Looking at this map we really drove through the guts of Idaho. The drive from Wyoming was pretty interesting, partly because we passed Craters of the Moon National Park but also because we were listening to the World War Z audio book, so I was deep in thought about the zombie apocalypse. As you do.
We spent our first night in a sweet small town called Bellevue where a stray cat tried to join our road trip. We then drove on to the Sun Valley, where celebs go to ski in the winter apparently, and then to the Sawtooth Valley.
Looking into the Sawtooth Valley
We stopped in Stanley, because a woman we met in Bend, Oregon, had recommended it. We will literally take travel tips from anyone, qualified or unqualified! It often works in our favour.
Stanley has a population of 68. It grows in the summer with people coming to raft and fly fish in the Salmon River. The town itself is all quaint timber buildings and is very picturesque:
Some shack by the road
We took a day white water rafting trip which was kind of a splurge for us, but well worth it. Kicking off from the Elk Creek launch we went over class II and III rapids. Given it was late July the rapids weren’t crazy or anything like The River Wild, a movie whose trailer succeeded in scaring me senseless as a child. Ok I just looked it up and that movie is set on the Salmon River! Glad I didn’t know that before…
I only took a few, very average, photos on my GoPro (stay tuned for the video!):
Andrew was enjoying himself, despite his face here
There were plenty of Deliverance jokes and duelling banjos singing.
The other people in our raft included a woman and three teenage boys from California. Nothing like hanging out with teenagers to make you appreciate being in your 20s!
The lunch provided by the rafting company was insanely good. Pulled pork burgers, mac and cheese and salad followed with cobbler. There are no photos because I only had the GoPro with me.
The trip also involved jumping from a rock into the water, video here. Note my embarrassingly dramatic scream.
That evening we watched the sunset from the only pub in Stanley. They had apple ale on tap which is the only thing I’ve managed to find in the States that resembles cider. It was delicious. What they call cider here is weirdly flat and very sweet. Such a great day.
We headed to Idaho’s state capital, Boise, to stay with Andrew’s friends Ben and Aurore, who used to live in Kalgoorlie. I don’t have a heap of photos from Boise because we spent a lot of time relaxing and revelling in not camping. It was just what we needed.
Ben insisted we try chicken fried steak, an American breakfast delicacy.
Fried chicken with gravy, scrambled eggs and a hash brown
It was pretty damn good!
Andrew and I spent the next day exploring downtown.
All state capitol buildings in the US are designed just like the capitol in Washington DC:
I can’t decide if it’s weird or if it makes sense. Just near the capitol we discovered Guru Donuts:
Key Lime Pie and Girl Scout Cookie
The day we arrived Ben and Aurore adopted a gorgeous black labrador cross puppy and called her Vindi. She was so sweet natured and gorgeous I wanted to steal her.
She probably looks a bit glum in that photo because she could smell our dinner on the bbq (vegetarians avert your eyes):
Yes and yes.
To further our American food education Ben made the most amazing ribs I’ve ever had.
Ribs and Rose! Classy
The meat just fell off the bone. And straight into my mouth, incidentally.
Andrew and I were in charge of the slaw which involved combining cabbage and a jar of sauce. Amateurs.
Juicy barbecued corn
While in Boise we saw the new Ant Man movie, which I thought I would hate, but I actually loved it! Peter Russo from House of Cards makes an excellent villain.
That’s it for Idaho! From there we drove to Salt Lake City, which obviously I have already blogged about. Such confusion. Hope you are well!
My Bloggable Day 
Visiting the Mormon capital of the world: some thoughts
Salt Lake Temple
I’m kind of breaking the chronology of our trip with this post. Technically Idaho comes next but we are in Salt Lake City now and I wanted to write this while it was still fresh.
Salt Lake City is beautiful, framed by mountains and on the edge of a body of water so vast it looks like the ocean. The CBD actually reminds me a lot of Melbourne with its tree lined streets, trams and generally clean, affluent appearance.
Today we explored Temple Square, the six acre global HQ for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The square is made up of many impressive buildings including the conference centre which holds 21,000 for twice yearly meetings, the tabernacle (the building used before the conference was opened in 2000) and the imposing temple, which only card carrying Mormons can enter.
The Square is run by female volunteers known as ‘sisters’ (the men are known as Elders) who take tours and welcome visitors. Mormons complete missions for the church so many of the sisters are from overseas, completing their mission.
All of the sisters are lovely, with smiles permanently on their faces. I felt uncomfortable because I was wearing shorts and modesty is an important facet of Mormon faith, but only in the same way I would feel uncomfortable in shorts at a Buddhist temple (they don’t give out modesty sarongs here though!). All of the sisters wore skirts that fell below their knees, none of them in trousers. I can’t help but think how much easier life must have become for fashion conscious sisters when maxi and midi skirts made a comeback.
We took a tour of the conference centre with an older sister who was lovely. Mormonism is based on the time of Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles, so there is a leader of the Mormon church and he has 12 apostles. Our tour guide pointed out their portraits on the wall and they were all old and white. When I asked if women could be apostles she explained that there are women leaders who run the womens’ conference and who “give information on how to raise your kids and keep pornography out of the house” (direct quote).
We took a second tour of the Beehive House. Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon in 1830 after having received visions (presumably from God and Jesus) that led him to buried scriptures which he translated. In 1847 (after a bunch of stuff happened including Joseph Smith being killed by an armed mob) it was Brigham Young who led the Mormon pioneers into what is now called Utah and founded Salt Lake City. Beehive House is where Brigham Young lived and conducted his business.
On the Beehive House tour we met an Australian couple who had been members of the Mormon church for 35 years before becoming disenchanted and leaving. They were in Salt Lake City as a kind of farewell to their faith but only because they happened to be travelling around the States. They were jaded, but cheerful and fascinating to speak with.
Both Jenny and Tom (not their names) had joined the LDS church at age 13. They said on a local level the church was lovely and the emphasis on family an excellent way of life. They were “shiny and happy” and raised four children under the Mormon faith. It wasn’t until the advent of the Internet that their faith started to come apart at the seams.
Mormonism has murky ties to polygamy but apparently it is believed that Joseph Smith did not practice polygamy. Jenny said when she did research and found out that Smith did in fact practice polygamy (he had 27 wives) and that some of his wives were women he married after sending their husbands away on missions things started to change. That some of Smith’s wives were apparently as young as 14, some were slaves and some lived destitute on the edge of town, was particularly damaging to their faith.
Visiting Salt Lake City, Jenny said, it is easy to see that the LDS church is big business. Mormons must tithe 10 per cent of their salary before tax to the church (to see how much Reuters thinks that adds up to each year click here). That money is seen in the immaculate Temple Square grounds, its impressive buildings and even in a $2 billion state of the art mall that takes up several city blocks, but not in donations to charity, Jenny said. Their towering administrative building is more akin to that of a major bank, not a church.
They were sick of the lies.
As a believer in equality, Jenny was also sick of the Mormon approach to homosexuality and not impressed that black people couldn’t be members of the church until 1967.
Breaking away from the church was difficult, they said. Particularly as two of their children still hold strong Mormon faith. Jenny and Tom won’t be able to attend their daughter’s wedding because they no longer tithe and won’t be admitted into the temple.
I won’t pass judgement, as I don’t think chatting to Jenny and Tom for 20 minutes qualifies me to do so. But today was an interesting and enlightening day. Maybe things have changed since they have left the church, but maybe not.