Spending some time in Idaho

Our next overnight stop was slightly before Twin Falls, at Burley. This is a Supercenter but has a surprisingly small parking lot. It was also noisy at night. In the morning, after a nice breakfast, we went further west, stopping at a truck stop in Jerome, ID to wash the rig. This time we had it RainX'd to make the wash last longer (we hope). It gets expensive at $75 a wash!

We reached Twin Falls, and stopped at a liquor store for some necessities, then followed the GPS to the track. Well, not quite. Following the GPS we ended up at the landfill, 5 miles from the track. The gate operator at the landfill was using his binoculars to watch several grass fires burning around the area. We turned around after getting directions, and found our way to Magic Valley Raceway. What a nice facility. Newer buildings and stands, all well maintained, and a great asphalt track surface.

We were assigned a nice pit area with power, and settled in and started cleaning and prepping the car for the show next night. Lots of out of town racers coming in for a big Pro 4 race. Crews ignored us, as they always do before they see our show. We barbecued some nice sirloin steaks, and had a nice evening watching TV with a bottle of wine.

Saturday morning and we took the car out of the trailer and started it up. A great wake up call for those crews still asleep in their rigs! Then we settled in to wait for our show after dark. The waiting is always hard. Racing started a 6 pm, and moved along well, until the two main events races. Both were long races, and plagued with wrecks, dragging things out for a long time.

Finally, racing was over and it was our turn. While one fellow dragged our burn victim car onto the track, another nice guy towed me in the car around the track where Marlene helped them line things up. They were supposed to water the grass in the burn area, but had not, and now we were all set to run they were trying to get the pump to work. Marlene took charge and told them to clear out, the fans weren't going to be happy waiting any longer. I fired up the car, and made another of our great performances. I immediately pulled off the track and into the pits, ran to the motor home to make a quick clothing change, then ran back to the car to sign LOTS of autographs. We had people lined up for half an hour waiting for an autographed card. Also had some nice comments from the previously aloof crews. When we had finally signed all the cards, we pushed the car to the trailer, and retired to a dinner of Minestrone soup and fresh French bread. A couple of cocktails followed, and a little TV viewing, before we collapsed into bed, exhausting. I think the most tiring thing is the waiting all day and evening to finally run the car.

Monday we left the track, and went 8 miles to the Walmart at Jerome. A nice store with lots of parking. We stayed there for 2 nights. On Tuesday morning I walked the 2 miles into downtown Jerome to buy a couple of things. What a poor town. Many closed down businesses. In fact, other than the thriving farm equipment dealers, only the Hispanic stores seemed to be doing well. Must be a lot of Hispanic people here judging by the large number of Mexican markets, restaurants, beauty parlors, travel agencies and accountants. Oh yes, the banks are all doing well offering refinancing of homes to pay down credit cards. Haven't we heard this before?

Walking the 2 miles back to Walmart, I saw a farm family in a parking lot selling corn off the back of their truck. Their young girl yelled at me as I walked by: "Hey, that's the jet car guy. Do you want to buy our corn?" How could I refuse. Six ears of sweet corn for $2. Marlene loves corn. This was my first encounter with fans away from the track... kind of weird.

On the way to our next stop at the Walmart in Meridian, we stopped to dump tanks and fill with water. We reached the Walmart at around noon and it was BUSY. It stayed busy until after 11:00 that night. We were lucky to squeeze into a spot. We left early Thursday morning so we wouldn't get blocked in by Walmart shoppers, and stopped for breakfast in an empty parking lot. Then we drove the 5 miles to the track. We reached Meridian Speedway without trouble, and discovered a nice, large track facility right in town. They have two large grandstands, which they tell me will be filled on Saturday night. Now we'll get the car ready, and watch the preparations for Saturday night's Eve of Destruction.

In the pics above you can see Montana riverside homes, a farm by the truck wash in Jerome, Magic Valley Speedway with double rainbows over it, and the Snake River Canyon.

Stay tuned....