usa rail pass. 7th segment: salt lake city to twin falls, id.

oh man. what a trip. i mistakenly took some nyquil on my previous train because i was feeling really congested, but it started to kick in full force right when i was waiting at the greyhound station to take the bus to twin falls, id. i sat there pretty zoned out for a little over an hour (i could barely crochet i was so tired). i ended up being one of the last ones to board the bus, so i got an aisle seat in perhaps the only seat that didn't recline. the bus was packed except for a seat next to a sketchy guy sitting behind me. there was no way i was going to sit next to him...


needless to say, i didn't sleep much, however, i learned a lot of new vocabulary from the conversations of the folks behind me. they talked the entire time. on a midnight bus. and the sketchy guy kept offering me gum and chocolate although i learned that he had a kid, a girlfriend and probably cheated on his girlfriend quite a bit. the bus arrived in twin falls around 4:30am. ew.

rainbow over shoshone falls.

i was SO happy to see amy at the "bus station" (actually a gas station with a tiny room that sells bus tickets). she drove us back to her house where we slept until 11, then had a slow morning getting ready for the day. we ate lunch at this really great coffee place (with delicious coffee) and then visited shoshone falls. afterward we visited a big bridge over a beautiful canyon of the snake river.

i felt like an ice princess.

a cool bridge.

view from the bridge of the snake river.

later on we met thia, a girl who also works at high trails, and amy's dad for a ride in a helicopter. that was unexpected and spectacular! i pretty much laughed the entire time because i was having so much fun. maybe i'll make it a life goal to own a helicopter.

helicopter!

so excited!! we even got to wear headsets.

crop circle?

we continued our adventures having dinner with amy's mom at this great local restaurant. they even had some live music! amy's mom is wonderful. she was so curious about my train adventures. hopefully i didn't scare her away with some of my stories.


after dinner, we met thia at a wine bar before heading to some karaoke places. amy writes for the times-news and was assigned a story on the karaoke scene of twin falls. she doesn't frequent bars much, so it was perfect that i was visiting so we could do something neither of us do much together! we first ventured to the pioneer club. it apparently has a stigma for being a bit on the creepy side, but it was a lot of fun. amy, thia and i sang (think of it), and it was fun to chat with the locals. one of the ladies, sheena, was quite amazing at karaoke. we tried to channel sheena's attitude and charisma in our next karaoke performance at the montana steakhouse. that venue held a younger crowd with updated decorations and a lively atmosphere. after some liquid courage, amy, eric (her editor) and i sang you're so vain. i don't actually know any of the words to the song besides "you're so vain" so that made for a pretty horrible rendidtion, but i think people had fun. 


the next morning, amy had to work, so thia picked me up. we ate breakfast at the buffalo cafe where i enjoyed the buffalo chip (sans bacon) and a blueberry muffin. mmm. after chatting for a while, we ventured to some of the thrift stores and antique stores in town. i picked up some jewelry, knitting needles and a book.


we met amy for lunch at this local mexican place. it was bittersweet because it was the last time i'll see amy for who knows how long. thia drove me across the street to the station, and i'm glad we got there early because the bus left almost 10 minutes before it was supposed to. i think i might have cried if i missed the bus...