June 20, 2013

I woke early. I wanted to get started as we need to travel more in the am and eve to help keep Flyers temp down. When I went out to unplug her the ground was crispy with a frost. The mountains rose on all sides of us.

Everyone was nestled deep in their beds as I pulled out of the lot, trying not to disturb the other RV’ers while Flyer warmed up on this cold morning. The entrance to a ranch was my pull off just before the highway. It was picturesque.

I know Montana has not been our friend and don’t tell Sparky, but I do hope to come back here again someday. Right now Sparky and Montana are at odds and he doesn’t have Montana on his “return to that” list.

The sun was shining and the sky was blue. It was as if Montana was bidding us happy trails and releasing us to go on our way, free at last. So I did what Sparky likes to say, I “hit the high road to Chinatown”.

The road was high, we had passed a mile high sometime ago and had continued on up. I wasn’t sure of our altitude but it was nearing 6000 ft.

The countryside was beautiful as I drove south on the lower tip of “Montana’s face” and into Idaho.

As soon as I passed into Idaho the road was lined with motorist warning signs; call to alert of wildfires, call 911 for drunk drivers, transportation of invasive species is illegal, and a few others I don’t recall. I guess they want well educated and proactive drivers.

The plains stretched back from the highway with a row of mountains in the distance on each side.

I saw cowboys on horses bringing in the cattle from the pastures.

Sister Bear was the first to rise and joined me in the front.

Beside the road were jagged black rocks. Looked like the road had been built on top of cracked and charred volcanic earth.

As we drove Idaho turned into lush green pastures. We crossed the Snake River. Farmers worked the field and irrigation systems misted the crops.

In Pocatello, ID we stopped to pick up our wiper motor and then swung over to the garage who’d been waiting for us. He quickly determined our motor wasn’t the right one. I guess not all parts on our 1985 are 1985 parts. Sigh…. He could, however, fix the existing motor because it was a short in the ground connection. Guess we should have checked that out more. He made quick work of it and we were back on the road within a few minutes, free of charge. Thank you, Filmore’s Garage, for getting us on the road quickly.

We returned the incorrect motor before heading over to the Museum of Clean. Don Astett, an eccentric fellow who said he was nearly 80, gave us a personal tour of this interesting museum he built and has poured his life savings and energy into for the last few years. It was both interesting and entertaining.

There were lots of things the kids could do to “clean” and everything “cleaning” related you could think of.

He had vacuums fashioned into all types of animals, characters and racecars.

and he even had the first vacuum cleaner that was in a horse drawn carriage.

His mission is to make cleaning fun for kids as he believes how you clean is how you live. Don, has written over 40 books and we came home with 2 as prizes for answering questions and participating in his tour. I do not think I have ever met anyone with SOOO much energy. I can only hope to have that much get up and go when I’m 80!

A little lunch in the parking lot and we were on our way. Idaho was good to us.

The kids snoozed and we headed into Utah.

Again the mountains rose on both sides of the road. The mountains, while part of the same Rocky Mountain range, seem to have unique characteristics in each state. Very beautiful country to drive through.

A gas stop netted the older kids blue tongues from some heavily colored Slushies while Carboy enjoyed an ice cream sandwich.

As we headed into Salt Lake City we passed the corner of the Salt Lake. To the south 50 or so parachuters ascended from an overlook point down towards the city.

We had planned to visit a museum but our trip to Target and then dinner in the parking lot pushed us too close to closing. Sorry Legoboy, as least we saw the outside of the building….

So we settled for some more ice cream.

When we came out Flyer didn’t want to start. I suggested we tap the starter, like Bob had tried back near Crazy Horse. Sparky didn’t know where that was, but Legoboy always being the observant one he is, knew right here Bo had tapped. He climbed under Flyer to show Sparky. A few taps on the starter and Flyer fired right up. Good job. Legoboy!

The moon was full as we drove further south into Utah. Flyer needed a cool down break when we crested a 6160 ft summit along Rt 15.

We found a parking area and settled in for the night deep in Utah. Tomorrow we’ll push on to Vegas to visit some friends.