The End Of The Ride

If you think reading this blog is long, you should have been with me in the giant big truck.  That was long!

But, we are nearly finished.

You know you are near Salt Lake City when you see all the downtown buildings. 

It didn't always look like this.  I remember when the temple stood as the tallest building.  Now you really have to look for it. 

"Temple"......... remember the game?

Look for the multiple steeples....

Yep, the little tiny poky up things.....

That is the Salt Lake City Temple.

 Before long we were out of the city and into more farming country and rural life.  The cows, horses, barns, fields, groves of trees, and railroads speckle the country side.

Then the familiar Idaho scenery begins.

It changes slowly, but it is a change.

The mountains are different. 

You've heard of the wonders our land does possess,
Its beautiful valleys and hills.
The majestic forests where nature abounds,
We love every nook and rill

Chorus:

And here we have Idaho,
Winning her way to fame.
Silver and gold in the sunlight blaze,
And romance lies in her name.

Singing, we're singing of you,
Ah, proudly too. All our lives thru,
We'll go singing, singing of you,
Singing of Idaho.

Verse 2:

There's truly one state in this great land of ours,
Where ideals can be realized.
The pioneers made it so for you and me,
A legacy we'll always prize.

The State Song was required learning in 4th grade.  I wonder if it still is????  Does anyone have a fourth grader in Idaho who can tell me the answer to that question?  I will sleep better tonight if I know the answer.  Thanks.

At this point we have passed through Pocatello, Idaho, home of Idaho State University.  Where my darling husband attended.  He drove from Idaho Falls to ISU.  He got good grades in Pool Hall.

We are getting so close to the end of the road for us.  I am getting butterflies in my tummy.

We pass the fields of potatoes.  I worked many autumn days in those fields.  I drove a very big truck.  I worked 16 hour days, 6 days a week for 6 weeks.  I followed the combines in the fields and the potatoes were loaded into the bed of the truck, then I drove to the potato warehouses or potato cellars and unloaded the big truck. 

The truck beds had to be tarped with giant big heavy tarps to protect the potatoes from getting "sunburned".  If the wind was blowing it was very hard work.  The wind would whip that tarp around and sometimes carry me with it.  I was afraid I would end up in Kansas or somewhere, when that tarp caught the wind.

After Pocatello is Blackfoot. 

I learned to golf on the Blackfoot Golf Course.  It is beautiful, and to this day one of my favorite golf courses. 

I quit golfing in Arizona.  It is too hot there.  The courses are too "manicured", "regimented", and "Expensive!"

I like to golf in Idaho.  It is here where you don't have to have a collar on your shirt.  You can golf bare foot if you want to.  You can forget to count every swing you take.  You can find golf balls in the bushes and keep them.  Golfing in Idaho is great! 

 The Blackfoot Golf Course has water from the Snake River around it.  It has canals around it.  It has mosquitoes, too, but we use "Off" mosquito repellent so they don't "bug" us.

In recent years the city of Blackfoot has added a walking path around the golf course.  People ride bikes, take the family, walk the children....it is a peaceful beautiful place. 

You can see the foothills in the East.  You can hear the sprinklers.  You can forget all your troubles and just relax.  It is cool in the shade, and the grass smells like grass.  It is a wonderful place.

The golf course is lush with trees and bushes of every variety.  It is better than a park.

Have I convinced you to learn how to golf, just so you can come here and feel what I am telling you?  I hope so.  Golf Courses in Idaho are beautiful.  And CHEAP!

In Idaho Falls a resident can buy a year round golf pass.  It is about $250.00.  You can golf at 3 different golf courses.  They are all as beautiful as the Blackfoot Golf Course.  You can go as often as you like.

Our friends, Connie and Norman golf.  They golf 3 times a week all summer.  They are tan and fit.  And next summer I am going to be with them.  I can hardly wait!

OK, now we are near Idaho Falls.  The truck is going so slow...I am so excited....and I have to pee. 

It has been a long day.  We have been driving for about 10 hours today and it is nearly 6:00 pm.  We are getting hungry and anxious just to be out of the truck.

We are crossing the bridge of the Snake River and know we are only about 5 miles from home.  Suddenly the pictures of the truck antenna and the side mirror don't matter to me.  The blurry foreground doesn't matter.  Every picture is perfect to me.  Perfect.

The potato cellars and big trucks are plentiful.

The fields are testimony of the crops harvested for another year.  The wheat fields are being cut, the potatoes are ready to be dug, the straw is cut and baled, the trees are barely starting to change colors...... it is autumn in Idaho.  It is harvest time.  The gardens are ripe.  Apple trees are heavy with fruit. 

I am nearly home.



Thanks for taking this ride with me.

I loved sharing it with you.

Come and see me.

But call first, as I may be golfing, skiing, or recovering because I will be acting like I am young again.