The raising of the German High Seas Fleet in 1930 … the repair of 15 US warships sunk or severely damaged by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor in 1941 … the recovery of 11,000 tons of ore from the Great Lakes in 1944 … the CIA “deep-sea mining expedition” later declassified as K-129 in 1974 … the lifting of a 9,000-ton Russian submarine Kursk in 2000 … all historic … some say improbable … salvage missions throughout the modern age.
In 2023, we would attempt one more improbable salvage mission … salvage the 4th at Lava Hot Springs!
48 hours prior to our reservation … “Lava Springs KOA Holiday East, how may I help you?” … “I need to cancel my reservation for the 4th to the 7th. I’m stranded in Manti Utah and won’t be able to make it.” … “Ah, I’m sorry to hear that.” … “If I happen to get back on the road fairly quickly, how do reservations look at the moment?” … “We are booked solid!”
“Dan, had to cancel since shop isn’t open until Wednesday. I’ll see you another time … tear emoji” … “Poop, I’m bummed … we will prevail!”
72 hours later … “On the road again!” … “Nice! Come see us!” … “Is there room at the inn?” … “We’re booked again … see you in 2 hours-ish!” … “Heck yeah!!”
Located smack dab in the middle of Salt Lake City and Yellowstone National Park (an approximation at best … LOL), Lava Hot Springs is home to the world famous geothermal hot springs of southern Idaho. Pure all-natural mineral water … heated to a balmy 102 to 112 degrees F by Mother Earth … no chemical or sulfur smell. This would be our home for the next 4-ish days.
Lava Hot Springs
First things first … accommodations. There are a lot of places to stay in the area. The preferred location … chosen by our friends … is Lava Hot Springs KOA Holiday East. However, we initially stopped at KOA West … my navigator was on the phone.
Side note: This is where I learned about 2 of the 3 hot spring locations. While waiting to be helped, the host was on the phone describing the activities around town. Of specific note, she told the lady on the other end that they were across the street from the “less than sanitary” hot springs (location 1 of 3). The “more sanitary” locations are run by the state of Idaho (location 2 of 3). The 3rd location came from Dan … known as “chicken soup”, this location is the locals’ hot springs … the more “free spirited” location of the bunch!
Just a short walk from town, this location provides a bit of a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the summer vacationers. Given our current salvage status, a tent site was our booking option of choice. Three locations were afforded us … a nice site on the hill overlooking the lower half of the park … a corner wedge close to the bathrooms … a parking spot with a tent pad. A no-brainer at this point … the parking spot with tent pad it was! The overlook was nice and all but it was cramping our style. But this is likely unbelievable … the overlook it was! The site fee plus an extra vehicle fee plus a fee for each pet … an arm and a leg later … accommodations at the KOA!
Lava Hot Springs KOA Holiday East
Next … meet up with the Crew! We know our side … Mike and Denise. We picked up three more in Flagstaff … my daughter and her two fur babies. Our friends in Lava are also from Flagstaff … Dan, his kids (young adult / adult), and their fur babies. This brings the mayhem total to 10 … a lot of carnage to be had in 4-ish days … LOL!
The Flagstaff Crew!
“Captain … Captain … we’re taking on water!!”
So, in our rush … if we can call twelve plus days a rush … I failed to test all of our on-board systems. Our van has two … solar and living. The camper has battery, electrical, propane, waste, living and water. We had partial hookup at the KOA (electrical, water).
No issues when we plugged in the juice … major flooding when we hooked up the water!
Apparently, the kitchen faucet mixer was cracked. Based on our experience at the dealership, it probably was this way when we bought it but it was my fault for not checking all the systems before we purchased our rig. I’m usually good about this or at least know what I’m getting into before we buy.
This little hiccup sabotaged our night at the hot springs … oh well, another night!
Day 1-ish: The salvage operation is coming along … very nicely!
The 5th was a busy day for Dan and his half of the crew … soaker alley and river tubing … the 6th was to be the chill day! With the arrival of our half of the crew, the day turned into a less than chill day.
