Road Trip - Day 12 - Ogden to Boise
6:09 a.m. 48 degrees. Chilly
Neither of us had a good night’s sleep. Just after we dropped off to sleep we were woken up by a thunderous knocking at the door. Tom got up to investigate. He didn’t open the door but looked through the curtain. There was nobody there. It was probably somebody knocking on the door to the room next to us. It is always difficult to get back to sleep after you have been woken up like that. Then I became aware of the freight trains passing nearby. Long rambling trains which blew their whistles constantly. On top of all that the bottom sheet on the bed was not quite big enough to be tucked in so it was all messed up. Oh, how I miss our own bed.
[Click on the image for a larger version]
It was really dark when we left and rush hour was under way. We got onto I15 going north and stopped at Willard Bay for breakfast. Afterwards we went down to the shore of the Great Salt Lake. By this time it was light so I got my first real glimpse of the lake, although Willard Bay is separated from the main lake by a breakwater. Nobody was around and we did not even get out of the car.
We found our way back to the freeway and continued north west, taking I84 at Tremonton. At junction 26 we turned left onto Highway 83 and headed towards two sites of interest. The first was the ATK Rocket Display. ATK manufactures the solid fuel for rockets and the Shuttle. On display they have various sections of rockets and missiles. ATK is a huge site in the middle of farmland at the north end of the Great Salt Lake. There was an information board there saying that nearby are two of the main overland routes the early settlers took; to the south is the California route and to the north is the Oregon trail.
We continued on the same road to the next destination - the Golden Spike National Historic Site. Once again we were able to use our National Parks pass. We arrived just at 9 as they opened and were their first visitors of the day. It was at this site the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad met and two golden and two silver spikes were placed there to mark the spot. The original spikes are on display at Stanford University in California.
We had a look round the museum then saw a 25 minute film. Then we went outside. Every day at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. they re-enact the two trains meeting and the placing of the spikes. We watched the first engine come down the track, blowing its whistle. At 10.30 a.m. the second engine arrived and the two engines faced each other. A ranger gave a good commentary. The trains are true replicas of the two engines which took park at that historic event on May 10, 1869. We spent two and half hours there and took lots of photos.
Back to our journey. At 12 we left Utah behind and entered Idaho. Now I have heard people say that Idaho is boring but so far I disagree. We passed a lot of farms and I finally found the answer to a question which has puzzled me every time I fly to and from the UK - what forms those perfect green circles which seem to be so prevalent in the northern states of the US? Now I expect most of you already know the answer but I only found out today. They are made by huge irrigation machines which turn at a pivot in the middle and rotate very slowly.
We arrive in Boise at 3:00pm. No accommodation booked so checked out the AAA Idaho Tour Book. The Best Western near downtown sounded the best so we made for it. When we arrived though it was not a Best Western but we checked it out anyway. It was called the Safari Motor Inn. We had a really warm welcome from the two ladies in reception and they did have a room available so we booked it. After a quick shower and change of clothes we walked into town, which was just a short walk away. We were armed with a map given to us at reception with all the good restaurants marked. There was a free music festival going on and it looked a lot of fun but a bit too noisy for us. We were very impressed with the downtown area and found quite a few possible places to eat but we chose Pair Restaurant on West Main Street. Once again we got a warm welcome and had a wonderful meal there. We walked back a different way to the motel and found a nice breakfast place for tomorrow morning.
Lets hope we get a better night’s sleep than yesterday.
October 07 2007 03:32 am | Further Afield
