olmue

So I'm not sure what we're going to do next week because we've been doing something interesting and going somewhere every day so far. Today we were just going to go to the library and hang around because yesterday we went to Mesa Falls, and that's nice drive over scary dropoff mountain roads. Not to mention the altitude difference (of 4000+ feet for my parents). Mesa Falls, the best non-hiking destination in eastern Idaho (and a place where you can touch different animal furs and also buy huckleberry jam, which we did):

But it was *nice* today. So instead of the small things, we thought we'd drive over and check out the ruined site of the Teton Dam. In June of 1976, they had just filled the dam for the very first time. Only, it was built on porous lava rock, and the water sneaked up through the rocks under the dam, and it broke. And flooded towns downstream for MILES. Like, there was maybe 20 feet of water over where we currently live. Houses went downstream, farming equipment was tumbled to the point of non-recognition, and it cost a bazillion dollars to repair. Here it is, the broken dam site, and a view downriver:

But...it was so NICE today. So...we kept driving.

I mean, if you saw that ahead, you'd keep on going, right? We did. I have to say, I was impressed at my almost-89-year-old dad hiking up the south Teton trail.