Friday, May 31, 2013
Day 7: Boise, Idaho
This morning we began our journey at the Pocatello Ramada. Not the finest of places and the shower head was broken and got more water on the floor than my head but it was clean and the beds were nice. I also raided an unattended maids cart on my way out and stocked up on shampoo, conditioners and lotion. Hey, on the trail nothing can be left behind!
Our first stop was at America Falls where the sign below was posted at your school. I loved it and give kudos to the school for posting it! Simply because it's a hilarious sign! We saw the falls, which I imagine we're amazing during the pioneer crossing. Next, we stopped at an interpretive exhibit with wagon ruts and a lovely view of the snake river. I have seen many wagon ruts so far and they never cease to amaze me. They must have been so deep that they almost were higher than this wagons! The wildflowers were very pretty here too and made the hills look yellow.
Next we attempted to see the second parting of the ways. The trail guide gave directions, which we attempted to follow but 4 miles down a back road and through a herd of cattle, we were supposed to turn left. There was no road. Not only that but there was no turns for as far as we could see. So, we tried an earlier left turn. This resulted in lots of confusion, heading down tiny dirt roads and we may have ended up in the middle of a farmer's field. We tried looking on maps, each one of us read the directions to see if we missed something, but no! We all read the same thing. We tried again to no avail and drove through the cow herd standing on the road about 4 times. Finally, Roy found a promising road and we decided we'd try one more time. It was not so much about the trail siting anymore as it was the challenge of finding the stupid thing! Finally we found the correct road! 4 miles away from where it told us to turn! The site was not that great and required an 8 mile hike to the actual site... no thank you! So we continued on, satisfied that the trail had not outsmarted us.
Then we reached massacre rock, named for the many attacks and battles here between the native American tribes and settlers. The coolest part: dressing up in period clothing! So much fun but those dresses are hot and hard to move in! Thank God for jeans! The park is very lovely and filled with sagebrush which I love the smell of!
We continued on and saw a cool recreation of a town that I forget the name of. We drove through twin falls and saw the new Chobani factory there! We then saw 1,000 springs. This was amazing and sad because it used to be so much bigger before the water supply was diverted or cut off. On the side of a bluff and thousands of small waterfalls that shoot right out from the middle if the bluff and fall to the river. They look like the bluff is crying from a thousand eyes! It was very pretty.
After a few more sites we continued to Boise. This town is officially my favorite larger town we have driven through so far. It has so many trees and green areas that you feel like your in a small town but it has so much happening. It was beautiful but the highlight was the Boise fry company. See the picture below of the menu.They make French fries, and everything else is a side. You begin by choosing your potato type and how you want it cut (homestyle, shoestring, regular, etc.) Then you chose from about 10 different sauces and 10 different flavored salts. Here are my favorite combos:
- Homestyle yam fry with vanilla salt and blueberry ketchup
- curly yellow fry with sour Chinese sauce and 5 spice salt
- standard idaho fry with spicy ketchup and vinegar salt
Basically, this place was heaven. We are currently at Roy's house in Boise enjoying a game of Cards Against Humanity. Tomorrow begins a new day on the trail! My thumb is almost healed and were three quarters of the way through! Oregon, here we come!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Day 6: Pocatello, Idaho
Whew! State number 8 and we're crashing for the night! Unfortunately the hotel has terrible WiFi so I can't post any new pictures but hopefully we'll be able to tomorrow! Stay tuned for more updates!
Quick updated!
- Kayla took my stitches out this morning! I was supposed to have them taken out on Friday but Kayla was eager and I was getting so sick of them so we did it today! My thumb did not shoot off so I think I'm ok. We'll see...
- There are few rest stops between Evanston, Wyoming and Montpelier, Idaho. Go when you can or you may end up sprinting into the trails museum and scaring those working there.
- The trails museum does an amazing tour that guides you from packing your trailer and picking out your belongings to a stop along the way. Here we learned about a medicinal concoction mixing opium and whiskey and how to care for our wagon and oxen! Coolest part was the wagon ride simulation!
- Soda Springs is where you can find fresh soda water constantly bubbling out of the ground! It tasted delicious but was an odd site to see. I don't understand how it happens but it was amazing to see!
