Craters of the Moon NM, Arco, ID

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Betty Brewer

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Hey all who might travel in Southern Idaho,

We have found a gem.  Our travel itinerary included "Craters of the Moon National Monument " in South Central,  Idaho.  It is pretty much due south of Missoula.  We stayed at an RV park in Arco, ID  called Mountain View and  we want each of you to mark it as THE place to stay if you come this direction.  It is a Good Sam park so we got the discount. We paid $22.50 per night for full hook ups with 50 amp power.  The back 2 rows are 50 amp service and we were in row D with very easy access. The park has just changed owners and he is  delightful.

We had heard good reviews from friends in the past and it seems the tradition will continue.  This park is very suited to large rigs as the  sites are at the  appropriate 45 degree angle and are grassy long pull through sites with no boulders to interfere with parking.  The trees offer a park like setting but are not big enough to interfere with your satellites.  A trade mark which we enjoyed was the offer of a smoked "baked " potato. Last night's supper was a huge Idaho potato, smoked by the owner with the most delicious hickory  flavor.  The fields nearby offer views of domesticated goats.  There is a little  shop    west of town, Mountain Man,  that offers licorice ice cream and huckle berry ice cream and a huge variety of spices and flours. We  took the 18 mile drive today to Craters of the Moon National Monument. We hiked a few of their easy  .5 mile trails.  We drove through their  dry camp sights and noted they are not very level and not very long for big rigs. We think staying here at Mountain View  with the short commute is the way to go.  We enjoyed  the quiet of this park and the "town" of Arco and will stay longer than we had planned. I will do laundry tomorrow and watch  TV.  Life is so good!
Betty Brewer
 
We have stayed there on our way to visit our son in Boise.  Sounds like the ownership has changed since our last visit.  A real interesting area for sure.
 
Betty,

We will be there next week and I already have my first 3 meals planned.  Ice cream, ice cream, smoked potato :)
 
Licorice ice cream....yum-o. Usually only available at Baskin-Robbins at Halloween. This could be a stop on the way to Redmond in August. We may even go the "right" way this time....last time we passed that way, we ended up driving through some restricted U.S. area.....didn't see the sign until we were leaving the area when I turned around and saw a big saying that said "Restricted area" with some other governmental mumbo-jumbo.

Wendy
Sandia Casino parking lot
 
When we were there last year, we boondocked in the park.  It's a very interesting area with unique volcanic formations.  Didn't have the ice cream :)
 
Both times we stayed at Craters of the Moon we had breakfast at a little restaurant called Pickle's Place.  In addition to delicious food, they also sold a very good steak seasoning. and some salad dressings.    I think the products were named after the valley in which Arco is located.

Margi
 
Tom and Margi said:
Both times we stayed at Craters of the Moon we had breakfast at a little restaurant called Pickle's Place.  In addition to delicious food, they also sold a very good steak seasoning. and some salad dressings.    I think the products were named after the valley in which Arco is located.

Margi,

Thanks for the tips.  Russ has already had breakfast  and lunch at Pickles and it is on our list for  an Atomic Burger this afternoon. I shall look at their seasonings!

Betty
 
Betty Brewer said:
lunch at Pickles and it is on our list for  an Atomic Burger this afternoon. I shall look at their seasonings!

An Update,

We dined at Pickles today for lunch.  I have a new shaker of seasoning for steaks , hamburgers or more. Mostly garlic, yum .  Terry had their special ,an 8 oz sirloin that was tender.  I had the Atomic burger with salad and neither of us required an evening meal.  I did laundry in the squeaky clean laundry facility of Mountain View RV Park.  I visited with  new owner who  winters in Yuma. (My kind of guy.)  Terry assisted a  newbie RV who did not know that he should have kept his black water tank  closed until time to dump. One week later, he has a plug.  Oh the way to get to know your neighbors really well! 
Arco is quiet and reminds me of the beauty of retirement.  Make no plans.  Extend a lazy stay if needed.  Enjoy the pace and  realize that not  everyone  has your freedom.  This is a perfect thought for this Memorial Day Weekend.  I am so grateful for my freedoms!
Betty
 
Guess I've got to make it a point to stop there sometime.  Been passing it up for better than 20 yrs.
 
