TWIN FALLS, ID: A VISIT WITH FRIENDS, BASE JUMPERS, FALLS AND THE SNAKE RIVER

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts on what happened to cause our tire to blow.  We think it likely that the steering locked for some reason, with the tires a couple degrees off of straight… but the idea of the brake calipers sticking on the front left wheel makes sense, too.  We probably won’t ever know for sure, but the symptom (pulling to the left) was very obvious – so we feel pretty confident that we will know if it happens again.

Once we got the new tires, all was well in Twin Falls.  Before we arrived, Boomer friends Becky and Lonnie let us know that they live in Twin Falls when they aren’t traveling (Becky has lived here her whole life!), that they were in town, and would be happy to show us the highlights.

We took them up on their offer, meeting for lunch at a comfortable, friendly restaurant, Elevation 486, on the edge of Twin Falls finest tourist attraction, the Snake River Canyon.  Because it was windy and cold (though deceptively sunny), we got a table inside, next to a window looking out at a large patio, the empty tables and chairs, and beyond to the fabulous view.  This place must be jammed on a warm day! 

Fortified by a good meal (Odel and I were able to stick to our vegan commitment with delicious tomato soup and a salad), we headed off to hit the scenic highlights of the canyon, Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls (which is now one lone fall).  Shoshone Falls (top photo) looked spectacular to us, but apparently it paled beside the thunderous, record-setting volume last year, when none of the rock beneath the falls was visible – can you imagine?? 

There are walkways along much of the canyon rim, and we spent plenty of time peering down to the river and the golf courses spread out below.  Our day of sightseeing ended with an abundance of wine and conversation (both excellent) at Becky and Lonnie’s beautiful home – thanks so much for your time, friends.

If you have ever traveled through Twin Falls, you likely have traversed the Perrine Bridge, crossing the Snake River Canyon.  The canyon is breathtaking, the bridge is lovely and graceful, and it is an internationally renowned mecca for BASE (Building, Antenna, Span, Earth) jumpers – thrill seekers who jump from fixed points wearing a parachute.  The Perrine Bridge is one of the few places in the world where BASE jumping is legal, and it is a huge draw for jumpers from other countries (and the US, of course).  Here is a fascinating web page about BASE jumping from the Perrine Bridge – all kinds of information I never would have thought about while watching these daredevils.

Perrine Bridge.  Click to enlarge.  Notice the vehicle traffic on the bridge and the chute of the jumper below it, just about in the center of the photo.	This group of BASE jumpers from Australia were preparing their chutes at the Visitor Center.  You can see the top of the bridge in the background.

On Friday, we headed over to the Visitor Information Center adjacent to the bridge to watch jumpers prepare their parachutes and jump.  A group of half a dozen Australians planned to spend the day jumping; when we were here 5 or so years ago, we talked with a couple Brits who had come to spend their week long vacation jumping.  It is very difficult to capture a BASE jumper’s descent with my little pocket camera, but here is a link to a 10 minute video on You Tube that shows a jump in the first 30 seconds (I haven’t watched the entire video yet – saving bandwidth until we are using someone else's WiFi!).

If you are passing through Twin Falls in an RV, you can stay at the Visitors Center parking lot for one overnight, long enough to explore the canyon and watch the BASE jumpers.  We chose Rock Creek Park (click here to read our review) as our base camp, and recommend it if you plan to stay a few days.  There’s more to Twin Falls than first meets the eye.