so that if Chad was blinded from the pain he wouldn’t swerve and hit someone. I confirmed that he was ready, and then I squeezed so incredibly hard I could’ve turned coal into diamonds. In fact, I thought I heard bones cracking, but mid-squeeze, Chad pointed out the window with his other hand and said, “look at the cool rock—oh, are you squeezing me? I didn't feel it.”

Shoshone Falls

The activities list goes on and on, but you can imagine how much fun we had. When we arrived in Twin Falls, Idaho, we drove straight to Shoshone Falls, also known as “The Niagara of the West.” The falls are located in the Snake River Canyon, and at 900-feet wide and 212-feet tall, they’re pretty spectacular. The Snake River Canyon is also the location where, in 1974, Evel Knievel attempted a mile-long jump across the river in a rocket motorcycle. The dirt ramp from where he attempted the jump is still visible, and we viewed it from a couple miles down the river at the visitor center. A monument was erected of Knievel’s failed attempt, but, try as we might, we couldn’t find a monument honoring Eddie Braun, the stuntman who actually made the jump in 2016.

Evel Knievel Monument

Perrine Bridge. Thank God I didn't have to walk out there

We stood along the rim of the canyon and looked at Perrine Bridge which spans the river. Chad and I saw a base jumper put on his helmet and carry his parachute to the pedestrian walkway on the bridge. We found a good vantage point along the rim and watched the jumper make his way to the middle of the 1,500-foot bridge, climb over the rail, and sit on the edge for a minute with his legs dangling 500 feet in the air. Then he just dropped—straight down—and 3 scary seconds later his parachute opened, and he sailed to the bottom of the canyon and landed on his feet. 

The base jumper heading toward the ground

It was getting late and we still didn’t know where we were going to stay, so we drove to a restaurant called Johnny Carino’s for dinner. We decided we were too tired to do laundry since it was already 8:00, and instead we found a room at a nearby Holiday Inn Express, bought some clothes from Target, and called it a night.

“Anybody can jump a motorcycle. The trouble begins when you try to land it.” (obviously) -Evel Knievel

-Rachel