March 12-13, 2015
After our drive up through beautiful northern Arizona we had the entire state of Utah to get through. We could have opted to cut over to I15 from Kanab and blast up the interstate. But we enjoy driving the old US highways so we decided to continue on US 89 which runs north just east of the interstate.
It was a beautiful (have I overused that word?) drive through little towns with views of farms and mountains as we paralleled the Sevier River. Um, too bad I didn’t get any pictures.
Our destination that night was Burley, Idaho. We’ve never really seen the town but it was far enough into Idaho to allow for a short drive to Boise the next day. Before heading to the hotel we drove into the old part of town. Carla walked around while I hung out near the railroad tracks hoping to get a picture of a passing train – no luck. We were pretty tired after the long drive so we settled for dinner at the diner next to the restaurant.
The next morning we spent an hour or so walking along a path on the Snake River. It was windy and cool but not unpleasant. We walked down one side of the river and then crossed over a bridge to try the other side
The view was very nice. While there is an abundance of farm land in the valley, a large mountain range southwest of town.
Pro Tip: Always carry that extra camera battery you have, but more importantly, make sure your spare battery has a charge. I guess that isn’t a pro tip since A) I’m not a professional, and B) I totally didn’t follow this basic advice. Aaargh. I took the rest of these pictures with my iPhone. The iPhone does a nice job of processing jpegs, but you can’t do much cropping or other touchup without getting a grainy photo.
We came across a little covered bridge across a creek near the river.
If you want to take this walk you can park at the public area near the golf course and hit the trail.
We checked out of our hotel and hit the road. Around lunch time we checked Yelp to see what was available; there aren’t many towns or cities out here in eastern Idaho. But we did find a reference to Hanson’s Motel Cafe in Glenns Ferry and thought we’d give it try. We drove by it and wondered “really?”; but we are almost always up for an adventure so we tried it out. Totally glad we did. This is small town USA.
There were two groups in booths and a lone dire at the counter and everyone obviously knew one another talking back and forth across the restaurant. The iced tea was very good as was my BLT and Carla’s salad. This place has been around for a while; check out the worn areas on the counter top where thousands of plates have been set down on the formica over the years.
We got into Boise in early afternoon and spent some time with Tom and Nancy with whom we usually stay (thank you so much for your hospitality). Boise is about 30 miles from where I went to the College of Idaho. As a result there are plenty of old friends to visit. In addition my buddies Dudley, Tim, and Brad came in from California, Colorado, and Massachusetts respectively. Butch threw a party and we had a great time. I had a really, really embarrassing moment: a guy comes in and I introduce myself; he tells me his name, Dick, and my jaw drops: it’s my sophomore year roommate! I haven’t seen him in over 35 years – but still I ought to have recognized him. Gad! We had a great discussion where I learned a bit about the plasma theory of relativity (I think).
I’m terrible, awful, and horrendous at photographing people. Not my thing at all. Two of the people in my immediate family detest having their pictures taken so I just don’t normally point my camera at people. But I did this night. These are my buds! I love getting over to Boise to have a hang. Thanks Butch.
If you know these folks, you know who they are; if you don’t you probably don’t care – so I won’t bore you with names.
The next morning we had breakfast with Tom and Nance then headed home. We hit some heavy rain in the Columbia Gorge, which happens, but it was a pleasant drive overall. As much fun as we had it was fun to be home after traveling over 3,500 miles in less than two weeks.
