Spoffords Travel

October 11, 2023 Day 4 Sterling Colorado to Oberlin Kansas 173 miles

We started the day with sunshine but cool. We went to the Overland Trail Museum which is well worth a stop if you are ever in Sterling Colorado. They have wonderful displays inside and out. Lots of items from the town’s history. The price is right too. Only $4.00 for seniors. They had just about everything. Farm equipment, a church, a school, doctor’s office, a barber shop (it included a beauty shop and bath house), a house, a barn, gas station, a store, a caboose and printing equipment. We spent about 1.5 hours here but could have spent longer if you read everything. The clouds have moved in and look rather threatening so we headed out.

We are going on back roads today. The number of semis is reduced but the road is only two lanes. The terrain started with rolling hills, then went very flat, and ended with smaller rolling hills. The flat portion had huge farms with corn and grain fields. The corn is being harvested so big transport semis are carrying the corn to silos. Not uncommon to see three trucks lined up to unload corn. I don’t know but it looks like they bale the corn leaves and stalks. Lots of big round bales in what had been corn fields. Surprisingly many of these fields have big sprinkler systems. I always thought they depended on Mother Nature.

We stopped for lunch at the Enders Reservoir Campground. The grounds are very dry. The flies are very sticky. Not many in the campground in the area we were in. No activity on the lake.

More windmills but no visible solar. Not nearly as many as before but most of them are turning. The snow fences in this area are rows of evergreen trees. Not nearly as many either. Most houses when you saw one were surrounded by trees. Quite windy again today.

The towns today were few, far between and small. We left Colorado and drove briefly through Nebraska before entering Kansas. We also crossed into the Central Time Zone. Connie saw a flock of wild turkeys. Rob only saw the turkey sitting next to him.

Not far out of Oberlin was a huge beef cattle company. Seemed like 30-40 acres of butt to butt cattle. They also had a huge mound of what looked like kernels of corn. Two average size tractors were moving up and down the mound for a reason I don’t know.

We arrived in Oberlin about 4:30. The town is known for excellence in music. Amazing for such a small town. The college here was the first to award bachelor degrees to women. The population is about 1,650. Rob had to spend some extra time tonight cleaning the windshield. We hit lots of bugs today.

October 10, 2023 Day 3 Rawlins Wyoming to Sterling Colorado 277 miles

The outside temperature is much cooler this morning. It was 44 F. Good thing we packed an ice scraper for the windshield. We may need it before this trip is over. We checked and the elevation here is 6,755 feet. Rob got a winter storm warning on his phone for here on Wednesday. They could have 12-20 inches of snow. Sure glad we will be gone by then.

Our route today will include freeway and local roads. Not much else to do across Wyoming. But unlike yesterday the terrain today is more mountainous. So we do more climbing which is slow going. Lots of places where the road can be closed so we know it is bad sometimes.

We passed a large dairy with mostly Holstein cows. Then we passed a beef cattle ranch with mostly black angus. Next to that one was a field full of large round hay bales.

We stopped at a rest stop at the top of one of the hills. A sign at the entrance said this was the highest rest stop in the state at 8,640 feet. I had not realized until then that we were on the Lincoln Highway. The rest stop had a bust of Lincoln sitting on top of a tall rock stand. The views were beautiful.

The road is lined with miles of snow fences. They run diagonal to the road on both sides. The wind is still blowing. A wind sock beside the road is nearly gone. Obviously wind is normal here.

Another area had hundreds of windmill. Most of those were turning and at a good speed. Then we came to a large bank of solar panels. Looked like it covered several acres of ground.

The freeway is rougher than some especially when going on and off of bridges. The passenger side door jarred loose three times. Thank goodness we could pull it closed again without stopping. Having and using our seat belts adds to our peace of mind.

We stopped in Cheyenne Wyoming for gas and to eat lunch. The gas mileage is definitely better with the higher octane fuel. We headed for a park that was supposed to be close. Well close is about three miles. Some of the most confusing roads are just passed the gas station. The road to a Main Street was really rough. We don’t know if it had picnic tables or not. If so they were not close to the parking lot. The temperature wasn’t bad and we were partly in the shade. So we ate lunch in the car.

