Craters of the Moon NM, Arco, ID

A little more history that I can recall about the area.

At the time of WWII, the site was restricted for a reason other than nuclear.  Big guns from naval ships were sent to the Naval Ordnance Plant at Pocatello for refurbishment as repeated firings eroded the bore and wore out the rifling.  The guns then needed to be test fired and the Naval Proving Ground was born, about nine miles wide by thirty six miles long. Besides testing the gun barrels, other tests were done at the site. On August 29, 1945, at 9:36 a.m. Mountain Time, the Navy exploded 250,000 pounds of TNT, resulting in a mushroom cloud of dust.  It was one of the largest intentional, non-nuclear detonations ever!

I used to go by some of the remnants from that time on my way to work each day.

The Naval Proving Ground was the core of what is now the Idaho National Laboratory.

For those who might be interested, there's a free book on line called Proving the Principle that tells the story of the Idaho National Laboratory.  I used a couple of chapters from in a class I taught a couple of years ago at Arkansas Nuclear One.

Mike in Arkansas said:

A little more history that I can recall about the area.The Naval Proving Ground was the core of what is now the Idaho National Laboratory.For those who might be interested, there's a free book on line called Proving the Principle that tells the story of the Idaho National Laboratory.  I used a couple of chapters from in a class I taught a couple of years ago at Arkansas Nuclear One.

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Mike,
As we pack up to leave this little  place in Arco, ID,  this morning, we know that we  return  again one day and stay at the Mountain View RV Park .  Thanks for the history lesson.  Terry took this photo at dusk last night.

Betty

Thanks again for the histoy on Arco and for the link to the book online.  should make for a good read.

Betty:  Thanks for the photo -- I recognized it immediately!  I'm looking forward to getting back there -- later this summer, hopefully.

Ron, Wendy, and Betty:  You're welcome! 

One more little bit of personal Arco area history.  In 1978, after visiting family in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, we took my wife's youngest brother and sister back to Idaho with us for the summer.  Of course they really enjoyed it with a lot of hiking and camping and even one backpacking adventure.  The interesting thing was that two of their teachers, a married couple, were working the summer at the EBR-1* National Historic Site and stayed in Butte City, as I recall, which is just a little south and east of Arco. The kids really got a kick out of visiting a historic site so far away from home where someone they actually knew was working!

*Experimental Breeder Reactor One

Mike, you should move to Arco and open up a tourist info center You've sure got the knowledge and it sounds like they need one !!

Wendy

How is cell service in Arco - Craters of the Moon - general area?

Thanks, Ray D  ;D

Even though we were there a couple years ago I don't recall them not having cell service but then we may have not had a need to make a call.  Our internet Satellite worked just great and we could have very well talked to our friends in Nova Scotia via Skype over the internet.

Wendy,

Arco is a very nice place to visit, but there's no way Karen would go for living there now.  We enjoyed living there, but had to leave to take a job in Arkansas.  There weren't any good paying jobs available in 1980 in Arco or at the site.  If I could have stayed there in the Navy, we would have.  However, my tour of duty there was up and my next assignment was going to be sea duty and with a wife and two young kids, I wasn't going to do that any more.

The problem with Arco, for us, is that with a population under 2000, it's the largest populated place for about 70 miles in any direction.  Sometimes that meant to get something you wanted or needed, there was no choice but to travel to Idaho Falls, unless you ordered what you wanted by mail.  There was no UPS, FedEx, or internet back then.  Delivery sometimes could take up to six weeks.  I know it's different today, but there's other things that a small town just doesn't have.

Then there's the winter.  Arco is basically the same elevation as Denver and a bit farther north.  I can remember a winter where one month it never got above 0 degrees and one week of that the daytime high was -20! 

For a long time I had dreams of going back to Idaho to live -- even kept a credit union account open there for years.  Now that I'm retired, though, we'll keep our home base in Arkansas... for now.

(One week left until we hit the road, again)

If their winters are cold I'd never be able to talk my Mike into moving there. Although the beauty of being retired and having a motorhome is that we don't have to stay in places when the weather isn't what we like.....too cold? head south. Too hot? head north. Change altitude. Move to the coast. Always options.

Off topic, we'll be passing through Arkansas next month on our way to Nashville. Anything we absolutely should not miss there?

Wendy

wendycoke said:

If their winters are cold I'd never be able to talk my Mike into moving there. Although the beauty of being retired and having a motorhome is that we don't have to stay in places when the weather isn't what we like.....too cold? head south. Too hot? head north. Change altitude. Move to the coast. Always options.

Off topic, we'll be passing through Arkansas next month on our way to Nashville. Anything we absolutely should not miss there?

Wendy

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WQow for somebody living in Colorado worried about cold winters. ;D

Ron said:

WQow for somebody living in Colorado worried about cold winters. ;D

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Why do you think Mike wants to go fulltiming? He hates the cold.

wendycoke said:

Why do you think Mike wants to go fulltiming? He hates the cold.

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Somehow I can understand not likeing cold and snow. ;D ;D

wendycoke said:

we'll be passing through Arkansas next month on our way to Nashville. Anything we absolutely should not miss there?

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One thing I can think of is the Big Dam Bridge at Little Rock, North Little Rock -- see my earlier post on it -- if you like a little stroll.  It's a biking/pedestrian bridge over the Arkansas River.

The Clinton Presidential Library is also worth a look.

I've got Arkansas images up on some some photo galleries here.  Petit Jean State Park has some nice camping spots in their renovated section with full hookups.

The problem with Arkansas in the summer is that it's too hot.  That's why were going to be in Wisconsin in June (and the grandkids are there) and in the Rockies in August and September.

Ray D said:

How is cell service in Arco - Craters of the Moon - general area?

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Ray,
I have Verizon and I had good  cell service in Arco.  I even commented to Terry out on one of our hikes through lava tubes  at the National Monument  that I had a couple of bars of service.

Betty

Betty, Thanks.  ;D

wendycoke said:

Off topic, we'll be passing through Arkansas next month on our way to Nashville. Anything we absolutely should not miss there?

Wendy

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Wendy,

We can highly recommend Tom Sawyer Campground at West Memphis, AR. Ask for a site by the river and it is very satellite friendly. You can watch the river traffic going by. Very relaxing.

How is it when the river is high??

Never been there during such times.

Ron said:

How is it when the river is high??

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I didn't see any high water marks around the campground. I would suppose that it can get up into the campground but as I said I didn't see any indication of it.

Once I found out a friend of ours lives not too far from there and has a horse ranch, we started staying there and woke up every AM with the fresh horse air. Cheaper and more room than at the CG  Never inquired about the high water when there.