Two days, Four states, Three tanks of gas

The only drama so far happened before we even started: in the course of a complicated series of shuttle rides I dropped my glasses in the dirt next to Mary’s driveway, and at first didn’t realize they were missing. We managed to go back and retrieve them — but by then they had suffered the indignity of being driven over by a repair truck. They are a little bent and scratched up, but miraculously still serviceable.

So about an hour behind schedule, we met Lindi and her trusty Subaru at the Lafayette BART station and actually began our adventure.

Day One took us through California, and across Nevada. We stopped for a lovely picnic lunch next to Donner Lake, then got back on the road. We hadn’t thought there would be much to see in the Nevada desert, but the colors and the sky were gorgeous.

We let out a cheer as we crossed into Idaho at sundown— three states in one day! Our early delays meant the initial plan to stay in Burley would get us in pretty late, so we stayed instead in Twin Falls. Arriving around midnight, we crossed a bridge in the dark, and I idly wondered aloud about what river it might be, and if there was water in it. Crossing another bridge on the way out in the morning, we were astonished to see an immense, fabulously beautiful chasm containing the Snake River. This photo doesn’t really do it justice.

Most of Idaho is like this — wide open nondescript spaces that hide spectacular rock formations carved into the landscape. We were also pretty psyched to pass some massive wind farms.

We stopped for lunch in downtown Pocatello. After the relentless monotony of dismal sprawl that seems to surround every town we drive through, it was nice to see small streets and cute brick buildings, and we found a local cafe owned by a woman from Nicaragua who served me some delicious gluten free Empanadas. We grabbed our food to go, and headed back out to the interstate and on to Montana.