I’ve traveled quickly through the Snake River Valley in southern Idaho a couple times before without any significant sightseeing stops.  Are there any? I wondered about it as I was planning this trip.  The Planetware website says there are some minor ones like museums around Idaho Falls, but they don’t sound all that interesting.  I figured I’d stop in the area anyway for a day or two.  Part of the reason for that was the weather was forecast to be cold and rainy for two days ahead (it turned out to be nice for one of them) and the next sites I was planning to see were outdoor and hiking oriented.  This was a good time for me to travel since my home gym was closed for five days for renovations anyway. Might as well find one on the road to pump some iron at, and the Gold’s Gym franchise in southern Idaho (Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and Twin Falls) turned out to be very nice.

Rexburg somewhat piqued my interest as the location of BYU Idaho with a big LDS (Mormon) temple prominent on a ridge above the town. It’s a rapidly growing mostly Mormon city in the middle of a fertile agricultural area, the potato belt Idaho is famous for. As well as being one of America’s most conservative towns politically (Clinton got less than 8% of the vote in Madison County in 2016), there’s something about the town that almost doesn’t seem real. Squeaky clean, immaculately manicured, mostly new, it seems more like a Disney World than a real town. Mormon temples are all architecturally unique and rather unusual looking compared to other Christian churches. Non-church members aren’t allowed in, although I got to tour one once in Nauvoo, Illinois in 2002 after construction had been completed but before it was consecrated. I did walk around the perfectly manicured grounds where I saw many people on their way in and out, men all in white shirt and ties, some with jackets, and women all in dresses. It all felt like something out of the 1950s.

Idaho Falls is the region’s bigger city with around 100,000 population in the metro area. I decided to make it home for two days while going to the gym and essentially “hanging out” in restaurants and coffee shops to pass some time. The weather turned out to be much nicer than forecast so I took a stroll around the city center.  The town gets its name from being at a series of small waterfalls on the Snake River, the banks of which are an attractive park with trails and a Japanese garden.  The town’s Mormon temple is prominently located near the river too. What’s that – a sign for tours available to all?  Hmmm, sounds like an opportunity to rope in some converts.

While Idaho Falls is a reasonably big and rapidly growing town nowadays, most of that growth is in the burbs.  While downtown looks like it is going a substantial amount of renovation and investment in new businesses similar to what’s happening in cities around the country, it still has the feel of a small town rather than the center of small metropolitan area. Onward to Pocatello!