ARCO, IDAHO..ATOMIC DAYS

In a 'cave' at Craters of the Moon Park

Dave and Donna Carlton

Homer Bringhurst at EBR 1

Bill and Mary from North Carolina

Ken and Joyce from Arizona

Craters of the Moon

MOUNTAIN VIEW RV PARK STAFF

We took a short vacation to Arco, Idaho this last week. We packed up the trailer and with our friends, Dave and Donna Carlton, headed north. Everyone asks, "Why Arco?" Well, never been there and we have friends with an RV park. These are new friends, Jackie and Craig Stewart, but their daughter, Becci, lives in the ward and suggested we camp there! We wanted to go somewhere kinda close so we could use the new trailer again. Becci suggested we go during Atomic Days in July. Sounded good to me so I called the RV park and made reservations. The person on the phone sounded just like Becci! It was her sister, Minnie. We stayed in Arco for 6 nights, and felt like members of the Stewart family before we left. Breakfast was free each morning and after 5 or 6 mornings we knew a lot about the whole family. We were invited over to their home on Sunday evening to roast marshmallows! So much fun! There is a set of triplets in the family, 2 girls and a boy, who are absolutely adorable...just starting to walk and really get into things. Becci has 5 boys and they are really a handful. We are so glad we met such a warm and friendly family!

We traveled to Arco on Wednesday, the 13th. Left here at about ten with one of Becci's boys with us. He was the only child at home, one brother at scout camp and the other three were already in Arco. The trip was uneventful. Got to the RV park and settled in. We took a drive around the area. There was a hang gliding competition in Moore which is just down the road from Arco. Kept on going and ended up at a reservoir...can't remember the name. The mosquitoes were terrible, so we headed back to camp. We had some delicious meals. The bbq ribs that Jackie makes for the cafe were outstanding! She has a pressure cooker-steamer that whips ribs out in forty-five minutes! Another speciality is smoked potatoes! So good! But the dessert was my favorite..chocolate raspberry cake...ooooooh!

We visited Craters of the Moon Nat'l Park, NBR 1, which is the nuclear test facility. They don't test bombs, just find new and better ways to use nuclear energy. Last but not least, ATOMIC DAYS! Wow, talk about your small town celebrations. We went to the rodeo on Friday night, and hit the craft booths at the park, watched the parade..the fly over was a little plane, and hit the craft booths again. Bill found a coin dealer and I left him there while I visited the jewelry and food booths.

We met some interesting people while camping...Ken and Joyce have been RVing since 1997..he is a Native American and wears his snow white hair long..shoulder length. Joyce just knows it all..really, or so she thinks. They have been visiting ARCO for 11 years. They drive a VW Thing..remember those?! Their RV would make Homer jealous! Not really. They live in Flagstaff and head out in May and don't go home til Thanksgiving...what a life.

Then there's Bill and Mary. Mary is 77 and "Bill is a little younger". They were waiting for an apartment complex to be completed in North Carolina and decided to hit the road while they waited. A year and a half later...it was done. Their outfit was an over sized van that had been outfitted with all the amenities. The tour took us, ah, 30 seconds! It would be like living in your hallway. Bill is quite the cut-up..always making jokes. Mary was a nurse-anesthetist but retired when she was diagnosed with cancer. They were headed to Provo to visit a niece. Nice people. They gave us their card and invited us to visit them when we are in the South.

On Sunday, Becci had invited us to their ward but it was EIGHT miles away and we could see the steeple of a church just down the street so that is where we went! And guess what? Sacrament meeting was FIRST! I still think our stake is the only stake that has it last. Another interesting thing was that they are ten lessons behind us in R.S.!!!

Dave and Donna left on Monday so Donna could be at work on Tuesday and we stayed one more day and did absolutely nothing! Sat around, read, played Scrabble and fed our faces! That's my idea of doing nothing! Didn't get in the truck and didn't go anywhere. On Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at the cafe and then packed up and headed home. Can't believe it's over! Oh,well, now we head for Taos, New Mexico!