Spontaneous Waterfalls

Road Trip Day 9: Bend - Ashton

Spontaneity brings some of the most exciting adventures.

Yesterday we left Bend behind, hoping to be back soon. This time our destination was not really anything special. I mean, it certainly turned out to be! But it wasn’t planned. The destination just so we would be close to Yellowstone for today’s adventure.

When we first started planning the trip we knew we wanted to go through Yellowstone; however, when we started looking into it, we realized it was going to be pricey to stay anywhere nearby.

However, we figured out that if we stayed in the middle of a potato farm in Ashton, Idaho (only an hour from Yellowstone), then it would be much cheaper. It also happens to be right on Henry Fork’s river, which was just gorgeous!

When we left Bend, we (of course) had to stop at one more coffee shop before venturing into the middle of nowhere.

It was a really nice little shop with great coffee, and I even snagged a delicious homemade strawberry rhubarb poptart.

Then we began our drive.

It was a very pretty drive through a mix of desert land, farm land, and mountains. It was another one of those huge stretches where we had 3 turns to make within 400 miles. We saw very few towns and the ones we stopped at were impressively small. Like, how on earth do people survive out there, small.

We made one stop at a gas station in Hines, Oregon that really stood out above the rest. It was the first gas station we had seen in over 100 miles. In fact, it was the first small town we had seen in 100 miles. And the only one for the next 50 or so after.

not from Hines, but a very similar town

We pulled in and parked our car at the pump, like you normally do when you get gas.

Then a young man came around and asked what we needed. I told him we were getting unleaded and he proceeded to pump our gas for us like way back in the day! It was the strangest thing. He was really nice and we tipped him and then went on our way.

Well, first I had to awkwardly walk into the gas station where the same young man was now manning the register, and ask for the bathroom.

He pointed me to this random door that opened into a small little cafe that smelled like fresh cooked bacon and freshly brewed coffee. The place was filled with an older crowd all wearing cowboy hats. I imagine that was the whole town, but who’s to say.

We left Hines in the dust, but we will not soon forget it.

The stops we made along the way were pretty much the same all the way until this random rest stop near Twin Falls, Idaho. It was here that we saw a picture and immediately knew where our next stop was.

Apparently, the name of the town, Twin Falls, is indicative of one of its beauties. The Shoshone waterfall is a beautiful falls, taller than Niagra, home to a bunch of salmon, and where the Shoshone IndiansIndians got a lot of fishing done back in the day.

It was so worth the stop but not at all planned. After seeing the Palouse falls, we decided we needed to see all the waterfalls we could. When we saw the picture of Shoshone in that little rest stop we knew we had to go.

It was such a beautiful spot in a very well-kept-up state park. The park had the first green grass we’d seen in a long time and even had some kids rock climbing. We basked at the view of the falls for a while and then hit the road again.

even saw a rainbow in the bottom right

As we left, we figured out Twin Falls was home to yet another beauty we couldn’t pass up.

Chickfila!

We knew Ashton was not really anything special and probably wasn’t going to have any spectacular food places. So we grabbed chickfila to bring to our Airbnb.

Let me tell ya. We made a good choice.

I thought Ashton would at least be a small town with a couple of restaurants, but Taylor made the better prediction. Ashton is literally in middle of nowhere potato farm. At least we’re assuming it’s all potatoes. But it was definitely in the middle of nowhere.

The airbnb is really nice though! They actually have like 4 little cabins we think they built themselves attached to their house. Their property is right on a cliffside overlooking the river where we watched a bunch of people flyfishing last night. There were two dogs running around the property which is always a nice treat!

It was really pretty and the airbnb was super clean. 

Chickfila was a nice treat and much better than eating our road trip snacks, which little did we know would have been our only option otherwise!

I’m so thankful for our little spontaneous adventure yesterday to see yet another beautiful waterfall in a beautiful canyon. Those little surprises from God are what it’s all about. He is the great designer and creator and He never fails to entertain us with these massive beauties. He also helped give us Chickfila, which deserves a lot of thanks too!