They say travel is broadening, and certainly I’ve always gained something from each of my trips away from home. In fact, my most recent trip to Idaho was particularly educational, so much so that I thought I’d share a few of my new insights with you. Here’s some of what I learned:

• This is a really, really big country. No honestly. Bigger even than you think. Bigger than you can imagine. It just keeps going on and on. And a lot of it is quite empty. I have new respect for Lewis and Clark and anyone else who set out to cross it on foot. It takes an eternity even when you’re driving 80 mph.

• Northern Nevada consists of a desert scene replayed over and over, like in one of those cheap cartoons on TV where they only have one background and the characters keep moving in front of the same plants. And the sound track is Christian country music.

OK, world, point taken. Next time I fly.

It was a schlep, but with the help of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (one of the best books on CD ever), I finally made it to Sun Valley. And the enlightenment continued. In fact, on just my second day there, I discovered a number of other very interesting things. For example:

• Mountain biking is a terrific way to see Idaho’s nature close up. Particularly if you really want to inspect the local rock formations at nose level.

• If you’re going to go mountain biking, Sun Valley is a very good place to do it, as everyone there has broken or scraped some part of their body at least once, and can give you excellent advice.

• The most excellent advice they can give you is to reconsider the urge to go mountain biking. Take it.

And finally, the most important lesson:

• If you do go mountain biking, and then plan to put off going to the emergency room for your broken wrist, cracked ribs and punctured lung for six hours, you should put your foot down and make it seven hours, so you get to eat first. Otherwise, dinner is likely to consist of a packet of saltines and a glass of juice at midnight.

By now you are probably getting the idea that my quick little road trip to visit my sister and brother-in-law in their new house in Sun Valley didn’t quite turn out as planned. And you’d be correct. Though let me assure you, it was satisfying in many ways. The drive, while stultifyingly boring, could also be termed meditative. And once across the vast expanse of nothingness that is Nevada (Who let them into the union? What were they thinking?), the mountains were as beautiful as advertised. As was Judy and David’s drop-dead gorgeous new house.

In retrospect, however, getting on an unfamiliar bike and planning a “nice, easy” 18-mile ride down gravel trails may not have been the best recreational idea ever conceived. It sure sounded good at the time, though I’m having a hard time remembering why.

We were only two miles into our scenic tour when the bike or I did something wrong (I choose to believe it was the bike) and I ended up smack on the ground. Or rather SMACK on the ground. (It was a very hard landing.)

Numerous parts of my body immediately started to swell, bleed and ache, rendering further peddling an impossibility, so we turned back on foot, my sister and brother-in-law pushing the bikes while I elevated my wrist by waving it around as if hailing a cab. (Alas, none happened by.) It was a lovely day for a hike, though I confess I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have.

Once we finally trekked back to the lodge and a big bag of ice, I started to recover — and moved quickly into extreme denial. The swelling was down and I was sure it was just a sprained wrist and some bruised ribs, no need to rush to the hospital. So I took a shower. We browsed the library. We sat through a lecture. When that was over, I pushed for dawdling a little longer over some food. I acquiesced to the trip to the ER only after my sister promised me a nice dinner at the wine bar as soon as we got the (unnecessary I was sure) X-rays taken.

I never did get that dinner (or that glass of wine), but that’s the only complaint I can make about the evening. I know you won’t believe this, but my visit to the St. Luke’s Wood River ER was the highlight of my visit to Idaho. I had a delightful time. My new friends-for-life Dr. Deb and Nurse Annette and all the other folks there took my injuries much more seriously than I did and provided me with prompt, professional care from the moment I finally decided to wander in. They were attentive and informative and quite fun to spend time with. Yes, the refreshments were a little stingy and late arriving, but otherwise they were the perfect hosts.

OK, I admit maybe the drugs had something to do with it.

But I swear, those were the best saltines I ever tasted.

Spanish Tortilla

Serves 2

Having given up on the wine bar idea, I began fixating on scrambled eggs — a much more attainable goal at 1:30 a.m. when they finally sprang me from the hospital. I settled for the regular kind, but my favorite version is this classic Spanish tortilla.

Don’t be put off by the amount of olive oil in the recipe. It isn’t a high-fat, greasy dish. What you are doing is poaching the potatoes and onions in hot oil, not frying them. The oil then gets poured off and saved for reuse.

2 small, thin-skinned potatoes (such as Yukon gold or Russet)

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 cup olive oil

3 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes (or, if they are very fresh and thin-skinned, don’t bother) and cut in 1/4-inch slices. Place them with the onion in a small saucepan and add enough olive oil so that they are completely covered. Don’t stint on the oil. Anything sticking out above it will start to brown and fry – not your goal. Cook over medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the onions are transparent. Do not let the onions brown.

In the meantime, whisk together 3 eggs along with salt and pepper to taste.

When the potatoes and onions are cooked, drain off as much of the oil as possible, saving it for use in the next tortilla or elsewhere. (It will have picked up a very nice onion flavor.) Transfer the potatoes and onions to an 8-inch nonstick frying pan, spreading them into an even layer. Pour the egg mixture over. Cook over medium-low heat, pulling the cooked edges in slightly with a fork and tilting the pan occasionally to spread the uncooked egg to the edges.

After about 4 or 5 minutes, when the egg is not quite set up on top, slide the tortilla onto a plate. Then (this sounds harder than it is), use the plate to flip it back into the pan to cook the other side. Let it cook another minute to pick up some color, then slide it out of the pan onto a serving plate.

Cut into wedges and serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: This is the most basic recipe. Feel free to add peppers, chorizo, mushrooms, fresh herbs, cheese or other ingredients that strike your fancy. I find tomatoes add too much liquid, though you might have some luck with cherry tomatoes if you don’t add too many.

Betty Teller is recovering nicely and trying to convince Eddie that her cast is not a new scratching post. Reach her at amuse-bouche @sbcglobal.net.