Friday, September 10, 2021 - We drive for five and a half hours from Caldwell, Idaho (near Boise) to the Snake River RV Park in Idaho Falls, Idaho. We have stayed at this RV park in the past, so we were familiar with the drive and the park. No problems getting to the park and getting checked into our spot. We were just starting our setup process when a couple stopped by and we began a long conversation. As we were talking, a weather front passed through and the winds were pretty high. It was hard to level the RV with the wind pushing is all around. We finally did get is leveled and went about our business.

It was about 4:00 pm when we got the RV set up, so we decided to just stay around the RV and relax. We had dinner and I worked on the blog.

Saturday, September 11, 2021 - There is a farmers market every Saturday in downtown Idaho Falls right along the Snake River and all the water falls. We bought some veggies and were tempted by some of the pastries available, but we held off to avoid the calories. We then went over to one of the local bike stores to ask about riding routes and to get some energy food for our rides. The people were super-nice and they gave us some great ideas on rides in the area. We also learned about the ride from Driggs to Victor in the west Tetons areas. We thought that we would go try our this ride. We decided to take a drive to one of the places just outside of town that seemed to have lots of potential. As we were driving the road, our truck gave us a warning that the truck was cleaning the emissions control particulate filter. When this happens, it is recommended that we drive for at least ten minutes at over 30 mph. The route was a great one and we planned to ride the route. Country roads without much traffic at all. We then returned to Idaho Falls to fill up with diesel at the local Costco (they had the best prices in the area). Next, we went to a Honda sports vehicle dealer to inquire about the availability of a Honda Talon side-by-side four-wheel drive ATV. Turns out that they are very hard to get due to parts shortages with wait times of up to six months; bummer. We then went back to the RV to prep for our bicycle trip planned for tomorrow. I also worked on the blog to try to get caught up with what we have been doing.

Sunday, September 12, 2021 - We left fairly early to head over to Driggs, Idaho where we would start a ride due south to the town of Victor. The route is along a paved trail that is just about straight all the way to Victor. The day was great and the weather was excellent. We left Driggs and rode for about nine miles to Victor. We rode through town and then south of town on some very nice country roads. We ended up at a "T" in the road on the highway that goes over Teton Pass to Jackson Hole. There is a group of bicycle trail supporters who are having a trail built to the top of Teton Pass from the Victor area. The distance is about 12 miles and the grade is a pretty consistent ten percent. There is already a trail from Jackson Hole to the top of Teton Pass, so this new trail will make it possible to ride all the way from Driggs to Jackson Hole. There are plans for a "Teton Loop Trail" that will take a person all the way around the Tetons; that will be awesome! We returned to Victor and stopped for breakfast at a restaurant called "Butter." The food was great and the server was super-nice. We had a great meal and then headed back to Driggs. The road back was all downhill, so the ride was very easy. When we got back to the truck, we decided to ride up to the ski resort at Grand Targhee. This is a pretty continuous climb with grades up to nine percent, but it was mostly five to seven percent. The views on the climb were spectacular with the Tetons range to the east and the Teton Valley to the west. We climbed and climbed and eventually arrived at the ski park. There were some mountain bikers enjoying the downhill runs and other people taking the gondola to the top of the hill for super-spectacular views. We decided on eating ice cream from the lodge restaurant. It was excellent ice cream and we really appreciated it. After a break, we headed back to Driggs. The beginning if the return trip climbs a short (thankfully) seven percent grade and then you begin the downhill all the way back to town. We took it easy and enjoyed the return to Driggs. The road was under repair in several places, so we had to slow down and watch out in the rough areas. We made it safely The ride turned out to be 51 miles and the climb was 3,200 feet. We were pooped, so we relaxed on the 1.5 hour drive back to Idaho Falls.

Monday, September 13, 2021 - We decided to leave early and drive to Jackson Hole to ride bikes. We also decided to drive to Victor, Idaho to have breakfast again at "Butter" before driving over Teton Pass to Jackson Hole. Neither one of us had ever been over Teton Pass, so we thought that we would give it a try. The breakfast at Butter was again excellent, and then we began the 15 mile drive to the top of Teton Pass. The road up has a gradient of ten percent and the road down the backside into Jackson Hole is also a ten percent gradient. The views of the Jackson Hole area are outstanding at the top of the pass, although you are looking into the rising Sun. The drive to Jackson Hole was fun and there was not much traffic at all. When we arrived in town, we drove to the visitor center to see about some maps of the area. We are pretty familiar with the area already, but thought that we would check it out. Turns out that we had to drive back into town to park on a side street as all the easy access parking was taken or metered. We got on our bikes and began a 48 mile bike ride.

