DAY 24 - En Route to Mountain Home, ID - 465 Miles from home

[Written on Monday July 28]

I'm trying to remember what our host in Kuna, Ginny, said to us about this portion of our route. There was a shrug, a knowing smile, a bit of a smirk perhaps. Something like: "Yeah, there's no real way to get from Kuna to Mountain Home." - I mean, of course there IS a way. But it's called Interstate 84. And no matter how badass we asphalt warriors are, we don't do interstate.

So the two days worth of distance between our last hike and our home in Mountain Home... well, this is perhaps one of the most fiddly bits of our itinerary. The route we thought we might take on foot actually had a big gate across the entrance with a ginormous No Trespassing sign. We did find a beautiful compromise - especially the second half thereof. That's the portion I walked, and it was frankly glorious. I loved every hilly, sunflower kissed, weather-worn-timber moment of it.

And - then the boys picked me up at the 20-mile mark, and we got onto I-84 because Libby does do interstate - and drove the remaining 25 miles to Mountain Home, and our lodging for the next two nights. (Our next day's walk will be equally cobbled together: 10 miles due west from Mountain Home on Ditto Creek Rd, and then turning around and walking back east to Mountain Home. We do what we do - inconvenient interstates regardless. The Walk just keeps walking.)

And then there's Mountain Home itself, and this lovely RV park - Gem State - that we've landed in. Very green. Very quiet. Room for Libby to spread out, and for her humans to camp out. The city's website tells us: "In Mountain Home, a vibrant rural community of 15,000, you can find big-city conveniences concentrated in a small-town, friendly atmosphere." Mountain Home Air Force base is close by. Home of the 366th Fighter Wing - aka 'The Gunfighters.' Bob, who is himself retired Air Force, told me that there's combat testing all throughout the area we're walking. Okey doke! Step carefully, pilgrims!

Meanwhile, in Mountain Home itself, as we strolled in the evening, we found a lot of green space - a sense of small-town-bandshell-park sort of public refuge - and some very sweet side streets. Plus some pretty tasty happy hour treats (including a bowl called "BMC" - bacon mac and cheese - that satisfied my carb craving and gave me a cheerful 'food baby' belly to trundle home with.)

And then back at Gem State RV Park, I got to meet our neighbors in the Four Winds motorhome across the way. Marta and Dennis Sprout, and their lovely elderly pooch Nina. "Nina's been to all 48 [continental] states," Dennis told me. "I'm just the Uber driver," he added, with a sweet smile. And meanwhile, Marta herself is a writer of thrillers whose badass heroine, Kate Bowers, has been called "the female Reacher." (If you know, you know - and I do know having spent a good chunk of this past spring bingeing on the 2022 TV version of the aforementioned.)

Marta told me about her love of detail and the importance of doing her own research. E.g. Going to a range to shoot all the weapons, so that you can talk about the feel of the grip in your heroine's hands. Embedding yourself with law enforcement and FBI folks and SWAT teams so that you know what it's like, for instance, to profile a real psychopath - and not a Holllywood version thereof. Working with politicos in D.C. so you can write your political thriller...

And then, as she and Dennis and I talked a bit about Liberty Walks' mission, we considered the impact of social media and folks' general lack of information "Do your research," Dennis said. We all agreed. And she and Dennis shared their sense of Kennedy's work to make America healthy again and the dangers of high fructose corn syrup. We might not have continued to agree had we continued on that subject - and, but, that's just fine. Giving space and giving grace. Nina needed help up into the cab, and I took Marta's business card, and I will definitely download one of her Kate Bowers books.

Even just the potential for disagreement has become difficult to tolerate these days. I mean: emotionally difficult - spiritually difficult. Even just the potential is scary. More than anything else I find myself trying to learn how to share the road.

Sunrise over Pleasant Valley Rd, somewhere between Kuna and Mountain Home.

Blacks Creek Road.

On the way to Mayfield, Idaho - Blacks Creek Road.

Welcome to Mountain Home, Idaho.

Pondering the imponderables at dinner.

Dennis and Marta Sprout.