Idaho Part 2

These are the photos (taken on our trip to Idaho) that make me smile. I am always on the lookout for unusual things to photograph and I have my eye out for the quirky or different things to make my trip more interesting. Sometimes I really have to look and sometimes they just present themselves to me. On this trip, both things happened.

Look at these yummy baby Canadian geese. Look even closer. I must be a pretty good photographer to catch the baby on the left just as he....well you see.

For those who wonder what Wayne does for a living, this is it. He engineers the building of these large feed and grain mills. They put together everything from the elevator legs to the augers to the bins and storage tanks. Wayne sells, plans and oversees their construction.
Halverson Company Agriculture Solutions Home

Blackfoot, Idaho has to be one of the quirkiest places we have driven through. We try to never take the interstate unless we have to, because back roads are the way to go when you want to find the interesting and unusual parts of a town.
This is a lady that must have had her hey-day in the late 60's. She is wearing a mini skirt, her hair is in a straight bob, and she is wearing white lipstick. I remember white lipstick (and maybe even wore some at one time). Alas, the restaurant is no more, but her glory is still beckoning people to town. I love her!! She is very tall as you can see as you size her up to the buildings behind her.

This is a miniature bridge of the real thing that goes over the Snake River.

I love little donkeys and always tell Wayne that I want a miniature one in my back yard. As we pulled up to a stop light, we saw this little donkey head sticking out the back window of a van.

It was definitely one of those double-take moments.

This is a wooden carving next to the entrance of a golf course. I couldn't get the top of the feather in the photo because I was in the car when I snapped it, but I would guess it to be about 20 feet tall.

Who can go through Blackfoot without taking a picture of a giant potato?

Mmmmmm, makes me hungry. There used to be a sign saying that you could get a free potato
if you visited the museum. The sign is gone and so are the free potatoes. Darn, this economy.

These are the fuel storage tanks at a gas station that are painted to advertise Coke products.
I wonder if they make people driving by want to stop at the station for a cool one?

Wayne was in a meeting and I was sitting in the car reading when I noticed this van. Enlarge the picture and you will see it's a little ironic that the messages on the back and middle doors are about an Orthopedics business and the front door advertises a ski resort. It's a kind of "you butter my palms, and I'll butter yours"

situation.

This is just a great old smokestack that is still standing next to a business that no longer uses it.

It must have been something in it's day.

This is an amazing bronze sculpture in Idaho Falls of eagles and their babies. The nest was made of what looked like large logs and water was cascading down from the mountain. The whole sculpture was built in the middle of a round-about and there was something to see at each side. It was beautiful!

The other side.

Well, I am ready to go again. What is unusual in your town? I want to see it.

An Idaho Getaway ....Part 1

Wayne needed to go to Idaho Falls on business for a few days. I tagged along because it's been a while since we had been anywhere together alone. The plan was, I would just sit in the motel room and read my book while Wayne did his business and when he was done, we could eat out, and check out the city.

Our motel room was directly across the street from this view of the Snake River.

I am a nature lover...different from a tree hugger..... but just as passionate. I marvel every day at the beauties of this world. These next photos just made me say a prayer of thanks for all the

things that give my soul joy.

It was an amazing Spring this year as far as the flowering trees were concerned. Sandy, Utah was a week or two ahead of us in the blooming department and when we visited there, we got to see blossoms everywhere. Then our trees came into bloom and that gave us another 2 weeks of glory. When we went to Idaho they were two weeks behind us so we got to view it all over again.

Here is a lovely little squirrel next to the big tree by the river.....can you say ahhhh?

Here is squirrel #2 a few few feet farther into the park. Ahhhhh again.

However, as I watched them for a while I realized they were getting agitated, and pretty soon the little varmints were attacking each other. They were screeching and standing up on there back feet boxing and trying to kill each other. No it wasn't a mating dance and I high-tailed it out of there pronto. Can you say eeeeeeek!

Here are the mommy geese strolling with their new babies. There husbands are around too but they are begging for food from the park visitors. Can you say ooooh?