We rode the excellent, paved trail from Jackson Hole to Jenny Lake as a start. It is about 12 miles along the path to the Moose area which is a commercial area along the Snake River. Most of the path was level, so the ride was pretty easy. From Moose to Jenny Lake

is another eight miles making it 20 miles total to Jenny Lake. It was a beautiful, clear day with pretty white, puffy clouds building as we went through the day. We took lots of video and photos of the majestic Teton Range to our left, so be sure to check out the photo gallery and video section. We walked around Jenny Lake and went to the small boathouse on the south end of the lake. Shuttle boat trips are made from this location to take people across the lake to hike. The water is pretty low in the lake and throughout the region; they haven't been getting much rain. We went back to the Jenny Lake commercial area and enjoy some ice cream before heading back down the road to Moose. When we arrived at Moose, we decided to add some more miles to the ride by turning north towards Yellowstone and then traveling to the east towards the foothills. This route took us past the old Mormon Settlement and into the open country. We then turned south towards the small town of Kelly where we share a huge, monster sandwich that had about everything conceivable to put in a sandwich in it. We then cycled past the Gros Ventre (pronounced "Grow Vaant") campground as we headed back to town. By now, the winds had come up to around 20 mph, so we were working a little harder than planned. We managed to get back to town and load the bike on the truck. We managed to get 51 miles in for the day and it was a beautiful, fun ride. We then drove back to Idaho Falls which took about two hours. All in all, a great day.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - I worked on the rear door of the RV. The door has began to oxidize and it is looking pretty bad. I bought an electric polisher/buffer that I used on the door with a mild rubbing compound. I don't feel that it did a lot of good. I don't want to get to aggressive since this could damage the paint and the decal on the door. I will work on it by hand when I get more time. I also worked on washing the entire trailer. We have also driven around town looking for parts for our RV and just doing some routine maintenance.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - Likely stayed around town and walked, relaxed, and did chores around the rig.

Thursday, September 16, 2021 - Likely stayed around town and walked, relaxed, and did chores around the rig.

Friday, September 17, 2021 - We looked around downtown and then, in the evening, went to a fun restaurant called The Sandpiper. We had eaten there before and knew that the food would be good. We were given very nice seats right next to a gas fire-pit which was right up Lisa's alley. We had a great meal in a very nice environment; it was a lot of fun.

Saturday, September 18, 2021 - Lisa and I found out that there is a Farmers Market in Idaho Falls every Saturday morning, so we decided to go check it out. It is a nice farmers market with lots of veggies, crafts, and pastries. We walked up and down the farmers market and purchased some veggies. We skipped the pastries since we are both on diets. It was a lot of fun.

We then went on a walk to check out the "Falls" at Idaho Falls. There is a loop that you can walk around the Snake River water falls that is about two miles in length. It is pretty and the city has created several unique sculptures along the way. It was a nice walk. As we came to a boat ramp, we talked to a man who was catching crawdads. He had two traps and was catching the crawdads to consume as food. He had about eight in one trap and four in the other. He returned the smaller ones to the river.

Sunday, September 19, 2021 - We decided to do chores and explore the local area. The back door of our RV has become pretty "oxidized" and it looks pretty bad. I have purchased a hand polisher and I plan to use it to help me "buff" the back deck door to see if I can remove the oxidation prior to polishing. It turned out to be a lot of work and it did not work out too well. In fact, I may have put a lot of effort into making the situation worse that it was when I started. I think that I will have to do the entire job by hand (lots of elbow grease) and then see about polishing it. I may even consider taking it to an auto detailing shop to have them work on it. We will see.

After lunch, we drove to the local Costco store to get diesel for the truck. Costco has the best prices in town at this time. We also had a little shopping to do, so into the store we went. It took a lot of resistance to not stop and eat pizza and hot dogs at Costco.

We also took some time to detach our recliner chairs in the RV to see why they are not working properly. We found that we had some "controller" problems and pull cables that were broken. We went to Bish's RV to see if they could order the parts for us. They are in the process of trying to do that, but we are not optimistic that they will find the parts.

Monday, September 20, 2021 - Lisa and I decided to head north to Harriman State Park and the area near Island Park. This would put us real close to the West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We arrived at the park and decided to go for a bike ride in the park. This is not a large park and we found that the trails were better suited for mountain bikes rather than out EBike and my road bike. At this park, there is a historic working ranch that was created by many of the key citizens who settled in this area. We started the ride on a pretty wide road that was "okay" for my road bike and pretty good for Lisa's EBike. After about two miles, the road turned into a single-track mountain bike trail, but we decided to give it a try. I was able to get through it pretty well, but at one place, Lisa pedaled through a large rut and caught a pedal; this caused her to take a little bit of a tumble. She was okay, but she did hit her helmet (and head) on the ground. We lifted her up and got going again. The rest of the ride was okay as the trail returned to a larger road that was better to ride. We rode for about six and a half miles on this trail. We then returned to the truck and drove to a nice place to have a picnic lunch.

After lunch, we drove to the town of Island Park. We drove east to the place where we had launched our kayaks on Henry's Fork of the Snake River on a previous trip. This river is wonderfully clear and cold. We found out that the entire river starts from a big spring that is located about three miles east of where we put in. Lisa and I drove to the Big Spring and were amazed at the volume of water coming out of the ground. There were huge trout in the water and we could see them swimming in schools. It is always amazing to see big fish in spring fed, clear water. No fishing in this area. In fact, the entire stretch of river down to Highway 15 has been closed to fishing to help the fish numbers increase. It began to rain a little as we were watching the fish, so we decided to head back towards Idaho Falls by way of the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway. This road begins near Harriman State Park and takes you all the way to Ashton, Idaho. Along the way, you can stop and see both upper and lower Mesa Falls. They are both beautiful water falls. You can get really close to the upper falls, but the lower falls is scene from a distance. We stopped at the upper falls and skipped the lower falls. The road hits highway 15 in the town of Ashton. There is also a nice place in Ashton to get 'soft-serve" ice cream, so that is what we did. After our ice cream stop, we headed back to Idaho Falls.

Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - We departed Idaho Falls for Helper, Utah.