Idaho is a state that I have had somewhat of a romantic notion about for some time. I have seen beautiful images of its landscape and it struck me as a place with abundant natural  beauty and wide open spaces. We stayed at Miracle Hot Springs, which as the name implies, has numerous man-made pools with different temperatures of mineral rich, hot spring water. They also have a private campground, as well as furnished dome tents that you can stay in. We tent camped here for 2 nights. The facilities were clean and nice. It was luxurious for us to be able to shower and soak in the pools. It is located in the Thousand Springs Area along the Snake River. We visited Shoshone Falls, which is known as “The Niagara of the West”.  During the spring, snowmelt from the Tetons flows into the Snake River and creates quite the spectacle here. During the fall, the falls themselves are nothing spectacular, as the water flow is minimal. The area is beautiful nonetheless, and you can imagine the force of water during spring run-off must be tremendous. We rented a canoe and paddled around on the Snake one afternoon. We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing in Idaho, but spent some time relaxing in hammocks at the campsite and soaking in the springs. Overall, we were unimpressed with this area of Idaho. The Snake River Canyon is beautiful, but miles of flat land filled with odorous feedlots dominates the landscape of southern Idaho. I would like to see the eastern and northern areas of the state in the future, in hopes to validate my previous notions of Idaho.