End of the trail

Two posts in two days!

Today was our last day on the UTBDR. We took it easy this morning after waking early from traffic noise. An extra long Dodge van had turned up in the night next door to us and as the morning progressed, 6 children between the ages of 2 and 12 and their youngish parents emerged. (More proof that a giant RV is completely unnecessary!) They definitely provided some entertainment as we breakfasted and started measuring up the Jeep and brainstorming solar panel ideas. The father was Captain of the ship and the oldest daughter co-captain while the mother acted the grumpy, self-absorbed, nicotine fueled Queen.

We eventually got on the road and quickly put 40 miles of tarmac through hills and fields behind us before we hit the dirt roads heading north through the Cache National Forest. Lots of quad bikes were out, some for fun and some from the surrounding ranches we were driving through. Saw lots of cows and at one point a huge herd of sheep and lambs in a little hollow with three RV trailers and two white dogs, who completely blended in, guarding them. There were several great views along the way and we traveled through some of our favorite terrain - pine and aspen woods with little flower strewn meadows and left over snow in between. Eventually we hit the highway again and our map indicated the route went underneath, through a tunnel which we quickly discovered may have been impassable with four foot high snow mounds inside! We knew we were coming to the end and my darling husband was not going to let a pile of snow stand in his way! Amazingly he, and the power of the Jeep, piloted us safely through and out onto the trail on the other side. We crested a few hills and finally came upon the awaited view of beautiful Bear Lake which signified the end of the route.

Bear Lake

We headed in to the town of Garden City for a celebratory lunch at La Beau's Drive In, including a famous raspberry shake (Bear Lake is known for it's raspberries apparently). Four miles further and we crossed the state line into Idaho. From the Arizona border traversing 800+ miles of dirt, dust, rocks, mud, desert, mountains and downed trees, we had finally made it to the northern border, in a very beautiful place at that. Gorgeous green hills, mountains, and potato fields, huge blue lake, and to top it all off, we were now on the Oregon Trail Scenic Byway ;)

Crossing the border

It's now time to start heading in a north westerly direction towards Washington for our next scheduled event. We have so far made it to Massacre Rocks State Park near American Falls, on the Snake River, a pretty place steeped in history which I hope to learn more about soon. It's hot (91F/33C) and windy but we found a sheltered spot and it's supposed to drop down to 50F/10C tonight. Should be a lovely night.