Green Canyon

When I was a kid and we would go to St. Anthony to visit my maternal grandma, Lillis Johnson, I always hoped that she would take us to Green Canyon.  Green Canyon is a natural hot springs and pool.

When Grandma would take us, I always called her Gram, we would all pile into her old boat of a car.  It was one of those old cars with the really long nose and seats that went all the way across both front and back.  I think it was a gold or tan color with a hood ornament.  She'd put all five of us in that car and drive us to the hot springs.  We would be so excited.  I don't really remember a radio on while we drove but I do remember Gram talking to us and playing road games.  It was quite a long drive for little kids.  I think it was about 30-40 minutes from Gram's house. 

The road there was not paved and I remember knowing we were getting close when we'd turn off the paved road onto the dusty road, kicking up dust and gravel.  I loved having the windows down even though it had to be really hot with all the summer heat and bodies trapped in that car.  It's amazing how well you tolerate things as a child.  No air conditioning is a deal breaker for any adult these days.  When we turn onto the gravel road we would slowly make our way down a winding canyon road.  It was always really pretty.  Green and lush.  It seemed like we were the only people in the world as we drove down that road. 

Recently, we had a family reunion in Eastern Idaho and Green Canyon was on the itinerary.  I was amazed that there were still places on this planet that were quiet and untouched.  There was a lot of farmland.  You couldn't see any residences are businesses.  It was just an endless sight line of beautiful green rolling hills.  There's a small river that snakes through the canyon with you as you drive and you may see an occasional fisherman, but otherwise it's completely isolated.  I've been living in large cities for so long that it was unfathomable that something so serene existed.  It would be nice to be able to escape to a place like that every time life got chaotic.  Sometimes there's nothing better than silence.

As a child I knew we were there as soon as I saw the camping site right next to the small building that housed the pool.  We would pull into an unmarked parking lot and cascade out of the car.  We were so excited to be there!  I am amazed at my grandma's courage in taking five small children on her own to a pool!  She would keep us close as we paid our entrance and made our way to the dressing rooms.  They were damp and dark with small stalls lining the walls.  There was a curtain for each stall that didn't cover the entire width of the door.  Gram would take us into one of the larger corner stalls and get us all ready together.  I remember sitting patiently on the bench in the dressing room as she got my two younger brothers dressed.  My older sisters were old enough to get themselves ready and they would go in ahead of us.  They were already great swimmers.  I probably could have joined them, but I had this pull towards my grandma.  I never wanted her out of my sight.  I loved her so much and wanted to be with her every second I had her.  Mom always said we had a special bond and I still remember feeling it as a child. 

After we all got dressed we'd put our clothes into mesh bags with hangers on top.  There was an elastic with a numbered medallion around the neck of each hanger.  Gram would slip that off and put it around her ankle or wrist, turn in the bags, and take us by the hand as we made our way out to the pool. 

The smell of the pool is something I'll never forget but never be able to adequately describe.  The air was hot and humid and sat on top of you.  It didn't help that it was all enclosed.  You weren't cool in the water or out of the water.  It truly felt like bath water.  It looked like bath water, too.  As a child you don't care and you go for it, jumping in the pool all at once and loving every second of it.  The Green Canyon establishment was probably never a well kept, classy place.  You don't notice the floors that have probably never seen a mop or the rust around the perimeter fence when you're in the middle of childhood.  We didn't care and we loved being there.

Gram would call us out of the pool too soon.  We'd go back into the dressing rooms after turning in our numbered medallion and try and pull on our dry clothes over our damp, sticky bodies.  It was always a struggle as the clothes twisted and stuck.  We'd make our way out, bellies full of dirty water feeling relaxed and a little sick at the same time.  Every once in a while Gram would let us stop and drool over at the candy counter where tootsie rolls, dum dums, and candy bars were shining up at us.  If we had any of our own money we would spend it there.  That never helped with the aching stomach!  Gram would surprise us sometimes with a few nickles and pennies and we could each choose one treat. 

We would eat our candy in the car as Gram would take the steering wheel in both hands and drive us home.  The drive home was always quieter than the drive there.  We had expended so much energy while the warm water pulled out all the rest.  Sometimes we'd sleep and other times we'd try and hold our stomachs.  I just remember sitting next the Gram in the front seat.  The summer air blowing past me from the open windows.  I'm sure I leaned on her as I watched her slender hands with their pronounced knuckles and clean, well filed fingernails take us home.  Nothing was better than that secure feeling.  We'd made memories together.  I wasn't aware of it at the time, but those would be memories chiseled deeply into my brain.  I treasure them now.  Something so simple as a trip to the hot springs as a young family left unforgettable impressions and feelings.  

What's most rewarding to me at this time is that I have now taken my two small children to Green Canyon.  I've done all the same things with them.  It's as if time never touched Green Canyon in it's secluded Idaho location.  The tiles are still crumbling off the walls and the dressing rooms are still completely inadequate for privacy.  Even the mesh bags with the elastic tags are the same.  I bought my kids penny and nickle candy marveling that there are still places that sell candy for so little.  I watched them jump from the sides of the pool into the warm water feet first just as I used to.  The only thing that has changed is me and the size of the pool.  In my memory it was so much larger than it actually is.  That night after our swim, I hugged my children while we roasted hot dogs at the same camp site and smelled the hot springs in their hair and glowed in their smiling faces turned up towards me.  I know it's too much to hope that my children will have the same memories of their trip to Green Canyon as I did, but I do hope that they knew at the end of that long, jam packed, fun day that they were loved and well taken care of.  I guess my biggest hope is they had the same secure feeling that day with my arms wrapped around them as I did resting my head on my Gram's shoulder.