Move to Oregon Day 5

Caution: Rattlesnakes May Be Present

Let’s see, we woke up from the first decent night of sleep in a while- Little Baby Tom Tom was actually quiet for most of the night for once. Of course, we still had to move the bed to get at him when it was kennel time. Double-dosed The Luce Goose, but apparently she has been building a tolerance. A few days ago, it would have knocked her out completely for a few hours at least. Coffee and the biggest donuts from a drive-up coffee shop-- shop local—then back on the I-80 where we’ve been since, well, since we left Chicago.

The rest of Wyoming was just as pretty, but very remote. The occasional ranch, plant (we passed a big power plant that was working so hard the building was nearly invisible from its own white smoke which trailed off and looked a lot like a white version of the smoke monster in Lost), or rest stop/ weigh station there was not much to speak of. There were a few stretches that warned of high winds and quite a few wind turbines and long stretches of power lines. We did stop at one rest stop and were quite amused to see this sign:

We had Taco Time (anytime is a good time for tacos) in Rock Springs and we made one last stop in Evenston, Wyo for fuel before crossing into Utah. Matt’s Dad- generous man that he is- gave us a credit card for Shell and he’s picking up the tab. He also gave us a gift card that is paying for the hotels and some food. Thanks, Jerry! There was no Shell here and come to find out no Shell gas between Rawlins, Wyo (208 miles behind us) until 12 miles from Twin Falls, ID (223 miles down the road) along the I-80 and 84. What’s up Shell?! This is no bueno. [...]

No offense to friends who love Utah, but the section we drove was ugly except the first part with neat rock formations and windy passes through them. (see second photo) We passed tiny “towns” with nary a store but collections of houses. A few of them had one very large house higher up on the hillside seeming to preside over the rest of the residents. It reminded me of the cats when they are visiting someone else with cats and fighting for dominance- whoever has the highest elevation in the room wins out. We passed through Utah without even stepping foot in it- we just drove a corner so it wasn’t very long.

Made it to the next Shell station just as the gas light came on (I think this is the third time this has happened since leaving VA). Twin Falls is quaint, I guess- hard to tell at night. We did have delicious burgers and pints at River Rock Grill. I’m certain we were the only guests in the whole place, but I suppose that isn’t too odd for a smaller town on a Monday night. 

Southern Idaho sunset