March 24th, 2024
I packed up this morning and headed out… before I left I got in some good time with my Bible, finishing off Deuteronomy. I’m making some quick progress on my Bible so far. I think I am definitely on track to meet my goal of finishing it during this trip. Packing up went pretty smoothly… I feel I should note that the ramp that my Dad and I built for loading and unloading the motorcycle is working incredibly well. The motorcycle is a Honda Rebel 500 that weighs about 420 pounds wet, which is actually pretty light for a street bike. The carrier that it sits on is about two and a half feet off the ground, which makes it very difficult to push up the ramp with just one person. So my Dad and I designed a clever little setup that adds another ramp for me to walk up and a platform for me to stand on right next to the bike once it is loaded. It works very well so far, I’ll take a video of the process sometime and upload it for those interested.
I found a free dump station that is available for use in Buhl and headed that way, stopping by the grocery store first to grab some more melons. I’m sure I will mention melons often in these entries… Cantaloupe is pretty much my favorite thing on the planet. Definitely proof the God loves us.
The dump station was a bit of an adventure in itself… I ended up having a nice conversation with a gal named Betty who was going through some hard times. She was recently divorced and felt she was no longer welcome at her church. We spoke for about an hour, and before we parted I gave her a copy of Captivating by John and Stacy Eldredge and invited her to come to the church service I would be attending on Sunday, hopefully she will join me.
I made it to the church in the early afternoon and picked a spot in the lot out back to set up. About an hour or so later my hos, Randy, showed up and introduced himself. Randy is the Lead Pastor at Calvary Assembly of God in Buhl and was very welcoming. We chatted for about a half hour before he had to go to tend to other duties. Before he left, he invited me to game night that evening in the church fellowship hall and I was honored to accept. I headed over around 7:30 after having some dinner and was greeted warmly by the room full of people. We played Farkle, or 10,000, which I lost handily on. I was a blast, they had a wonderful spread of snacks and pie and the whole group was just as friendly as they could be.
The next day was quiet. It was very rainy and windy out so I spent the day kicking back and reading my Bible. On Sunday the weather was back to beautiful so I got up early and went for a run. I ran from one end of Buhl to the other and saw basically the entire town. It was awesome, I love being able to run and move through spaces like this and take them all in. Sunday service was lovely. This church had a larger and more age-diverse congregation. The worship was led by Pastor Randy’s daughter Jenna who sang and played the guitar. Randy grave a great sermon on necessities vs frivolities using some very compelling visual aides… it was a really good message and an overall very well put together service.
After the service I had some more nice words with Randy, agreed to kee in touch, and got to work packing up. I hadn’t unloaded the bike soI was back on the road in no time heading towards Twin Falls. I stopped at Winco to do some grocery shopping and then headed to the Rock Creek RV Park. I would be staying here for about 5 days and would have full power and water hook ups, which would be really nice as it was supposed to be hot this week.
Rock Creek is nice, it’s a little more “intimate” than Balanced rock was… as in you are a lot closer together to a lot more people, but it is a nice place. There is a big park area with a creek running through it with little bridges here and there and grass and trees all over the place. It has a green belt style path that runs through it and all the way around it for about two and a half miles, which just happens to be the perfect length for my morning runs. I spent my time here mostly reading and playing with Danny while trying to get a bit of a tan started. Though crowded, it was pretty quiet and peaceful. The 30 amp hookup came in handy on a few particularly hot days and the AC kept up nicely. I went on a few motorcycle rides around Twin Falls and just had an overall nice time while I was there. The town itself leaves a bit to be desired, it is definitely more run down than I remember it, and WAY more crowded then I remember it.
Here’s a few shots of the park I stayed at:
The day I was to pack up and leave I got a text from my new friend Keith saying he would not be stopping at Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir as he had already made his way down passed Wells, Nevada. I was a little bummed, but it was okay… he invited me to come join him at Glammis Sand Dunes in southern California later in the year so we’ll get a chance to meet up down there. While we chatted he voiced some concerns saying he had heard that the location at the reservoir wasn’t very good, so I started wondering if I should bother going there at all. So I decided I should probably stay here one more day and rethink my plans…
While I was on the park website to sign up for another day, I came across another State run (ie. cheap) RV park that was not too far away. It actually looked really promising. The park itself was on Lake Murtaugh, about 20 miles away to the east. When I say on the lake, I mean actually on the lake… there is a little island peninsula that juts out into the lake that the RV park sits on. It looked really cool… there were full hookups, several docks, and plenty of areas for a dog to run and play. It felt like the right next move for me, like God had orchestrated this change in plans… so I booked a week out there and enjoyed my last day at Rock Creek. I figured this would give us a chance to stop by Shoshone Falls along the way as well, since I hadn’t been there since I was a kid. I’m not really into touristy stuff, but if I remember right, Shoshone Falls is pretty amazing. God is quite the artist afterall.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
Psalm 84:5