I inquire about the tours. With a bored look on his face and a flyswatter in one hand, the guy behind the counter tells me about the tour. His description lacks a certain je ne sais quois but basically he tells me that there may or may not be an Indian princess buried inside; that 2/3 of Idaho is covered in lava; the year-round temperature inside the caves is about 20 degrees so railroad workers used to keep their beer inside when working nearby; and that the guided tour, three-quarters of a mile in length, is given every 30 minutes. Be sure to bring a coat. And five bucks for admission.

"One ticket, please," I say.

"Just you?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" I ask.

"I don't do tours unless we got at least four people so you'll have to wait until some more people show up."

"Well, how long's that gonna be?"

Slapping at a fly which landed nearby, he shrugs and says, "Dunno. Could be five minutes. Could be a couple hours."

Rolling my eyes, I explain to him that I'm on a tight schedule, that I've got 10 hours of driving ahead of me and that I can't sit around all day hoping someone else shows up. He doesn't care. Apparently, the heat makes people very lethargic cos he never moved an inch save for slapping at the fly and on my way out I had to step over one of his children who'd sprawled herself in the doorway with a soda. Ohhhh-kayyy then.

Here are some photos of the interior. Unfortunately, none of them are mine. Shoshone Ice Caves are supposed to be pretty interesting only I'll never know cos I couldn't get in the damn place!

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