SHORT STORIES OF LIFE ON THE ROAD---PART 2

BUSTER'S BIG BRAINSTORM

Meet Buster and son---two men with a dream ---in Hollister,  Idaho

I walked right up to them and asked if we could camp in their parking lot.  They said yes to us total strangers.

Here is the raw material of their dream:  Transform this old building into a good time bar and grill.  He just retired from trucking and no doubt having visited hundreds of good-time places knows just what makes for good comradery.  It should be ready soon--so stop in and enjoy BUSTERS BAR AND GRILL in Hollister, Idaho---just south of Twin Falls.

Just north of Twin Falls we settle at the fringe of a truck stop for two days to catch up on movies.  The lesson here is that you can camp in thousands of places--BY JUST DOING IT.

That's a very long drop to the Snake River below.  Evel Kenevil tried and failed to jump this canyon on a rocket powered cycle.

These guys regularly jump off this bridge and parachute--

down, down to the riverbank.  Only 3 or 4 have died in the many years that thousands have jumped.  One jumper said of his state's permissiveness:  We let adults be adults here.  What a sharp contrast to San Francisco who recently decided to spend countless millions on a safety net under the Golden Gate Bridge.

North from Twin Falls toward the Saw tooth mountains in the distance, I notice a genuine shepherd's wagon beside the road. 

We stay awhile in Shoshone, Id-- walked around and admired this prize winning horse welded from thousands of  leaf-shaped pieces of iron.

Then called it a night atop this hill beside the woods hole recreation area. Years ago, I saw a quirky happening here: A crow flew down when a camper called him and ate something from the guy's hand.

Moving East on hwy 20

to Craters of the Moon National Park----not very well known but interesting. That's us and our neighbors camping in a vast field of lava.

There's great hiking here too.  Lots of caves--large and small.  Two days here and we move on.

To Arco, Id---first town in the world to be powered by atomic power. (if only for a few minutes)

Here's the conning tower from US submarine # 666--the USS Hawksbill-called appropriately the Devils Submarine.  It was  nuclear powered and had a distinguished career---made the national news when it surfaced at the north pole in 1984.  Decommissioned in 2000 and its conning tower placed here..

A nearby kiosk has lots of good info including this bold and controversial statement claiming that Atomic bombs have, on balance, been a force for good.  I AGREE

and here are the numbers to prove his contention.  Can you see the numbers: WWI--15 million deaths---WWII--50 million deaths---(only 200,000 of them by Nuclear weapons)  Since then the world has so feared the consequences of nuclear exchange that a fearful peace has restrained the nuclear powers. 

It has also united them in limiting the spread of nuclear capability. 

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  I once wrote a letter to  Edward Teller thanking him for the development of the hydrogen bomb---a weapon so terrible that sane people would not use it.  It does not prevent small wars ---only big ones.  It prevents empire building and stabilizes borders and spheres of influence. Sentimentalist are the biggest threat to world peace because they lack the heart to do hard but necessary things----like sending 60,000 kids back to central America to show that we will not absorb  their surplus population and problems.  The inexpensive and obvious answer to that problem is to finance a giant, secure compound DOWN THERE to house them till they leave on their own accord or are retrieved by their parents.