Ground Zero Texas

Driving up into the mountains in Idaho I was surprised to see numerous farms in the otherwise desolate landscape. I was also surprised to learn that they farmed more then mere potatoes. I found flowing amber filled wheat fields, along with green groves of alfalfa, and asparagus.

After a bit all the farms disappear and reveal a very baron landscape. Then I stumbled into something I wouldn’t have expected. Out in the middle of nowhere Idaho is the Idaho National Laboratory. Now this was surprising because there was nothing remotely near it. Entering the giant compound on US 20 would reveal giant signs that littered the landscape saying “restricted area admittance for official business only! Department of Energy United States Government.” For a second there I thought I was passing through Groom Lake Nevada! (Area 51 that don’t know) Then there were signs pointing to historical markers that didn’t exist. One such sign pointed me to the first nuclear reactor to ever power a city! But when I pulled up to EBRI (1) it was closed. So I stopped my car and took a few pictures of it. Now this could quite possibly be coincidence, but after I took those pictures and went to go back and get on 20, suddenly a fire truck, a ambulance and a giant white Suburban drove to my former location with there lights and sirens flashing. I think the Feds were after me!

A little bit down the ways from the first nuclear reactor, you find the most complicated weather station known to man, out in the middle of nowhere, in the rinky dinkiest of rest asreas. It had all kinds of things listed on it, and what for? Nobody comes this way. Something was a foot in the middle of that desert.

Traveling down the road a bit further would reveal the small town of Arco. I was hungry and stopped in the most interesting little eatery. It was called Pickles, and it offered up something called the “Atomic Burger!” I had to try one, but what made them atomic? Well, as the cook said in a USA today article (I believe) “they make you glow green in the dark”. I ordered one and made chit chat with the waitress who was very friendly. {Hello if you’re reading this and keep up on that Trigonometry} She told me about various things and some of the places she lived in her life. I was also able to learn the secret ingredients that made up the french-fry sauce!   As for the Atomic burger, it was alright. She was right about the mushrooms.

Before I left I had a brief conversation about the best way to travel to Boise. As it would turn out from my understanding, that 20 would be the way to go, but it would take me through the only 6 miles of open pasture in the US? Where if you hit the cow you have to buy it! I don’t know if they were pulling my leg being the naïve traveler I am, but I would soon find out if it was true or not.

On my way out of town I saw a sign that explained that Arco was the first place in the United States to receive energy from nuclear power! I had just passed through a town that would help revolutionize modern energy as we know it!

Just a few miles outside of Arco lies the, Craters of the Moon National park. It’s miles of old lava flow that litters the landscape and offered a neat diversion from the otherwise plain and desolate desert.