The White Knuckle Day

Day 1 of our drive home was the hairiest, as we suspected it might be. Between weather conditions and road conditions, it was impossible to plan this leg with any certainty. We had snowy, icy, and wet roads, high winds, temperatures that never got above freezing, and a mountain pass we had to get over. Add in to the mix a couple Southerners with very little experience driving on icy roads. The truck got squirrely a few times, and....well, did I mention yesterday’s leg was the hairiest? A seven hour route turned into a ten hour drive.

We left Bozeman and headed west on I90 towards Butte. Some of the scenery is just gorgeous, and I would have loved to have stopped to do some photography, but it wasn’t the day for that. Most everything is cell phone photography taken from the moving truck.

Once we made it through the Homestake Pass and Butte, we turned south on I-15. Here’s some of the scenery we saw as we drove through Montana and Idaho.

Interesting note about this next photo: in 2017, we visited Seth around the time of the total eclipse that year. He picked out an optimal viewing spot, and we drove to somewhere in Idaho to view it. We ended up at a rest area with about a thousand other people, and it was just an awesome unforgettable experience. There was a convenience store right there, and the line for the bathrooms was very long, as you can imagine. But it was a decent sized store with lots of gift items, and the long wait in line gave you plenty of time to look around.

Yesterday we exited off the interstate in a little town...very little town...side of the road, blink and you miss it town called Dubois, Idaho to hit a restroom and get something to drink. We pulled in to the only convenience store, and I texted Seth, and he replied, “That’s where we saw the eclipse.” I took a second look at the store and thought it looked familiar. Could it be? I stepped inside, and yep, same store! The photo below is of the rest area (which is right beside the store) from where we viewed the eclipse. We would never have recognized it had Seth not told us, and what are the odds that we would just happen to exit at the same place?

Oh, on a side note, I did a little shopping at the convenience store—Ike’s 66–and found this cool tea towel.

Idaho seems mostly flat, but I did catch this around Pocatello. Also, look up and learn about Chief Pocatello, a leader of the Northern Shoshone.

we ended up last night in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was so good to pull into our hotel.

We stopped by the Salt Lake Temple because I read that it is decorated at Christmas with nearly a million lights. However, it’s undergoing a tremendous renovation, and the grounds are closed. The lights were still up, and they are quite impressive. No photo of that though.

It’s great to have that first, most difficult leg of the journey behind us. After a good night’s sleep, it’s now onward we go!