Straightaways June 2010 : First Two Days

Please forgive the awful writing. I have a pretty crap cold and my sleep has been not so awesome. Actually, please forgive this introduction as well.

On Saturday, we finally made it to the road at about 11am. Before I knew it, I had covered 695 miles and was in Twin Falls, Idaho at 2am. We made numerous stops, including Winnemucca and Elko, but at least as far as I could see, both towns are pretty broken-down casino towns. Given musician/author Willy Vlautin's storytelling about addiction, it's no wonder Richmond Fontaine named a record Winnemucca. In Twin Falls, we stayed in a Motel 6 for $53. It was pretty clear why it was only $53.

Yesterday was spent riding around Idaho. I only put on about 200 miles all told, but man, what a drive. Arco, Idaho was enough to make the trip a success in itself. At least on the surface, this is the exact type of "American town" I was in search of. The majority of the stores are boarded up and the only active businesses appeared to be the town bar and one or two convenient shops. But what charm. "Craters of the Moon" was stunning and looked almost other-worldly. Hwy. 93 through Hwy. 20 up towards Yellowstone are just gorgeous: huge sprawling hills, snow-capped mountains, all sorts of bizarre nature budding about everywhere. After a stop to play ball with Bennett in a massive gravel lot that, at least according to signage, is the town firehouse, I tossed on Highway 61 Revisited, turned it to near full volume and flew through Southern Idaho.

We made it up to Targhee National Forest and the town of Island Park, Idaho, about 20 miles from Montana and Yellowstone. We spent the night at a beautiful cabin that rests right by a river. And this is where the negotiating skills took hold. I read some reviews and made a few calls and ultimately landed on this spot. One night would be $139. I got it down to $67. We stepped outside at about 11pm last night and the sky was massive. I felt like I was sitting in my high school planetarium, without the distraction of people gunning erasers, Nutter Butters and gum after the lights went out.

Today will be spent in and around Yellowstone. The rest is sort of TBD.