I got up feeling a little better this morning and I am glad. I woke up about 1:30 in the morning feeling bad, but I fell back asleep and slept through until morning. I decided to get on down the road after a little breakfast.

Admittedly, I was not looking forward to today’s drive. The drive across eastern Utah and through Salt Lake City is not one I really like to take. I do have to say that it wasn’t horrible today. The traffic was not too bad and there was no construction.

It was pretty cold, plus there was an inversion so a thick brown cloud hung over the whole valley up against the mountains the entire drive along the I-15 corridor. It was still extremely dry the whole way and there was very little snow along the way, even on the higher peaks, and the mountains behind SLC were bare.

I did see this interesting trailer along the way:

I took the exit to get on I-84 to head NW into Idaho. I believe I have never been on part of this between the I-15 junction and Twin Falls before now. It is pretty desolate so you better make sure you fill up the gas tank and have anything you need for emergencies; at least there was cell service in case you needed to call someone. There is some fuel and food along the way, but not much and it is far between. Otherwise, it was miles and miles of miles and miles.

I ran into a brief snow shower of just a few small flakes for about five miles. I was hoping to get to Oregon tonight but the snow had me a bit spooked and I decided to call it a day. When I checked into rooms in Boise they were pretty sold out and what was open was expensive. I ended up in a small chain hotel, the Mountain Home Inn, in Mountain Home, ID. It was reasonable and got great reviews (I usually look at those closely). It is a clean, older hotel with friendly staff; a great deal for the money so they deserve a shoutout.

It has sure been different not towing the trailer. Gas mileage is the biggie, obviously, but what isn’t spent on fuel & camping is just spent on hotels and groceries. I have noticed a surprising amount of campgrounds being open year-round, and I have also noticed many have full-time residents. I guess it is becoming the new norm. I wish I could have towed my trailer with me but I needed to make time and not have to worry about towing it in a blizzard. I feel a little more at ease staying in it instead of a hotel these days but it was a matter of safety on the roads.

That is about it for today. I think it’s going to be an early bedtime so I can hopefully get up and get moving earlier tomorrow. I have usually been on the road by 08:00, but today I took my time to make sure I felt okay and left at 09:00.