Days 1-7 May 10-16: Road Trip to New England

As we enter the year 2022, we are anxious to return to seeing America. After two (Covid) years, we are embarking on a Road Trip to New England. We have each, separately, been to Boston, but we have not experienced much of the region beyond that fair city and we have not been there together. We have planned a 41 day trip: 7 days to get there, 26 to enjoy the region, and 8 to get home. This first post covers the first 7 days.

We've have previously driven much of this trip, so aren't looking forward to much sightseeing beyond what we can do from our auto. The first two days has us driving on I-84 from it's beginning in Portland, OR to its junction with I-80 in western Wyoming. We leave in the morning on May 10.

The drive is fairly easy as we fly past Multnomah Falls, then the Maryhill Museum on the opposite side of the Columbia River. We cruise along to Pendleton and head to the downtown area. Our first choice for lunch is no longer in business. We figured out during planning that this would happen. This is the first place picked from an iPhone search. Out-of-Business, we are Batting 1,000!

No problem, actually, as there are a number of other places within a couple of blocks. We settle on Sisters Cafe where Amy has the Greek Salad and Wayne has the Southwest Panini. Both are good. After a pleasant break, we get back in the car and head into the Blue Mountains. 

We stop for gasoline in La Grande, OR. What a surprise! This is Oregon and we get to pump our own gas as there are two people working the station & mini-mart and one is on break. (The other one working can't leave the register.) I remember how to do it from continued practice at Costco #1 in Seattle and we are soon back on I-84 heading southeast. The weather is cool and a bit windy, there's a bit of a storm off to our west:

Blue Mountains near Baker City

We cross the Idaho border and traffic begins to get heavy as we approach Boise. After the airport, the traffic returns to slight and we continue on for another 120 miles, ending at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Twin Falls. We have planned for this to be our longest day of the trip east. We have driven 564 miles. We are pretty tired, but also hungry.

We check out the Hotel's recommended restaurants and find Elevation 486 close by. We consider a couple of other options, but this closest one wins and we drive a short mile to the edge of the Snake River Gorge. Check out the web site elevation486.com and you are greeted with a great video shot from drone over the gorge. We didn't ask, but the name elevation486 probably indicates how many feet the restaurant is above the floor of the gorge. We have a great view of the Perrine Memorial Bridge:

The Perrine Memorial Bridge

We also have a great dinner: Amy enjoys a "Goose in a Pear Tree", Wayne has a "Man-fashioned Old-hattan". (Or was it the other way-round?) Amy has a salad, Wayne has the Tomato Bisque Soup and we share the 12oz portion of Prime Rib. Sides of vegetables and garlic mashed potato round out the meal. It's all delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed the decor; note the fishing reels behind Amy.

Elevation 486 in Twin Falls, ID

We head back to the hotel and get a good night's rest.

We awaken in the new time zone and get back onto I-84. Uneventfully, we cross into Utah and pass Tremonton, where we stayed on our Arizona/New Mexico RT in 2017. We have fond memories of Promontory Point and the Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake. We continue south into Ogden and stop to buy some sandwiches for a picnic. Our eating destination is the first rest stop on I-80 that we join as soon as we leave Utah. Oops, the rest stop is closed! We continue another 8 miles hoping to find a decent place in Evanston, WY. We follow the signs to the River Walk, but find another sign to the Bear Park Nature Way just a block away. It suits us just fine! Picnic enjoyed, we take a walk around the Nature Park (partly along the Bear River). This is an area reclaimed from ice ponds that were used in the early years of the 20th century to farm ice. Large artificial ponds were built. In late winter/early spring ice was sawed off from the ponds and stored in nearby ice houses. Throughout the rest of the year, ice was transferred from these houses by rail to cities for distribution. Fascinating.

We finish our walk and get back in the car to continue 65 miles to Little America. Both of us visited this place on road trips with our families 50 or 60 years ago. How it has changed. Mostly, it seems much smaller; we remember more and larger shops for souvenirs. I don't remember a big hotel, but there is one there now. The biggest change, however, is that trees that were planted here years ago have grown into a mature forest. Seems out of place, but is so welcome.