From Cheyenne we left the freeway and went on state highways and county roads. Going out of Cheyenne we crossed over a large train switching yard. I think the back roads were smoother than the freeway. The number of semis was greatly reduced. The terrain has flattened out significantly. The fields are huge. The crops all look to be harvested except some of the large round bales. Farm houses are miles apart as are the towns. Occasionally we see an oil well. Some are pumping and some are not.

We arrived in Sterling about 3:30. Seems to be a busy little town. Temperatures here are in the upper 70’s. The altitude is 3,875 feet. Hopefully we are out of snow country for awhile.

October 9, 2023 Day 2 Logan Utah to Rawlins Wyoming 297 miles

We chose to fill at Costco even though it was further away. Their gas was nearly twenty cents cheaper per gallon. We drove through some nice housing and a beautiful golf course. Only two cars were at the gas pumps. I don’t think we have ever seen that few. Rob decided to put in premium gas based on the recommendation of the guy who rebuilt the engine.

Then we headed out of town via Highway 30. This took us past Utah State University and through a narrow canyon. The wind was terrible. Even worse than yesterday. A couple of gusts blew us part way into the opposite lane. Good thing traffic wasn’t coming. The canyon however was beautiful. A small stream runs along side the road and steep mountains go up on both sides. The deciduous trees are bright reds and golds. Numerous cars are parked in areas that look like trail heads. The road twists and turns but doesn’t climb for quite a ways. Occasionally a passing lane is available. If not Rob tries to pull over to let traffic pass.

Eventually we did climb up some and left the river. Now we saw several signs warning of cattle on the road. We did actually slow for a few head that were crossing the road. We observed some road kill. Several raccoons and a couple of deer.

We stopped for lunch at a pull out and had our beef stick, cheese and crackers. Not much to see there. There was a newer pickup parked there that had a serious radiator problem. We offered to help but he had already called AAA.

A stretch of 1-2 miles was one lane traffic. We got lucky and just made the group going our direction. We didn’t see any construction workers so perhaps they had today off for the holiday.

We dropped down an 8% grade that looked out to Bear Lake. The small town of Garden City Utah sits on the edge of the lake. Numerous houses dot the nearby hills. Lots of parks and recreational equipment sales and rentals line the shore. We drove along the lake for several miles.

The highway joined the freeway in a very dangerous way. The freeway is being resurfaced and is only one lane wide. No yield sign nor any warning was posted. The intersection was almost like a blind corner. The one lane section was quite long with no place to pull over to let traffic pass. Luckily the road was fairly flat but we only go about 55 whereas the rest of traffic goes about 80.

The mountains in the far distance appear to have snow covered tops. They don’t seem to be in the direction we are going. We did cross the continental divide at an altitude of just over 5,000 feet. The drive into Rawlins has very little of interest to see. Semis pass us going very fast. This is obviously a major east west route.

Connie spotted an eagle sitting on the ground near the roadway. Seemed a very strange place for it to be. Later she spotted a few head of antelope. Neither of these showed up on our dinner menu.

October 8, 2023 Day 1 Boise Idaho to Logan Utah 305 miles

We left home about 9 am. Had to stop at Costco to top off the gas. Then onto the freeway. We will go that way for at least part of the day. We are headed in the general direction of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The stretch between Boise and Mountain Home is as boring as usual. Not even a jackrabbit or tumbleweed in sight. The windmills were actually turning today. They do seem to have more of them. We can definitely feel the wind on the car.

We stopped at the new Maverick gas stop in Jerome. We actually bought lunch there. Lots of other folks were doing the same. They have tables inside and outside so we ate at one of those. As we left Connie found a dime. That makes one more for the slot machine at home.

The land seems greener than expected. Touches of red and gold add to the color. We decided to stay in Logan Utah. That was a bit out of the way but better options. Major roadwork was occurring on the road into town. Therefore we had to take a significant detour. We wished we had known that sooner.

The GPS didn’t have the address in the correct location. Then the blockades on the street made getting back to the hotel very difficult. Not sure how you tell them about that. The hotel clerk said the turn restrictions on the road were very recent additions.

September 25, 2023 Day 11 Lewiston ID to Boise ID 264 miles

The skies were very cloudy. Luckily no rain had fallen overnight and it wasn’t currently raining. When Rob applies RainX to the windshield it usually doesn’t rain. Most of the drive was very windy. Traffic wasn’t too bad. Only minor construction. Still have traffic slow downs by Smith’s Ferry.

