June 21st, 2023
I arrived in Island Park, Idaho on Father’s Day. It was another gray and rainy day. I stopped for breakfast in West Yellowstone, and after finding an open café, went in to sit down. Immediately I realized I had been there before. In 2005, my sons, father and I had eaten dinner here and in the very same both in which I was now seated. I remember from the décor.
I remember my father found all the memorabilia interesting. I wish he had been there again, having breakfast with me. Later in the day I felt better after spending time on the cell phone with my boys and communicating with good friends Sai and Alekhya.
I drove west and then south through rain and into Idaho. It rained the next 2 days also, so I spent most of the time at my campsite in Buttermilk USFS Campground on the Island Park Reservoir. I did get a chance to buy groceries and get a few photos of Mesa Falls.
Island Park is an interesting town as its main street is the longest of any town or city in America, at 33 miles. In the 1940s, Idaho would not allow the sale of liquor except from towns and cities. But there were so many tourists gathering along Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, who wanted to drink on visits, that they drew boundaries around the resorts, cabins, and campsites, forming a long skinny town of 33 miles. Problem solved.
On my final full day, the sun finally came out. I drove to Harriman State Park on the river for some hiking.
Tomorrow I will move again, this time back towards Colorado. I will attempt to make single night stops at the parking lots of an Indian Casino in Riverton, Wyoming, a Walmart in Laramie, and a Cracker Barrel near Lafayette, Colorado. My final destination is a campground near Nederland, up the canyon from Boulder. I need to find somewhere to get through the crowded 4 day holiday while I get some lab work done and find out when I will again be free to roam.
Starting All Over 