2018-19
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| Idaho Falls, right in the center of town |
Pocatello Idaho
Idaho Falls Idaho
Rigby Idaho
Campground:
Jefferson County Lake Campground, Rigby ID. $20.00. 30/50 amp
electric/water. Concrete pad and picnic table. Nice paved walking
trails around the lake/campground. No dump station. Good Verizon
signal. Many of the sites have recently been upgraded with concrete
pads, a number of them are pull-thrus. Campground grassy areas are
left to grow tall, with only areas cut to picnic tables…. Nice to
see landscape more natural.
Distance Traveled:
210 miles
Pocatello
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| a total of 6 new deep cycle batteries should do it |
I have to chuckle to
myself, thinking about a question my sister Ann asked me recently
about my boondocking. She asked if one of the reasons was to save
money. It was a good question. And of course that is a plus along
the way, but I think what boondocking does is give me many more
options as to places I can camp, often in more remote and stunning
locations. Especially while I’m out west as well as avoid having
to pay higher camping fees in some areas of the country.
The chuckle
continues when I contemplate saving money as it has not turned out
that way as many Rv-ers can testify too. Sometimes our expenses can
really go over the top. As it turns out, having the generator and
solar panels, does not come cheap. I had 4 AMD sealed batteries for
the past 4+ years and they should have lasted a good 2 more years.
What I discovered is
that since I didn't’ have a backup generator to use when the
batteries got low, I had damaged those expensive batteries by
draining them a few too many times below the recommended levels. One
example was last summer while camping in Upstate New York, I got a
State Park campsite that have no utilities. On top of that, it was
cold, rainy and no sun for the 4 or 5 days I was there. Draining the
batteries, which never got recharged until I got to the next
campsite. Not good for deep cycle batteries.
And with that they
were now providing less and less backup power. So, I traveled from
Wyoming to Pocatello Idaho, to a battery store that could provide me
with the right backup power. Going from 4 deep cycle batteries to 6
extra heavy duty AMD batteries. The battery shop is a small national
chain that advertises their ability to help out with all the power
needs for any solar system. That wasn’t the case at the Pocatello
site, but at least I got what I think is a better set of batteries.
Let’s just say the cost was over the moon. Did you know those deep
cycle batteries weigh in at 73 lbs each.
Idaho Falls
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the falls are actually almost a half a mile in length
nice walking on both sides of the park like setting |
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| fun sculptures in the park |
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| lots of LDS temples in Idaho |
Since I’m in
Idaho, I ventured over to Idaho Falls city and went to The Museum of
Idaho. They had a special installation called “Discover Steampunk,
A Fantastical hands on Adventure”. What a fun and informative
presentation. It described what Steampunk is, a marriage of
Inventions particularly from the 18th century, Victorian
era costumes and lifestyle to the inventive genius of people like
Jules Vern and such inventors as Thomas Blanchard (the steam engine)
and invention of the sewing machine and Singers revolutionizing the
industry by selling their machines all over the world. Since I love
learning about various inventions and how they came about and finding
out the tie in with the phenomenon of Steam Punk it was a most
enjoyable morning. It was all a nice tie in since Idaho is the first
location for the creation of Useful nuclear energy, over 50 nuclear
reactors were built in Idaho during the testing phase.
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| how is this for a Steampunk outfit? |
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| what a fun and interesting exhibit |
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| an original 1777 13 star flag |
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the Singer sewing company had postcards made
showing every country in the world using a Singer Sewing Machine |
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this is the first time this special exhibit has been on display
Steampunk explored |
Rigby Idaho
Later in the
afternoon, I got back to the small town of Rigby Idaho where I went
to a second museum called the “Farnsworth TV and Pioneer Museum”.
Philo T. Farnsworth was the inventor of the Tv Tube making the Tv
possible. He came up with the idea while still in high-school and
even presented a diagram explaining his ideas. The teacher was not
able to totally comprehend what he was telling him but encouraged him
to continue with the invention. I believe it was Motorola who tried
to claim the idea and patent it later on. The teacher was able to
step in, present the diagrams that Farnsworth created back in
high-school, proving he was the first to invent the Tv Tube concept
and won the patent.
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remember when blond Tv's furniture
was all the rage |
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| this was my favorite quilt on display |
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| Philo T. Farnsworth tucked in between the quilt display |
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| all of the TV items tucked inside of a small room |
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Philo T. Farnsworth 1st presented his idea for a TV
in highschool |
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would be nice if a special museum was dedicated
to Philo T. Farnsworth |
a great display of old chainsaws
Plans were drawn up
to build a museum to celebrate the invention of the Tv and
Farnsworth’s contributions, but those plans have lingered and most
of the artifacts are housed along with the more prosaic “Pioneer
Museum” exhibits. Something you can see in just about any small
town America across the country. For now, most of the Farnsworth
display items are crammed into a room, behind a window for viewing
purposes.
Another stop one day
back in Idaho Falls was to their Art Museum. A very small museum,
not even worth the few dollars entry fee. They had two local artists
in the two and only galleries and a hallway. Both artists although
they had extensive schooling and training under top artists, I didn’t
think their art was particularly good. A number of their paintings
were even On-Sale…. Was I in an art museum or art gallery.
I’ve enjoyed by
stay at this county park and lake which is very popular with the
locals for swimming and paddling around on the small man made lake.
A quick stop at the dermatologist in town where I was fortunate to be
able to get an appointment due to a cancellation. I have a small
spot on my face that has not cleared up and since I’ve had multiple
cancers removed, I needed to have it checked out. Fortunately it was
a small infection, no cancer cells. Topical medication will take
care of it.
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| Jefferson County Lake Campground |
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| the park has a really nice mile long walk around the lake |
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very popular swimming and boating
with the locals |
And finally the
little town of Rigby is having a parade and rodeo this weekend. The
parade was unusually quiet to begin with, no horns blowing, no loud
speakers announcing the various floats and bands going on by. I was
terribly concerned that a number of the floats being pulled by trucks
as they had runners going between the float and truck to get candy to
throw out to the kids on the side lines. Kept picturing one of the
runners stumbling and getting caught under the float.
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| white lilacs still in bloom |
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| hmmm |
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| a steam tractor |
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| the Trojan cheer leaders |
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now this family knows how to collect the candy
being thrown out to the fans |
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| three camels were in the parade! |
I head out to the
Grand Tetons tomorrow for a couple of days, then head onto Cody
Wyoming to visit a couple of friends staying in the area.
More photos
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