DAYS 37 & 38 - Idaho Falls, ID - 717 miles from home

Oh, the luxuries! We really hoofed it last week, adding extra miles to our walks where we could - which wasn't a hardship, because we're still splitting walking/driving responsibilities. The longest hike we each did was still just 15 miles. And yet - the effort paid off massively, with two fully free days to unwind in Idaho Falls.

Of course, "unwinding" is a very subjective term. For Bob that meant a little more walking (!!) - but this time, just leisurely strolls ... along the river and through the Museum of Idaho. For me, this meant HOT TUB. Yes, our RV park had a pool and a hot tub, and I soaked until I was thoroughly pickled. Thank you Snake River RV Park. You have made this pilgrim's heart soar.

There was also Costco. And Walmart. And a trip to the airport - to pick up Kate, who had walked with us from Eugene to Sisters, OR - and who is now back to take us through Wyoming. With three of us sharing the walking and the driving, goodness knows the glorious trouble we're about to get into in Big Sky country.

This weekend there was also the marvel of our evening with Melinda and Glen Devoe - hosts from the First Presbyterian Church of Idaho Falls. Melinda and Glen's gorgeous acreage a few miles outside of town could have been our landing pad for those two nights - but we were already booked at the RV park (and truth be told, Libby needed some filling and some emptying, etc etc, so it was good to get all of those tanks and tubes taken care of....) All the same, Melinda and Glen stuffed us full of delicious food, and taught us how to play bocce ball (Kate whooped everyone's butt in the end...).

Sadly the yellowjackets (or 'meat bees' as we call them back home) attacked our garden party just as we were tucking into the mounds of food. And so we gathered up plates and cups and condiments, and headed into the Devoe's house - a fantastic old farmhouse. "Have you lived here long?" I asked Melinda. Oh, more than 40 years. I married Glen and the house together. They raised their boys here - and they currently 'raise' Great Horned Owls: a nest that the extraordinary birds keep coming back to, year after yead... And so Glen and Melinda watch each Spring as the owlets fledge and learn to hunt, and brave the natural and manmade dangers (e.g. busy roads). Two owlets were lost this year, but two have survived.

Meanwhile, the theme of connection continues - we are still in the warm network of friends, neighbors, kith and kin ... As Liberty Walks ushers each of us out of our "bubbles," the pilgrimage seems to be casting us all into a gentle and widening net. Glen used to work for the BLM, working with ranchers centered in Clyde. Remember Delwin and Tena - hosts in Richfield? friends of Juanita, of Colleen, of Mary? - Glen knew Delwin, back when he was young.

Everything, everyone is connected, as they say.

Bob, Melinda, Kate, Glen - and Butch, the Longhorn.

D'Artagnan, our server at Smitty's - our arrival breakfast in Idaho Falls. "My mom was a fan of Alexander Dumas," Dart tells us.

Tim, staff at Snake River RV Park. Tim lives in Rigby, Idaho - a community he loves. "The one word for Rigby is 'youth' - a big LDS community, and they really take care of the kids." He's a single dad whose 12-year-old boy is "now doing great!"

Two words: hot tub. (The pool was great, too.)

Kate turns out to be a bocce ball 'ringer.' - Photo by Bob Hall.

Melinda Devoe.

Libby having some issues getting in the Devoes' driveway. (Watching Glen gleefully wield a chainsaw on his chokecherry tree was quite a delight.) (Sorry, Tree.) - Photo by Bob Hall.

Butch.