We got a tour of downtown … we surfed the tubes on the river … we had some Thai food … we “bathed” in the hot springs … we played a game (MonsDRAWsity) … we called it a day!
Shout out to Chet at TPD Tubing for the fastest tubes on the river!
Lava Hot Springs River Run & Rental
Day 2-ish: The salvage operation is running smoothly!
Ok … now the chill day!
After check-in, I meandered up to the office to check out the general store and get the scoop from some locals … specifically the best place to eat.
“Breakfast is going to be Chuck Wagon. If it’s full, go across the street to the Shack. For lunch, there’s pizza at The Royal and the Mexican restaurant is a good choice for dinner unless steaks are what is on the menu … then 78th.”
Armed with that knowledge … confirmed by Dan, we headed into town. Our stop … The Royal!
I’ve been trying to convince Denise that we should find the best pizza in the US. She’s NOT on board … at the moment! It also doesn’t help that she has a nightshade allergy … pizza sauce, along with all tomato-based sauces, is out!
Now I was told that The Royal was known for their pizza! With high expectations for a good pie, we headed for The Royal.
30 minutes later … disappointment set in … at least for me. The girls got a chicken salad and hot bacon chicken sandwich … they said their meals were good. I got the meat lovers pizza. I’ve had bad pizza … this was a step above. At some point, I’ll come up with my own rating system, add it to the blog, and review my top pizza choices by state and overall. Sufficive to say, this one didn’t make the list.
Tummies full, we hooked up with the rest of the crew. The activity … soaker alley.
Known as one of the best river tubing spots in the US, Portneuf River runs through the middle of Lava Hot Springs. Just west of the hot springs’ enclosure … a nice little bend in the river, just before the “head banger” * … a sniper’s perch … a place to send a steady flow of river water from above on unsuspecting river tubers. Unsuspecting … maybe not the right phrase. The rule of the perch … no babies or frightened young’uns … no grumpy peeps … ask first before applying copious amounts of water from above.
River Run Sniper’s Perch
* Head banger … this is a place in the river where a rapid or drop is. When the tube goes through this spot, the tube usually folds, especially if a quad is being used (4-man tube). When it folds, the four heads of the rider come crashing towards each other, often resulting in head banging.
The fun peeps were those that fought back! The two most memorable groups were:
- Group of 16 young men on 4 quads. They fought back with river water and eventually squirt guns. In fact, two of them approached us from land, “guns” in hand. “Hey, have you come to join us?” “No, we’ve come to soak you!” “Huh, got to know!” Water fight! They put up a good fight but it was 3 on 2!
- A small group of 4 on a quad. The young woman with red hair and yellow shirt eventually pulled out a small green squirt gun after getting rained on a couple of times through. Valiant effort!
Calling it a day at the perch, we (our half of the crew) ended up at the Chuck Wagon for dinner and we ended the day with another game of MonsDRAWsity.
MonsDRAWsity … probably wondering what this is:
Imagine seeing a real alien stomping through your backyard. Now imagine describing what it looked like to a police sketch artist. That is exactly what you are expected to do while playing the frantic drawing party game MonsDRAWsity.
One player, known as “the Witness”, has twenty seconds to examine a picture of a bizarre-looking creature, then they must describe it to the rest of the players, known as “Sketch Artists”. At the end of the round, the witness awards points to the artist who was able to most closely match the monster seen by the witness!
Day 3-ish: The salvage operation is coming to a close … nice work team!
Planned as another full day of fun, check-out was at 11:00 am. The plan … check-out … meet at the parking lot at the Y … get a bite to eat … run the river … head out.
It all fell apart before we even started … LOL! … we were all out of sync. The first three items were completed but on different time tables and different breakfast joints. We went to the Shack for the breakfast burritos … found the rest of the crew down the street.
Anxious to get down the hill for my Spartan Race, we called the mission, said our goodbyes and headed to Huntsville for our next adventure.
Dan and the kids ran the river and headed south … a return to the rat race beckoned … got to pay for the fun somehow … LOL!
Till we meet again my friend!
For now, the salvage operation was a success!
A Lyfe Adventurous 