Museum of Idaho

Time Machine and Steampunk Creator

Our stop of the day was the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls. We lucked out on this stop, because they had a superb temporary exhibit on Steampunk. This was a mix of art and science celebrating the inventors and science fiction writers of the 19^th century: George Eastman, Issac Singer, Mary Shelby, H.G. Wells, and Jules Verne. The artworks were inspired by their invention (real or fiction) and included some form of lights and motion. Nearby were examples of inventions that followed their invention or fiction. Quite entertaining as well as educational. My favorite was an inventor, I never heard of, Jan Matzeliger. His invention sewed the top cover of a shoe to the sole, increasing the output of a cobbler from 4 shoes a day to 100.

Jan Matzeliger and shoe art

Most of the rest of the museum wasn't very special, except for the small section about the National Reactor Testing Station. Created after World War II, they developed over time 52 prototype nuclear reactors, including the first one to power a town (Arco, Idaho) and the reactor for the Navy Submarine Nautilus. It was entertaining to watch a 1950 era cartoon, explaining how a nuclear reactor works to a public that associated nuclear with atomic bombs.

Nuclear Fuel and Control Rods

We camped that night just east of Salt Lake City in DeerCreek State Park. The park is by a reservoir and would have been great except for the smoke that was coming into the valley from a nearby forest fire.

Smoke encroaching on Deer Creek State Park