Arco is quiet and reminds me of the beauty of retirement.  Make no plans.  Extend a lazy stay if needed.

We had a really long stay in Arco, about 30 years ago! 

We lived there for three years.  Our "mountain view" was the mountain at the end of town right in the middle of our picture window. 

I was an an instructor at the Naval Reactors Facility in that "restricted" government area.  At 29.5 miles from my driveway to work, Arco was the nearest town of any decent size. Most of the instructors lived over 50 miles from the site in Idaho Falls, Blackfoot, or Pocatello. Students were required to work 12 hour days and had to ride the buses, so couldn't live in Arco, as the government buses didn't run there.  The official address of my duty station was Idaho Falls.

I expect we'll probably find our way to Arco later this summer or fall. We haven't been there since 1995. Several days there would be nice.  There's some back roads I'd like to travel again.

The last time we stopped at Craters was probably about 1987.  When we got back home and compared photos from years earlier we found pictures of our daughters at many of the same places.  The funny thing about the pictures was that both girls outfits were the same colors as the clothes they had worn in virtually the same locations eight or nine years previously.

One of the things I specifically remember from the year that we left was that the price of gasoline was about $1.35 a gallon. 

The "restricted" area east of Arco is the location of many old test reactors.  When I was first there as a student in 1973, it was called the National Reactor Testing Station.  When I was there as an instructor it was the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, but now it is just the Idaho National Laboratory.  EBR-1, Experimental Breeder Reactor 1, is a national historic landmark located on the Laboratory and was the power plant that provided electricity from nuclear power for the first time to a town -- Arco -- on July 17, 1955.  Some of the test reactors are still in use. Others, such as the Air Force's nuclear airplane, never got off the ground -- pun intended.


The Naval Reactors Facility was the home of the prototype reactors for the U.S.S. Nautilus (SL-1), U.S.S. Enterprise (A1W), and the U.S.S. Narwhal (S5G). The Nautilus, of course, was the world's first nuclear powered submarine.  The Enterprise was the first nuclear powered air craft carrier.  The Narwhal was the first naval nuclear power plant whose reactor core could be cooled, while at power, without using coolant pumps.  The ability to turn off the coolant pumps meant that the sub could be much, much quieter.  Very important in the silent service.

I was a student at the S5G prototype and an instructor at A1W, and was on the blue crew of U.S.S Casimir Pulaski, SSBN 633, a fleet ballistic missile submarine.
 
very interesting comments Mike.  When I was in scholl in Wyoming I use to follow what ever was published on Arco and the reactor program there.  Arco area is an intersting place.
 
Shayne said:
Any sauce on Steaks ruins the steak   
Med Rare Please.

I don't care for sauce on steak either, Shayne, but sure do like them seasoned. ;)  As Betty said, there is plenty of garlice in that seasoning at Pickles.  That's probably why we like it so much.

Margi
 
Mike, thanks for the interesting info on that "restricted area" we drove through. Always nice to hear about the area from someone who was there.
 
Betty Brewer said:
the beauty of retirement.  Make no plans.  Extend a lazy stay if needed.  Enjoy the pace

Also the beauty of RVing. Sadly, some people when they retire do nothing but sit in their living rooms watching TV.

Wendy
Angel Peak NRA, New Mexico
 
I am one who likes A1 with my steaks. It doesn't ruin them, and neither does having them cooked all the way. As the saying goes, "I may not be too bright, but I know what I like!" Sometimes seasoned meat is good by itself, and occasionally I like my steaks seasoned with nothing but salt - - lots of it. Whatever, it's neither better or worse, just a matter of taste. That's why they make both chocolate and vanilla.  ;) (And Fords and Chevys).
 
Mike in Arkansas said:
We had a really long stay in Arco, about 30 years ago! 

Mike,

Thank you so much for the information.  Arco has no official visitor center and your post just gave me more info than I otherwise would have known.  The ladies in the gift shop also told me that much research is now done at the facility particularly related to Nuclear medicine. She also said it was scientists here at the facility who would be called in a Nuclear disaster as they are the experts.  I love little towns with big history.

Betty
 
Steak sauce is ok on something like hamburger steak but if you got a GOOD steak seasoned and cooked properly sauce only ruins it in my opinion.  Love good ole buffalo steak better than any beef steak.
 
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