To Boise and Home

13 April, Monday – Since the dinner at the Silver Jack Inn was so good, we did breakfast there, too: a fruit smoothie and a “Bum Wrap” consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, salsa, guacamole and green chiles rolled in a tomato-basil tortilla. Excellent. On the way out of town we stopped at the lower visitors center which really wasn’t open (but the ranger let us in to look at a topo map anyway). Once we got on Route 50/6 we could finally see the top of Wheeler Peak which had been hidden by the slightly lower Jeff Davis. We went up and over a couple of ranges until we reached US 93 which pretty much went straight north along a basin into Idaho. We made a stop for groceries in Ely and C.J. mailed her postcards. Gas was $2.199 which seemed high even for the middle of north central Nevada so we went on with a half-tank. We stopped again for gas ($1.999) and a burger in Wells, NV, where our GPS had told us there was no fast food – obviously, it’s time for an update. Instead of intersecting I-84, we turned west short of Twin Falls and took the US 30 byway past “Thousand Springs” before hitting the freeway again and driving on into Boise. After a quick stop for dinner groceries at Costco (gas is now $1.889, up 18 cents from three weeks ago), we checked in to the motel and had dinner. We met Lisa Tate later for dessert at the Willow Creek Grill on S Vista and she cleared up some topics about recent events.

14 April, Tuesday – We got up early and headed west to be sure to avoid any of the bad weather that was heading in. After a gas stop at Costco near Nampa ($1.829), we drove out of Idaho and up the Blue Mountains where we encountered a snow squall. Fortunately, the snow wasn’t sticking and the rest of the day the weather was okay. We stopped for lunch in Hermiston and for gas again in Union Gap – lousy gas mileage against the strong headwind. Just below Snoqualmie Pass C.J. spotted a bear right by the side of the highway (near MP 47); then we spotted a couple of elk grazing on the side of the road just before North Bend – we got our large mammal sighting quota even on a travel day! We arrived home, where it was obvious that it had snowed recently, around 1600.