May 11, Southwest Road Trip Day 2

Well rested, Amy rose early, as usual, and headed out for a run. After running on the downtown streets of Baker City, she found a well maintained path along the Powder River that was quite nice. We decided to skip breakfast, since we ate so much yesterday, packed the X3, found a Starbuck's in a grocery store, and hit the road.

While yesterday seemed to be a steady transition from dense city to suburbs in dense forest, to less and less dense forest, today seemed to complete that transition. We started in a high desert with many trees as we crossed the last bit of NE Oregon. But trees became more scarce in the Treasure Valley of Idaho and became rare by the time we entered Utah. Having few trees means the surrounding mountains are easier to see. Most of today's ride had great vistas to enjoy.

A few hours into the ride, we took a break to eat our box lunches purchased from last night's hotel. The sandwiches were good, but they really dried out quickly in the high desert air. Back on the road, we continued Eastward along the Snake River and were passing Twin Falls, Idaho when we saw a sign for Shoshone Falls. No reason not to, so we got off the interstate to have a look. Fifteen minutes later we were in the park looking down on the easternmost of the Twin Falls.

Shoshone Falls

This gorge is spectacular. Yes, this is the portion of the Snake that Evel Knievel tried to cross in his rocket-ship motorcycle (launch site just a mile or two west of here).

Snake River Gorge looking West from Shoshone Falls

A little farther west from the launch site is Pillar Falls, the westernmost of the Twin Falls. The geology of this area is pretty incredible. You look out from the interstate and mostly it seems to be just even or gently rolling grasslands. But you get close enough to the Snake and the gorge appears with a several hundred foot drop to the water and a great distance to cross the chasm.

After enjoying Shoshone Falls Park, we got back onto the road, finished our drive into Utah and found Tremonton, where we checked into the Hampton Inn. We then popped over to buy some food at a grocery. We had a quick dip in the pool, which has an expansive view of the mountains to the west, went back to our room for dinner and relaxation. It's really feeling like vacation now.

We travelled another 406 miles today and are a bit over half way to our first Arizona site, Lake Powell. On this trip, we are focussing on Arizona and New Mexico. We will only see a couple of the notable Utah sites as we traverse farther south. We are really enjoying the variety of scenery. This is beautiful country.