Here is Mr. Mallard getting a little sun.

Here is the daddy goose. So regal and beautiful...... and if you are not careful, he will poke out your eyes. I didn't have any bread or anything with me and I had to get waaaay back. He IS stunning but he has a bit of a temper when you don't feed him. Can you say aaaaaaaahk?

Oh, let's go back to some serenity and nature at it's best. Can you say mmmmmmmm?

(Except the sound was so loud you couldn't hear yourself talk).

The water falling over the rocks and falls could even be heard in the motel room.

More beautiful noise.

A true serene picture. I have nothing to say as an exception here.

We didn't realize how busy the Thursday before Memorial Day could be. We tried motel after motel and they were all full. We finally found this one and the front was sort of average looking and our room was a little hidden but we took it....price was right at $69 a night compared to the much pricier ones that we missed out on. My first look was at the curtains. Sort of dated but nicely appointed and not the standard drapes. As I looked around the room it was absolutely charming and very clean.

This was the wallpaper in the bathroom. I loves leaves and this was really cute.

We had a kitchenette

Our own table and chairs

A really nice lamp with a fabric shade

Cute modern chairs

And a bed that I loved. It had a bed skirt, a mattlasse bed cover instead of the usual motel bedspread, a down comforter and pillows and a bolster pillow. The bed was a Queen Ann and we had a nice TV. It was very clean and was also flanked by pine trees and flowers. Now I really can say ahhhhh! I would take the room again in a heartbeat.

Part 2 coming soon!

When Shon and Kee came for Mother's Day they were able to stay for a few days, so for fun we went to the BYU Art Museum. We are fortunate to live around some of the best ....and may I add "FREE".....art museums I have ever been to. At this particular time, they had the original paintings from the "I Spy" books. We were not allowed to take pictures in that exhibit, but they did allow it in other parts of the museum. I am so in awe of the talents of so many of the artists. I did take pictures, which of course do not show the quality of the paintings but they are still a reminder of what I saw and what great paintings I was able to witness. You may want to enlarge to appreciate some of the details.

These are my grandsons Toby and Alex outside the museum.

My other Grandsons Nick and Joey

Nick mimics the stance of the statue and may I say it was not that easy.

I wasn't smart enough to take pictures of the explanations of these paintings and my memory is not good enough to remember what they are about and who painted them so use your imagination and then come to Utah and see them for yourselves.

One of the Best Days of my Life

We had a party for Amy's birthday and Mother's Day on May 10th. It was one of the best days of my life. Unbenownst to me, the Bishop and Amy had arranged to have my whole family at church. They came walking in, one at a time to surprise me, which it did. You could have knocked me over with a feather. They then dedicated the meeting to me. I was so honored as each one of them spoke about me and my role as a mother. That is really something to have to live up to, but there is nothing in the world as precious to me as they are. I am so lucky to have a husband that I am crazy about, children and their spouses that I dearly love, and grandchildren that rock my world. Thank you Bishop Ed Collins and Amy for all your organizing.

We then went to our home for dinner. After dinner the kids took the balloons down and were playing with them. In a while they came in the room to show us what they had done. I thought it was so clever and artistic and just had to share. They took my painter's tape and made faces on their balloons. They named them, but of course I don't remember the balloon's names so I will call them Bob, Paul and Mary. Each time they came in, they also had a name or emotion that is reflected in the faces of the balloon.

Millie decorated this "Mary" balloon and it has hair made from torn little pieces of tape. Is that clever or what?

Nick made Paul here with a "soul patch"

Have you met Dracula Bob?

Joey said Bob is a little sad here..... just one tear.

Paul is either screaming or is very afraid.

Those eyebrows show surprise don't they?

Just a normal looking guy, I think this is the one Nick called "contemplative"

A very sad fellow with tears streaming.

I forgot what Toby called this, so put in your own interpretation.

Shon and his family got to stay for 6 days so we had lots of fun. Thank you family for being the amazing people that you are.