- I got a call from Anthony saying that my Montana teaching license came in the mail! When I get home I can't wait to start applying for jobs! Horay! He is surviving but hungry for different food than pizza and chicken nuggets. He will be very happy when I get home and I will be very happy to see him!
- We stopped at a brew pub here in Pocatello and sampled about 6 beers. I found a delicious wheat beer and they served pretzels the size of your head! Wonderfully delicious!
Tomorrow begins day 7 of the trail! Wish us luck!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Day 5: Park City, Utah
Day 5 on the trail and today we officially reached over halfway. This morning we woke up at a friend's house in Casper, Wyoming and found it difficult to leave. The bed was soft and warm, the coffee already brewed and ready to drink and plentiful cereal varieties to chose from! It was the perfect night's stay but alas, we had to go on. So Claire, Roy and I (we picked up Roy yesterday in Casper to come along for a bit!) packed up our many bags, suitcases and coolers and headed to the Historic Trails Museum.
Once again, with the military parks pass we all got in free! Another 18 dollars saved! The trails museum was amazing! Each trail (Mormon, Oregon, pony express and California) has its own area dedicated to telling and showing what it was all about. Coolest part was the simulated wagon river crossing! You sit in a wagon and face a movie screen and watch the crossing while the wagon rocks and sways in the water. You even see someone's wagon break and their belongings flow away! We are all 20 something college graduates but we were so into it, I felt like a little kid! Excellent trip made even better by the military pass.
Then we continued on to Independence Rock about an hour drive away. We read that travelers on the trail would try to make it here around the fourth of July to stay on time. It is a GIANT mound of rock in the ground that looks like a turtles back and naturally we had to climb it. It took a while but we found a suitable spot to scale the beast. I was very careful to listen for rattlesnakes on the ascent but it was worth it! Travelers would have picnics on top and we got to see more engravings on top! So cool! I don't know how those ladies scaled that thing in dresses though... I could barely do it in pants! But it was tons of fun and a beautiful view of the Wyoming hills (I call them bluffs but apparently they're not. Maybe that's a Minnesota thing)
Next we headed about 5 miles down the road to Devils gate, this awkward giant slit in the mountain that the river flows through, and the Mormon handcart museum! The highlight of this by far was pulling around replicas of the handcarts and getting a feel for how awful that would have been! This was apparently the cheap alternative, instead of a wagon and oxen, they pulled mini versions of wagons 1,200 miles to salt lake! It was exhausting just pulling it around the parking lot! We took turns pulling each other around and decided we would all die in the wilderness if we had to pull those!
Our next big stop was South Pass about a 2 hour drive from Devil's Gate. This is a relatively flat piece of land about, 20 miles wide between the mountains. Claire told us that before this was discovered they couldn't really bring wagons out because of the mountains! After they found it, westward migration was possible. I was skeptical because it doesn't really look all that pleasant to travel across anyway. Its very hilly and uneven but I guess that beats a mountain! We walked in the actual ruts that the wagons left behind and drove on the actual trail. It was awesome and super beautiful but at 7550 feet up, it was very chilly! We spent a solid half hour just walking the trail and finding cool rocks. I was hoping to find something super cool like a wagon wheel or ox skeleton but rocks will suffice for now... apparently this spot marked just over halfway for the travelers! Good lord!
When we were continuing on, we experienced our first real trail weather. At the false parting of the ways marker we noticed the clouds ahead looked huge and dark and continued on. At this point we had been out of cell service for a solid 6-7 hours so we hadn't looked up weather. As we drove it got darker and more ominous and suddenly it struck! Wind, rain and lightening were intense and it was a little rough but we made it thanks to Roy's driving! We decided to treat ourselves to our Wyoming brewery stop along the way! We stopped at Bitter Creek Brewing Co and enjoyed a Bob! (That's the name of the beer! ) delicious.
We finally headed south to Park City where we are moching for tonight. Getting here through rain and wind, almost hitting 2 deer and almost getting hit by a pack of semi trucks on i80 has exhausted me and I think it's safe to say I hate driving in Utah! But for now we are safe, cozy and enjoying a lovely Murphy bed for the night! Goodnight friends, and back on the trail again tomorrow!
Fun fact- so far we have met two people along our travels ( inn keeper at the bed and breakfast and caretaker of the campsite) that used to be stationed at Malmatrom where Anthony and I are now! Small world!
Tons of pictures to come tomorrow! Horay!
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