After gathering up our stuff, we departed Riverhaven RV Park in Marsing and set out for Hagerman, ID. We had a couple options on how to get there and we chose the slow road. We could have driven into Nampa and picked up I-84 but instead we selected a very nice drive on ID-78 which runs sort of parallel with the freeway but about 15 miles south.
The terrain along 78 is split with about half being bleak desert and the other half being big volcanic palisades with agricultural activities in the wide valley floors. We eventually had to get on I-84 for about 20 miles but the remainder of the nearly 150 mile trip was happily spent driving on single lane country roads while trying to identify the birds we spotted along the way. We even spotted a snake which, fortunately, was visible enough that I had time to stop before running him down. He looked real similar to gopher snakes I have seen in San Diego but his color was all funny. He was white with plentiful black markings. No rattles. We waited for a couple minutes until he felt compelled to slither out of the way.
There is very little interesting scenery along the I-84 section we traveled today but once we turned off the freeway at exit 141, we drove down into the Hagerman Valley and the scenery instantly became more appealing. The road descends through a lava cap rock system into the Snake River area. Hagerman is a nice little town with not less than a half dozen parks, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, the Snake River and Salmon Falls Creek running through town, Malad Gorge State Park and a nice downtown museum. We pulled into the Hagerman RV Village which is a nice park with ample shade. The spaces are not enormous but there is grass areas between spots, the park has full hookups along with an activity center, ample restrooms, wi-fi in addition to being centrally located between the numerous nearby attractions.
As I was setting up for our stay, I had a waste tank disaster that, fortunately, was of small magnitude. I had very recently dumped the waste tanks so my stupid error was not much of a disaster but it definitely warranted some serious washing of my ugly body after I resolved the issue. I may have secretly anticipated some such disaster when I originally stocked the trailer so I was well supplied with all the stuff I needed to clean up the foul mess. Disgusting, but educational.
We got a few pix along the way which you can see if you click here