Saturday, August 13, 2011

Day 10. The Long Way to Arco. Saturday the 13th.

Arco is only 67 miles from Idaho Falls. So John and I decided to take the long way, 302 miles. We stayed with the theme of riding the Idaho scenic byways.
We left Idaho Falls on I-15 and got off at exit 143. We went west on ID-33 to Mud Lake. Then north on ID-28, the Sacajawea Historic Byway. The road runs up between 2 mountain ranges, and along side a couple of different rivers.
We had lunch at Subway in Salmon, and then gassed up. We followed US-93 out of Salmon. The first section follows along side the Salmon River, and is the Salmon River Scenic Byway. In Challis, US-93 becomes the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway.
We got a room at the D-K motel in Arco.

Day 9. Worland, WY to Idaho Falls, ID August 12

We left the Days Inn around 0945 after doing our laundry and eating breakfast. We headed south towards Thermopolis, home of the worlds largest hot spring.

We continued south from Thermopolis. Hwy 20 runs through the Wind River Canyon. It was kind of a weird optical illusion, but both John and I thought that the road was going down hill, and it looked like the river was running up hill as it flowed north. If it weren't for the GPS telling me that we were gaining altitude, I wouldn't have believed it.

Further up stream is the Boysen Reservoir Dam.

We passed through Shoshoni, over to Morton, and up hwy 26 to Dubois, where we stopped for lunch.

John and a cardboard cut out of Gene Autry, his hero.

We turned left at Moran Junction, and headed for the Grand Tetons.
My favorite pic so far.....

We rode through Jackson, then west on WY-22, over the Teton pass and into Idaho.

Near the Teton Pass.

We spent the night at the Motel 6 in Idaho Falls.
We were thinking of trying to make the coast, but we only have until the 20th. We have changed our plans and will most likely be spending the next few days exploring the many scenic byways in Idaho.