September 17 - Martins Cove

 I had a restful night at Martin’s Cove. Next morning, I went to see the exhibits. There weren’t very many people there.  The missionaries, who serve as guides, were very good. They had all the information memorized.  However, I have found I do better just to read the exhibits and go slow by myself. I felt rushed, as though too much was being given to me at once.  Maybe because I’m tired, but it was just overwhelming.  I saw the visitor center. It was very well done and they had a nice movie that made you sad when you realize all the struggles that those emigrants endured. 

Then, there was a small museum.  It was locked  and one of the guides had a key.  She opened the door and led me through the museum, talking constantly, and again it felt rushed, like too much information all at once. I would really have enjoyed to just look at the exhibits and take my time reading the information on each one. 

At that point, my head was too full to take anymore and so I decided to leave. I only had a little over a quarter of a tank of gas so I made it for Rawlins. I filled my tank and started driving. The wind was so strong, it constantly buffeted the car and made it very difficult for driving.  And then, just as I cross the border into Nebraska, a big dust storm came up. I found a Denny’s at town, called Sydney and treated myself to a steak. After that, I went to the gas station and hunkered down in the van  

I woke up this morning about 3 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep.  That’s my usual get up time so I went in and got a shower.  Usually showers cost around $12-$17 but the lady was so nice and gave it to me for free! I drove for about an hour, then pulled over and slept for two more hours.  That seems to be my mode of operation these days

I just stopped for a Cinnabon and I’ll drive as far as I can today. It’s about 6 1/2 hours to Vonda’s house and I’m not sure I can go that far but it’s still early so who knows  

By far the way, the moon was gorgeous last night.

The Moon

Cozy in my van

The Sun in Duststorm

Feeling Exhausted

I woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep so I finally started the car and drove away. I was headed toward South Pass City  

By the time I had driven for an hour, I was feeling sleepy so I pulled into a rest. Stop and slept for an hour.

On my way, I just happened to pass a sign for Fossil Butte National Monument. I actually drove past the turn off, thought about it and turned around. It was only 2 1/2 miles into the visitor center, so I took a chance and they were open  What a great place to visit! The Ranger there was just chock full of information. They had so many fossils on display, and I was shocked to find out that that whole area had been a The Ranger there was just chock full of information. They had so many fossils on display and I was shocked to find out that that whole area had been a gigantic colossal monster lake Long before humans set foot here.

 ( I realize that this is making a lot of mistakes with spelling and punctuation because I’m talking to my phone and my phone is just stupid. I will correct all this and once I get home.)

I spent about an hour and a half here and then I headed it on up the road  I have to say I am “over” Wyoming  I don’t know who would want to live here. I felt like I drove for three weeks and didn’t see a soul   Luckily, I did pass a gas station and had the presence of mine to fill up, even though I still had half a tank because I didn’t see another gas station the rest of the day  

Turn off to Southpass city was on a gravel road that was like a washboard  I was really concerned about my van  I finally made it there and paid the eight dollar fee  It’s basically a mining that has been abandoned and they fixed up the buildings  You can’t actually walk into the buildings  You walk into a viewing area and there is glass, unfortunately, dirty glass, and you look through to see what the buildings would’ve looked like when people occupied them  It could be a really cool place but I think they need the money to fix it up  

ACK!  My photos all loaded at the top of the page. I’m sorry I will fix this when I get home hello.

I was exhausted and ready to quit for the day, but there was no place to camp  I still had two hours to get to and I decided to go for it  just as I turned the last corner to go to Martin’s Cove, there was a big four car accident that kind of shook me up

I had dinner and settled in  I’ll get a good nights sleep tonight. See how I feel tomorrow.  I’m actually feeling like I bit off more than I can chew. I think I forgot I was 72 and maybe I thought I was 32 again. All this driving is making me tired and I’ll tell you I’ve seen more of Wyoming than I ever want to see. I’m thinking about changing my trip and just bee-lining down to Georgia to Rob‘s house  

More later

Happy trails!

Love, Annie

September 14 Lava Hot Springs

 

I drove to the Winidoka historical site, but they were closed so I headed onto Lava Hot Springs. I plan on spending two nights here, but their prices have gone up and I didn’t want to spend $180 to camp out two nights.  Plus, tomorrow’s drive is over five hours so this way, I think I can break it up into two days. 

I stayed at Lava Hot Springs a year ago, April. At that time I stayed in the hotel.  There weren’t many people here at all. This time it is packed.  Lots of young people having fun!

I spent a nice hour or two at the pool this afternoon.  I may go early in the morning, depending on how I feel.  If you haven’t been here before it’s worth a visit. 

