After a nice extra day layover relaxing in Jackson, WY, we moved out across Idaho towards Boise today. Once we made it over the mountains out of Wyoming and down into the heart of Idaho, the feel of Idaho is a bit like Iowa except that the corn is replaced by potatoes. To be fair to Idaho, while we were mainly on the same route as we were back in Iowa (US-20), it was not nearly as featureless as Iowa…perhaps just comparatively less dramatic than Yellowstone.
Besides all the potatoes, a noteworthy thing about Idaho is its historical and current ties to the development and support of using nuclear materials to generate electrical power. In fact, the very first experimental nuclear power plant was designed, built and successfully operated in Idaho. The first day that it was operated in 1951 by splitting Uranium atoms into Plutonium atoms, it powered four incandescent light bulbs.
On the second day of operation (a day later) it powered the entire facility in a self sustaining manner and operated until some sort of…almost…catastrophic experiment ended its operations about 10 years later.
While this test facility known as EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor-1) is right off US-20, it is quite literally out in the middle of nowhere with nothing for 50 miles in any direction except for the more modern facilities that have since replaced EBR-1 maybe 10 miles off in the distance.
Of course, they don’t let you get anywhere close to them unless you are presumably willing to deal with guys toting M-16’s.
After visiting EBR-1, we headed over to Arco, ID for lunch at a place named Pickles, and home to the “Atomic Burger”
However, as we approached the place, the neon green sign gave Sandra the shivers. She was apparently not quite so convinced that somehow radioactive materials were not going to be making it into our food even though Jeff explained to her that her “magnetic personality” would protect her.
To be fair, in addition to the generation of nuclear materials in Idaho, the state is also the place where virtually all radioactive waste is currently dumped…..so maybe the fear was not quite so farfetched. In any case, we skipped lunch and moved on along US-20 until we got to the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.
Apparently, this is the location where they first build EBR-0, but after it went super critical and melted everything within a 50 mile radius, this is what was left behind. Ok, maybe not. This place is the result of an ancient lava flow and somewhat resembles the big island of Hawaii, but without the volcanic peak. In any case, the “craters of the moon” seems appropriate for this very much out of place site in the middle of Idaho.
Tomorrow we head to Portland, OR as our new base for starting our journey down the Pacific Coast Highway!