The grain fields around Grangeville have all been harvested. We stopped in Riggins for a picnic lunch. The rivers are running low as expected for this time of year. Going down the hill out of Grangeville was slow going. Model A brakes aren’t the best so we downshifted and used the engine as a brake.

We got home about 5:15. Good to be back.

1,827.5 total miles

20.02 average miles per gallon

$4.68 average cost per gallon

Total of 3 flat tires – No nails just poorly manufactured new inner tubes

September 24, 2023 Day 10 Creston BC to Lewiston ID 228 miles

We woke up to wet conditions. A fair amount of rain fell overnight. Hopefully the car will start. We loaded up and sure enough it started easily. We needed to make two stops before leaving town. One to get ice for the cooler and the other to get a quart of oil for the car. Our motel doesn’t have an ice machine and they have stopped selling ice for the season. Only one of the numerous automotive stores is open today and it doesn’t open until 9 am.

Forgot to mention that our room has a two burner stove that sits on top of the refrigerator. We have never seen anything quite like it. However the cupboard only contains two glasses and two tea cups. That most likely explains why the drip trays under the burners are so clean.

We got the ice and oil. Both are in the appropriate place so off we go. The US border is only about ten miles away. No line here. Very few questions so we are soon on our way again. The skies remained cloudy the entire day but no more rain.

The scenery continues to be beautiful even though we can’t see much. We left the windows down all day. That means the side windows are like looking through waxed paper about 9” by 18”. The view out the front is dotted with bug remains. The front visor also obstructs the view.

The landscape changes greatly on the drive. Mountains and pine trees give way to rolling fields. We passed through Sandpoint and stopped at the Coeur d’Alene Costco for gas and a hot dog. We shared a table with a very friendly couple from Spokane who were also retired Army. Lunch lasted longer than intended but was most enjoyable. Rob also adjusted the brakes because they weren’t working as well as usual. There was a marked improvement in our stopping ability.

Coming down the hill into Lewiston seemed very cloudy or smoky. What should have been a beautiful view wasn’t. We did see a turkey cross the road. I think others must have been there. Early in the day we saw an elk farm. Very tall fences and several head of elk in two different pastures.

September 23, 2023 Day 9 Princeton BC to Creston BC 288 miles

This morning is very cloudy but not raining yet. The room doesn’t have a microwave so there is no way to make tea. With the water quality alert not so sure we want to use this water to drink without a hard boil. Undoubtedly somewhere in town has coffee for sale. We headed out looking for the grocery store. We saw two deer in town before coming to a gas station. We filled with gas and got a coffee and hot water to go. Gas stations are few and far between.

We followed along what I think is the Kettle River. RV parks and camp grounds are fairly frequent. Lots of them are beside the river in the trees. Most have vacant spots so we are obviously past the busy time of year. Most are smaller trailers. No big motor homes nor fifth wheel trailers.

The vegetation is primarily evergreen with a few deciduous trees scattered between. Some of them have turned bright yellow. A few are deep red. We are surrounded by tall mountains. We went over six mountain passes so going was slow.

We saw two more deer and six turkeys. Frequent signs implied there were deer, elk, moose, big horn sheep and bears.

We came into one town with numerous farm stores. Apples, pumpkins and squash were in all of them. Some of the apple orchards were training the branches to grow similar to grape vines. Bet those apples are easier to pick. Vineyards are also common.

Somewhere along the way we saw Big Foot. He was a bit stiff and very dark in color. We also saw a bunch of fence made from old tires stacked like bricks. These Canadians are very clever.

Near Kootenay Pass a few raindrops fell. Not enough to turn on the windshield wiper. The sky looked very threatening however. Lots of chain up spots all along the route. Also signs saying all cars and trucks are required to have winter tires on and carry chains from October 1 to April 30.

We drove all the way without stopping for lunch. I guess the audio book was too good. Going up to Kootenay Pass was a long uphill climb. We rarely got out of second gear. Luckily there is a passing lane most of the time so we aren’t slowing down traffic.

We checked into the motel and then went to Tim’s Fish and Chips. A one piece meal comes with two pieces of fish. Busy little place and tasty food. Back at the motel Rob put a new fuse in the inverter. Looks like we will go through Idaho to get home and bag Glacier this time.