The Snake River near Burley, Idaho
We had a terrible night’s sleep at a rest stop outside of Ontario, OR. Don’t camp at a freeway rest stop unless you’re a heavy sleeper or have industrial strength ear plugs. The one ton next to us hauling a giant RV kept his dad-blasted motor idling all night long! Marty said oh he looks like he’s getting ready to pull away but NO he was not ready to pull away at all. I was about to get out of my sleepless bed and egg his windshield at daybreak and then he ups and pulls way. Jerk! Miscreant! A-hole! Marty said that’s not good for his motor. I said did he fall asleep and forget to turn it off? In any case, suffering on our part, so word to the wise… don’t stay at a rest stop. Excuse me, restless stop!
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The regions that we drove through between Ontario, OR and Jerome, ID grow a LOT of corn and onions! Holy smokes! As a matter of fact, I almost thought I was transported back to dear old Ioway for a minute because of the corn. Not so much the onions, of course, because in Iowa they grow soybeans and alfalfa in addition to the corn. In close proximity to the Snake River there are rolling green hills covered with corn (or onions) as far as the eye can see. The only difference is there is irrigation equipment in every field. Giant circular sprinklers. I wanted to jump out and run underneath them to cool off.
As we drove by I was inspired to cook something regional for dinner.
Idaho Camp-style Onion Burgers
For Two
Ingredients
½ large Walla Walla onion or any other sweet onion, diced
Avocado oil for the iron pan or any oil you prefer
½ lb hamburger seasoned with salt and pepper
Grandma Sycamore’s Homemade white bread* or any hamburger bun that you prefer
Slow saute diced onions in avocado oil until soft. They can brown a bit just try not to burn them. Fold the cooked onions into the raw hamburger until thoroughly mixed. Form into patties and grill until done the way you like it. Make your sandwich with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mustard, mayonnaise or any condiment you desire.
*The bread merchandiser at WalMart in Jerome, ID told us that this is the #1 selling sandwich bread in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
Tomorrow night we’ll be near Yellowstone. McCrae Bridge Campground, as a matter of fact. Then Henry’s Lake and then the Big YS! All this preparation. All this planning. Money spent. Stress upon stress. I’m not sure I’ll believe it but I can tell you one thing: it will be a dream come true. The last time I was there I was 10 years old. All I can remember from that time were the bears snuffling past the tent at night and my dad throwing away the trout he caught in Yellowstone Lake. Liver flukes, he said. It will be whole new experience.
R L Benoit - Writer/Artist 
The hamburger pic looks delicious! Last time the Haight’s were in Yellowstone was the summer of 1965 or 1966. Amazing place; Jenny Lake visit, too. My brother and I built a cairn there to honor our mother. Great place; have fun! –Tom
Decadent to say the least! That hamburger! I’ll have to look for Jenny Lake. Where is it? I wonder if the cairn is still there? That would be cool.
We stayed @ the Jenny Lake Lodge (no clue if in biz), just south of Grand Teton National Park. Tetons are about 5-10 miles south of Yellowstone National Park. Such beautiful country; enjoy!!
Hi Renee,
Just reading your post. Yes, parking near truckers can be disturbing as far as sleeping goes but there really is a reason mos of the truckers leave their engines running while they are parked.In the summer it is so they can have the air conditioner on, really hard to get sleep when you are suffocating in the heat, winter they have to leave them running so they can have the heater on., very difficult to sleep when you are too cold.
Dick and I always parked between two trucks when driving the RV, the noise didn’t bother us in fact it was a comforting sound, also being between two trucks provides a measure of safety during high winds.
I miss our walks but hope you are enjoying your adventure.
Love Ya.
Donna
That makes sense as they don’t have windows from what I remember. If we ever have to make an emergency stop at a rest stop because we can’t find any other place to go we’ve decided that our strategy will be to park on the end so only one side has a truck. We have not had any bad weather so far except for heat. I miss our walks, too, and I hope you’re settling in at your new home. We’re “inches” away from Yellowstone and yesterday we could see the west side of the Grand Tetons far off on the horizon. Amazing!