10. Idaho

Day 32: Wednesday, August 21

Slept very well, didn't get out of the sleeping bag until 7:30 AM, after the furnace had brought the cabin temperature from 58F to 65F. Nighttime low outside the van was 41F.

Was back on the Central Oregon Highway (US 20/SR 201) by 10:00 AM. The scenery started to change after about an hour. The buttes started crowding the road, and the road was accompanied by the Malheur River through canyons that were reasonably scenic but not worth photographing. After what seemed like an eternity I crossed into Idaho at Payette, and it got a bit more interesting on US 95 north. Mostly hilly ranchland, and every ranch seems to have a "For Sale" sign posted on the gate.

The scenery started to be "scenic" after I got to New Meadows and picked up SR 55 south, going past the Brundage Mountain Ski Area and Payette Lake. After a while made it to Cascade.

Pulled into the Arrowhead RV Park and secured a full hook-up site (including sewer and TV) for $22.47. Spent most of the remaining afternoon planning the routes for the next two days, and trying to get Yahoo to stop bouncing my messages. Adjusted the clocks to Mountain Time, grilled a couple of hot dogs for dinner (followed by my preferred fruit salad of a banana, 1/2 a pound of strawberries, and a peach.)

Drove 270 miles, was on the road for 5 hours.

Day 33: Thursday, August 22

Slept until 7:30 AM. Nighttime temperature was 39F and it took some time for the cabin to warm up enough for me to get out of the sleeping bag. A fairly good shower, leisurely breakfast, uploading and downloading of e-mail - didn't hit the road until 10:15 AM.

SR 55 got quite scenic as it followed the South Fork of the Payette River through the Boise National Forest.

Turned east at Banks to take the Banks-Lowman road to connect with SR 21 (The Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway) north, a beautiful road that follows the South Fork of the Payette River and loops around the Sawtooth Range - spectacular.

The Sawtooth Scenic Byway, SR 75 south from Stanley, provided good vistas on the way up to the Galena summit (8,701')

but got to be a string of construction sites from Ketchum to Hailey and the connection with US 20.

US 20 to Arco, my destination for the day, is a bit boring -- except for the Craters of the Moon National Monument area. The monument offers a 7 mile loop road, which is definitely worth taking. Couldn't get good photos because everything is sort of lava black.

The white spots you see are small bushes.

At Arco I settled in at the very nice Mountain View RV Park, where $17.10 got me a level gravel site with picnic table, water, electricity, and sewer. Drove 290 miles today and was on the road for 6 1/2 hours. Bought gasoline at $1.639 and got 17.7 mpg on the last tank. Temperatures ranged from 39F during last night to the low seventies during the day. Grilled a filet for dinner and ate at the picnic table, watching the sunset.

Day 34: Friday, August 23, part 1

Slept until 7:30 AM. Temperature only dropped to 57F. Clean bathhouse, OK showers. Was on the road by 9:15 Am. 65F, hazy sunshine. An extremely boring drive through the desert on US 20 and SR 33 to Rexburg, then US 20 to West Yellowstone. Some scenic vistas as the road crossed plateaus and skirted calderas in the Targhee National Forest.

Crossed into Montana for the brief drive to the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Bought gasoline in Montana at $1.689 and averaged 18 mpg on the last tank.

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