Choate’s Diner - Jerome, Idaho

I woke up early this morning and decided it was time to go get breakfast somewhere. I’m on my way to see the Minidoka internment center and I stopped for a block of ice.  On the way to Minidoka, I passed this cute little diner on the left, and biscuits and gravy were on the menu

Friday the 13th - Hagerman, Idaho

I slept at Love's last night and had a restful night once I remembered to put in my earplugs. I woke up about 3 am and made it to a pretty rest stop up the highway, where I took a bath, had breakfast, and did my exercises. 

I still wasn't sure where I'd sleep tonight. I had made a reservation at the Elk's in Boise, but was less than 2 hours away and I knew I wanted to drive farther. 

Just before Boise, I saw a sign for the World Center for Birds of Prey, and I perked up. What some of you may not know about me is that when I was younger, I worked at Cal State Bakersfield rehabbing raptors. I often took hawks, falcons and owls home and my sons have fond memories of those days. 

At any rate, I didn't know this place existed, so I made a quick right at the sign and after about 5 miles off the freeway, I ended up on top of a hill at their parking lot. They opened at 10 am and it was 10:20, so I missed the big "flight" exhibition they were putting on - but that's ok. I've seen plenty of falcons fly. 

Admission was $12 - I thought that was a bit steep with no senior discount. But I paid it. After all, it was for the birds and in the end, it was a pretty cool stop.

One of the things I was excited about was seeing 3 Condors. 

When I was about 15, I drove my great grandmothers '55 Buick to Pismo Beach for the day from my Grandma Mary's home in Nipomo, California. Back then, my grandparents let me drive everywhere without a license. In fact, I began driving myself to work at the packing house at age 13.  Anyway, on the way home, it was just getting dark and I was driving through Eucalyptus forest on a very narrow two-lane road. I came around a bend, and there in the middle of the road was a GIANT bird!  UGLY bird! Looked like something from out of Land of the Lost!

As I inched up to the bird, it refused to move. It was eating a rabbit, and would look up at me, but continued eating. Its wings went all the way from one side of the road to the other. I got closer and flashed my lights. It looked up then continued eating. I honked the horn. It continued eating. I inched closer and closer, honking and flashing my lights until FINALLY, the danged thing decided to give in. 

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Those wings literally made that big old car shake as it took off, and I sat for another minute in awe.

When I got home, I was so excited. I told my grandmother and great-grandmother what I saw and they just LAUGHED AND LAUGHED! They did not believe a word of it!

Years later, at a zoo, I saw a California Condor. 
Only then, I realized how lucky I was to have seen it in the wild. 

And seeing these today brought back that old memory.

I stayed about 2 hours. It was worth the $12.  Then I hit the road and planned on sleeping at the Bliss Rest Stop. But holy heck! What a nasty place that turned out to be!  I smelled it the minute I got out of the car. The glass was dirty, the floors were dirty, the toilets were gross. I was afraid to touch anything. So I got in the car and drove to the next Loves. For those who don't know, many of them have RV parks with hookups and they will also allow car camping for one night.  I filled up the car with gas, because tomorrow I'll be heading off the highway to go to Lava Hot Springs. 

It was only 2:30 pm so I decided to take a drive to Hagerman along the scenic route. What a pretty drive it turned out to be! I found this really gorgeous rest stop. I may or may not sleep here. Depends on if anyone else shows up. I'm a little more cautious these days and right now, the only other person here is a trucker - I may just hang here until dusk, then head back to Loves.

I guess that's it. Dinner tonight was a Caesar Salad and a bologna sandwich. 

More tomorrow.

Happy Trails!

Love,

Annie

Baker City, Oregon

 I visited the Baker city Oregon Trail Interpretive Center today. It was really interesting . I had my America the Beautiful pass and so I got in free.  I spent about two hours there and enjoyed myself very much.  They have walking trails so if you get there early, you can walk.  Unfortunately, I didn’t arrive until 2:30 PM.  

The center is about 5 miles out of Baker city but it’s an easy and pretty drive.  If you’d like to camp nearby there there’s a place right across the road where it’s legal to park and camp.  I’m being a little more cautious this trip and so I am sleeping at Loves in Baker City. I also need a shower in the morning and they are $18 here which seems high but I need it  The lady that works here was very nice and pointed me across the street for groceries.  The same bag of chips that was seven dollars and change at Loves was $2.99 across the street.

I tried my new Travelisimo to heat my breakfast this morning. You put food in it and then plug it into your Cigarette lighter and it heats it while you drive. Worked great! The freeze dried eggs were “OK“ but they were a little spongy.  The flavor was good, however, and it will be interesting to try the other meals that I prepared.  I finally found blocks of ice for my cooler so I bought milk and yogurt so I can also have cereal in the mornings.

Tomorrow, I head toward Boise.  I have reservations at the Elks club there, but I’m a day early so we’ll see if they’ll let me stay.  It is not a very long drive so I may choose to go further. Maybe they’ll let me stay three nights at Martin’s Cove  

That’s all for now.  Going to eat my bologna sandwich and read the new book that I picked up  

Happy trails!  

Love, Annie