ORE-IDA-TAH

Oregon - Idaho - Utah

I’ve driven almost a thousand miles. I’m tired and achy. I had a banana, Ritz Bits and red wine for dinner. And I’m enjoying every minute of this road trip. First, let me share that we are driving two cars – well, a car and a pick-up pulling a U-Haul. And in each vehicle there is a GPS unit – one Sony and one TomTom. So basically, there are FOUR opinions about how to get from point A to point B, and rarely do we all agree. Add to that, we’ve also consulted MapQuest and GoogleMaps, and made a last minute change of plans due to a snow forecast in Rawlings Wyoming. So it’s a wonder we know where we are. In fact, when we got to our motel tonight, Rick did ask me “where are we?” I was way ahead of him… I read the signs as we pulled into town. We’re in Green River Utah!

Mountain View from Tremonton

We slept well last night and didn’t get on the road until almost 10am this morning. Just a few miles from Ontario, we entered Idaho. I like Idaho. Their speed limit is 75 mph… which of course means I was going almost 80 – sometimes even faster when I had to scoot past a semi. Our first stop was to gas up in Boise. Then again in Tremonton for gas and lunch. We went upscale this time and had lunch at Denny’s. The view of the mountains there was wonderful. So was the view of this most interesting “Scottish” Ford Escape. And you should have seen the driver!! See… it’s stuff like this that makes road trips fun!

(Click on the picture and see it in all it's Tartan Glory!)

I think that anyone who is interested in geology, which I am, would fall in love with Utah. The rock formations, green soil, plateaus, mountain ranges, are all spectacular. And add to that, a sunset to light the stage and a rainbow for window dressing and it just doesn’t get any better than this. Our drive through the Wasatch Mountains was beautiful, but a little nerve wracking as we watched the temperature drop until we hit the Soldier Summit. Fortunately, there were only a few snowflakes and no icy roads.

Took this picture with my cell phone @ 70 mph. (Shhhh -- don't tell).

The road construction, on the other hand, I could do without. At one point, the road narrowed to the point that it was necessary to drive on the shoulder with the right side tires hitting those annoying “rumble strips”. They’re a great feature for keeping sleepy drivers awake, but for miles on end – OYE!

I love to keep an eye out for the wild life too. Today I saw an antelope, a prairie dog watching the traffic go by, and a ground squirrel (chubby little fella) playing Russian roulette. That is to say, he ran across 3 lanes of traffic buzzing by at 80 miles an hour, to get to the other side. Hey! He made it! Which is more than I can say for the fascinating assortment of road kill I’ve seen. Including a bloated elk, miscellaneous birds, and something that looked like an albino opossum.

I can hardly wait for the adventures awaiting us tomorrow. We have less than 1300 miles to our destination. Yeah!