We patronize Little America by getting a full tank of gasoline and note that premium is averaging about $5/gal so far. We also purchase some soft-serve cones for today's treat. Amy drives the rest of the way into Rawlins, WY. When we stop, it is actually warm as we check into the Fairfield Inn. Dinner tonight is a short drive back west to Rose's Lariat, established in 1954 and ranked as the best Mexican restaurant in Wyoming. Only disappointment: it is completely dry, alcohol-wise, so we both have Iced Teas with our Enchiladas (Wayne) and Fajitas (Amy). Very tasty.

After another nice night's rest, we climb back into the X3 and continue east. It is cooler than last night and a bit windy. There are many signs warning us of gusts up to 50 MPH that will continue until midnight. Perhaps today is a good day to drive at a more modest 75 or 70?

Other than being blown around a bit, the drive through southern Wyoming is peaceful and serene. After about 110 miles, we arrive at I-80's highest point, Summit Pass. There is a wonderful rest area here. We learn that before the Interstate highway system was built, in the late 1930's, the original auto route we are on was built and named The Lincoln Highway.

Summit Rest Area Wyoming

Roadside of I-80 West of the Summit 

View East from Summit Pass

This is the 2nd auto road, after Route 66, to be built across the continent. This one was built to connect Times Square to the Golden Gate Bridge. (Route 66 only went from Chicago.) As I-80, this road was improved in the 1950's, with the highest elevation a couple of hundred feet below the earlier version. They actually moved the Lincoln Statue from the Old Pass to the new one.

We continue on, with the wind picking up a bit. The next stop for us is Sadie's Café in Pine Bluffs, WY, the easternmost town on I-80 in this state. After a nice lunch of Roast Chicken Salad for Amy and French Dip for Wayne, we decide to spend the next hour travelling east on Hwy 30, the original Lincoln Highway. It is quite peaceful. There are very few cars or trucks to contend with on this road. We do get some thundershowers and some heavy rain. We continue into Sidney, where we plan on rejoining I-80 after getting more gasoline. Uh-Oh, the service stations in town (all 4 or 5 of them) offer regular unleaded and Octane 88. Our X3 requires 91, so we can't use any of the in-town service stations. Happily, the two big stations near I-80 provide the premium blend. We gas up and continue east.

The wind has really picked up and lots of the Semi-Rigs are parked (we suppose) to avoid being blown over. We continue past the junction with I-76, which we took west from New Jersey back in 2019, and arrive in North Platte, Nebraska. The scenery is most unwelcoming as the high winds are blowing dust everywhere. Low visibility convinces us to eat dinner at the Ruby Tuesday we can walk to from our lodging, another Fairfield Inn & Suites. Amy has the 6 oz. sirloin and Wayne has the Baby Back Ribs. Both are very tasty and filling. Stuffed, we walk back to the hotel looking forward to another moderate distance driving tomorrow.

After coming down from the mountains, we have moderate hills the rest of the way to New Jersey. The drive from North Platte to West Des Moines is uneventful. The most exciting portion of this day's trip is crossing the Missouri, but there isn't a good view to take pictures. After checking into our Fairfield Inn, we cross the street to dine at the Marriott Hotel. Delicious: Wings, Beet Salad and a Mushroom Flatbread. 

Uneventful holds true as we next drive from West Des Moines to Elkhart, IN. Crossing the Mighty Mississippi provides no scenic stops. After a forgettable dinner in Elkhart, we enjoy a night's rest and then we drive on toll roads (no stops apart from Travel Plazas!) to end the day in DuBois, PA. There is a nice joint next to our hotel which we can walk to and enjoy the Classic 101 Burger (Amy) and the Caprese Ravioli (Wayne).

Our next day takes us into Warren, NJ (after a brief stop at the Outlets in Tannersville) where we unwind and then enjoy a lovely evening with Lennie. We have now driven 2,954 miles in 7 days. We are tired from the driving, but looking forward to finally being in New England tomorrow.