Gettysburg

Day 2 September 14, 2024 Swan Valley Idaho to Casper Wyoming 324 miles

We got on the road shortly after 9 am. The skies are mostly blue but the air is crisp. Therefore we have all the windows closed. The road is full of traffic. Still lots of RVs and various sizes of work trailers. Traffic is about the same in both directions.

The terrain is mountainous with ranches scattered along the way. But then we came to the mountain separating Idaho and Wyoming. The grade is usually 10% both up and down. This is where the landslide occurred earlier this year. They have a good detour while they figure out what to do for the long term. The car performed well on the steep grades.

The GPS took us on a back road rather than through Jackson. That drive was really pretty. The Tetons were in full view. A small river ran a short distance from the road. Ranches filled the space in between. Traffic was much less here too which was nice. Once we got back on the main highway the traffic was much heavier. Still lots of tourists out on the road, in the turnouts and going along the green belt.

We came to a field with 20-30 head of horses. We couldn’t believe the number of people stopped and taking pictures of the horses. The area is called Elk Flats. I hope they realize these are horses and not elk.

We turned more easterly away from Yellowstone. Oh my there is a live deer. We have seen several roadkill ones. We did more climbing and crossed the Continental Divide. On both sides of the town of Dubois Wyoming were fire crew camps. A large fire has been burning in the area for over a month. Warning signs were posted along the road. We did come to a couple of areas that had obviously burned. A few spots were still smoking. We didn’t see any flames or serious smoke. That was all good.

Down from the mountains again and we saw two bison in a pasture. They are probably being raised for meat. The fence around them was higher and looked much stronger than for cattle.

We drove through an area where the hills were quite colorful. Erosion left interesting shapes and colors. Farms dotted this area as well. What a beautiful place to live.

The car turned over 50,000 miles. That was the highlight between Shoshoni and Casper.

This all gave way to the prairie. We are driving on Highway 26 and it makes the stretch from Boise to Mountain Home look good. The land is quite flat with some sage brush. We did see several antelope however. Also a couple of large flocks of sheep.

Periodically we saw large metal silhouettes along the road with the number 307. The company GW Mechanical is promoting the creation and placement of these to break up the boring road between Shoshoni Wyoming and Casper Wyoming. It is the state’s original and only telephone area code. Now 307 is considered synonymous with Wyoming. It is meant to unite all residents regardless of occupation.

About 3 miles from our hotel we encountered major road construction that made getting to the hotel rather more complicated. The GPS didn’t realize all that work was going on. Good thing we spotted the hotel on the way. We arrived here about 6 pm. It was a longer day but the weather and car cooperated. We also listened to a murder mystery on the headsets which helps make the ride seem a bit shorter.