Peterson Times: The ghost of Nurse Martha

Who in the world is Nurse Martha you ask? It all goes back to the Lava Hot Springs hospital built just after the turn of the century where we stayed on Monday and Tuesday. Well OK, it is not a hospital anymore but is now the Lava Hot Springs Inn. We were told that the Inn is haunted and seen by at least the ghosts of the nurses, specifically guests have claimed to see Nurse Martha, that formerly worked there. No, we didn't see them but we did meet some interesting characters.

Let's just say that life is different in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. With a population of 700 and in the middle of nowhere, life is a bit slow in the winter. Also, from the residents that I met, their philosophies are on the left side of the scale (i.e., a blue city in a red state). Anyway, let's start at the beginning.

Louise and I needed to get away from it all for a couple of days so we took a look at Lava Hot Springs. I searched around and it seemed that the Inn would be a good place to stay. Bottom line after staying there -- I think we made the right choice. I booked the reservation then left at 10:30 a.m. on Monday for the 80 mile drive. We turned off I-15 at McCammon and drove eleven miles to Lava Hot Springs (middle of no where). I was quite impressed with the Portneuf River as it meandered through the valley -- perhaps some trout reside there. Anyway, we arrived and walked up to the entrance. OK, some paint was chipped off the door and the wood was a bit split but we walked up the stairs and it looked "like the Bates' Motel!" The 50s something owner greeted us and the check in process was rather standard other than her conversation that was punctuated with some profanities that seemed part of her everyday word usage. Hmm, oh well, nothing that I didn't hear from my uncles as I grew up. We had an old fashioned key to unlock the door, however, the key did not work from the inside. Perhaps Martin could lock the door, then climb through the window? After several jigglings, we got it to lock. The room was mostly fine -- comfortable bed, nice fancy tub -- but the "bathroom/toliet" was a nook with no door. At least we could turn up the TV. Oh yes, the TV. I tried out the TV and the VCR/DVD worked just fine but I couldn't get the cable TV to work. I muttered something about where is Jared when I can use him. I went out to Ms. Owner to ask for help and she said she did not know how it worked. Nice service. After considerable effort, I finally went in to "Setup" on the TV and moved the indicator to "Antenna" and presto, we had 100 stations. All was well. Louise was able to watch the Weather channel.

Restaurant recommendations/Dinner -- We asked Ms Owner where to eat that evening. "Oh, I hope you didn't come here to find decent food. You might want to try the deli at the supermarket or a pizza, there isn't much else." As you know, I am not one to go to fancy places, but I was hoping .... . Well, we took a walk around town (10 minutes down one side of Main and back up the other). Sure enough, they have a supermarket. I told Louise it reminded me of a slightly enlarged convenience store. We did go into the Chuckwagon Diner because it may hold some hope of a non-supermarket/pizza supper. We went back to the Chuchwagon that evening. Louise ordered a scone and a bowl of chili and I ordered a meatball sandwich (the special) with a green salad. I received my salad with the raspberry vinegaret side dressing (well, it was in a squeeze bottle like ketchup but it is more economical that way, you know, no waste in those little cups where you don't use all of it anyway!). Louise's chili was fine. After about 35 minutes we finally got our main course. It does, you know, take some real finesse to carefully open up a hoagie roll and pour sauce and meatballs over it and drop on a couple of slices of processed cheese. Louise's scone, unfortuatelly, was a bit crisp on the outside and sort of done on the inside. Maybe the deli wasn't such a bad recommendation. Truly, dinner was OK but we have had better. We were told by several guests that there was a great Thai diner in town but it was closed on Mondays. Great.

The pools -- This was all good. They have five pools ranging from 44 degrees (a small cold pool that we did not get in), two small hot pools, one medium hot pool, and one large (20' X 80'). The hot pools ranged from 100-107 degrees. We enjoyed them in the afternoon, the evening, then again Tuesday morning. While in the pools, we had conversations with a local (the resident massage therapist who was clearly one of the blue residents in this blue town) who was pleasant, and a fellow that lived near by who told us they drain the pools twice a week to clean them (bleach spray then rinse) so they don't get slimy (that's good). Louise had just told one lady that because we couldn't be in Costa Rica we came to Lava when two guys wandered by us (I had heard them speaking Spanish). Louise asked the one where he was from and he said Costa Rica! "Pura Vida!" We (mostly Louise) had a fun time visiting with him and his friend from Salt Lake City (originally from the Yucatan area of Mexico). We expressed how much we enjoyed Costa Rica and the Cancun areas. I was visiting with another couple who were from Idaho Falls and I mentioned that we lived by Logan. She said that they go occasionally go to Mendon to visit her uncle. Upon inquiring, her uncle is Wade Quinlan who was my Priest advisor. I told her how much I look up to Wade and that I frequently see him as he is a temple worker. Small world. Even though the air was around 30 degrees, we could soak then sit on the edge and feel fine with the warm vapors swirling around us. The next morning we were visiting with a couple that had been soaking at 10:30 the previous evening. They said the maintenance guy came out and without saying anything, pulled the plug to drain and clean the pool as they sat in it! They decided to get out before they got sprayed with the bleach solution!

Breakfast -- It was advertised that the Inn serves a nice cooked breakfast. It is posted that it is from 8-10 a.m. but Ms. Owner said it would be at 9:00 a.m. OK, I can live with that since we had some treats to hold my regular 7 a.m. breakfast stomach over to 9:00. We went downstairs at 8:55 a.m. and the kitchen and dining area were dark! Hey, even though I am on vacation I have a schedule to keep! (I'm hopeless). By the time Ms. Owner drove in at 9:00, a gaggle of guests were starting to form in the serving area. She flew into the kitchen and started to fix scrambled eggs. This lady has no concept of multi-tasking. She fixed the eggs, then did hash brown potatoes and put them on the warming trays that were plugged in but didn't work. She then mixed up some waffle mix and put those in. By now the eggs and potatoes were gone but gee, we need to wait for the waffles to be done. Once the waffles were out, she did not refill the grill but did some eggs. In the mean time, the juice and milk were out so one of the guests refilled them! Oh yes, the waffles need to be done and as she realized that the batter was out, Louise saw her use her finger to scrape the last of the batter out of the bowl! No wonder they tasted good. Actually, Louise said they were very good with a applesauce and nutmeg or cinnamon base. We did get through breakfast and were well filled but it was more of an experience that we had planned. After, we went out for a soak just to relax.

We did have fun. I don't know that we will go on July 4th when the population swells to 24,000 so the SE Idaho folks can see the fireworks come off the mountain. The fellow that told us about the event said the grass on the mountain side catches fire but it "just burns up to the rock wall so it is OK". All that happens in this little blue town in a red state. For interest, "The Inn" is featured in Sunset magazine in January 2009.

Ghost Nurse Martha's residence (The Inn) with fireworks hill in the background