By Michael Patrick O’Brien–
This autumn, I spent twenty-four hours in the lovely little town of Rexburg, Idaho. The short but enjoyable one day trip inspired the following twenty four reactions.
1. We took our two young grandsons—Wally (5) and Finny (2)—to Yellowstone Bear World, a 125-acre wildlife park just outside of Rexburg. See item 22 below for the unforeseen cosmic implications of that choice.
2. Mormon pioneer Thomas E. Ricks first settled the area on the banks of the Teton River in 1883. He lived in Utah for many years before that, having arrived just about a year after Brigham Young.
3. Ricks founded a school that for many years was known as Ricks College. A quarter century ago, its leaders renamed it BYU Idaho.
4. My alma mater Notre Dame played BYU in football the same weekend I was in Rexburg, so I posed in front of the BYU Idaho sign, while wearing my ND hat, and posted the photo with a clever caption asking why I could not find anyone else attending the big game.
5. My clever post got a lot of likes on social media. See item 22 below for the unforeseen cosmic implications of that photo.
6. Rexburg seemed close to Salt Lake City—only about three hours drive away—so we decided to go there on a Friday and return on a Saturday. We did fine, but I noticed that these “short trips” take more of a toll on the 65 year old me than they did forty years ago.
7. To give the boys a little room to run, instead of a hotel we rented a very nice house in a pleasant neighborhood. The only problem was the sign inside that said, “Please no running or stomping…there are guests downstairs too!”
8. Wally and Finny offer their sincere and humble apologies to the guests downstairs.
9. Wally was recovering from a cold but on Friday night he developed a nasty cough, the worst I have heard in years. Our home away from home remedy/mitigation efforts failed.
10. About midnight, Wally’s mother (my daughter Erin) and I took him to the ER at Rexburg’s Madison Memorial Hospital. We chose that medical venue because it was close and likely accepted her insurance.
11. On the drive to the hospital, we learned that one of the hottest late night spots in this college town was the local Taco Bell. It was even busy after our ER visit ended too.
12. The folks at Madison Memorial were great. They put Wally in a special kid’s room, treated him with respect and love, and asked Erin and I at least three times if they could get us anything.
13. I doubt any of them will read this blog, but in case they do…thanks for the kindness and excellent service, Madison Memorial!
14. During our two hour stay at the ER, I introduced Wally to one of my superpowers—making balloon animals…well, balloon things…out of latex gloves. I think it helped a bit.
15. Despite getting real toys as gifts from the hospital staff, Wally insisted on keeping the latex ballon creature too. Grandpa could not be happier.
16. We got home from the hospital at 2:00 in the morning, which (along with some rental car tire pressure problems) caused a few gameday amendments to our planned Saturday schedule.
17. My law firm has an office in Rexburg with some fine lawyers there. They were all out of town at a firm meeting (one I skipped because my grandsons were off school). I was going to at least drive by the office and take a photo, but see item no. 16 above.
18. Most Rexburg folks (something like 95%) are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The other 5% were in a long line with us on Saturday morning at Dutch Bros Coffee.
19. We made it to Bear World (started in 1998) only three hours behind schedule. PETA folks probably don’t love the place but it was clean, and pretty spacious (no cages), and the many bears there seemed fine to my untrained eyes.
20. Bear World also has a Jurassic World exhibit of life-size animatronic dinos. The bears did not seem to mind, and unlike what has happened in many other Jurassic parks, the T-Rex never escaped or attacked the bears. The juxtaposition of themes was an interesting choice.
21. I took a great video of a bear scratching its back side on a stump for well over five minutes. I now think this may be my spirit animal. See item 22 below for the unforeseen cosmic implications of that realization.
22. On Saturday, BYU beat Notre Dame 28-24, in Provo. A quarterback named Bear led the commendable Cougar effort. By devoting some much of my fan energy to a bear-themed weekend (and by gently chiding the nice people at BYU Idaho), I may have jinxed the Fighting Irish. I formally apologize to Coach Marcus Freeman and the boys.
23. After a long round trip drive, and a sleepless ER-interrupted night, I was quite tired when I got home Saturday evening. I drank so much coffee and Dr. Pepper to stay awake while driving, however, that I wrote this article in just over thirty minutes right after I unpacked. Rexburg caffeine rocks.
24. Wally and Finny had fun in Rexburg. So did I. In the end, that’s all that matters.
*Mike O’Brien (author website here) is a writer and attorney living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Paraclete Press published his book Monastery Mornings, about growing up with the monks at the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, in August 2021. The League of Utah Writers chose it as the best non-fiction book of 2022. Mike’s new holiday novel, tentatively titled “The Merry Matchmaker Monks,” will be published in time for a future fun Christmas read.
