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Deane & Norm's Motorcycle Trip to Alaska | |
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August 12 - Boise, ID to Tremonton, UT - 325 miles |
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(This
is from Deane only, Norm has ridden on toward Ohio) Today
I started toward home in Albuquerque.
Boise is in the south-central part of Idaho, and the ride was
through southern Idaho and into the northern part of Utah. Riding
south and east from Boise entails a lot of desert riding, and this time it
was by Interstate. As I got
further toward Twin Falls the desert gave way to farms.
Idaho's desert will grow many crops, if you just add water.
I stopped in Richfield, Idaho (near Twin Falls) to visit some long
time friends who live on a farm there.
Farms in that area are literally wrested from the desert, and have
to be cleared of rocks. But if water is available, they do
reasonably well. Heading
to Twin Falls, more and more big, big farms appear, as there water is
pumped from the Snake River as well as available through well planned
canals. Hay, wheat, corn,
beans, and yes, lots of potatoes, grow well here.
All that is needed is water. Big
sprinklers are everywhere, hand-moved lines, lines mounted on wheels, and
very large circular pivot lines. Approaching
northern Utah, desert takes over again.
The riding temperature wasn't too bad, 94o F for the
high, but it sure was different than a few days ago in Canada and the
northwest US coast! A
little north of the Salt Lake valley, big wheat fields show up again, on
rolling hills. My destination
was Tremonton, UT, just north of Salt Lake City. Tremonton
was dangerous! A moose nearly
ran over me in Alaska, and a Volunteer Fireman nearly ran over me in
Tremonton!! I had checked into my motel, and was just turning my motorcycle onto the main street to look for a dinner restaurant, when a man in a speeding pickup nearly ran over me. Only then did I hear the town's central siren calling the volunteer firemen, and see smoke rising in the center of town. My daughter Laura, who was a police officer for several years in Portland, Maine, had always told me that volunteer firemen are the absolute worst drivers when they were responding to a fire. She says "Just get out of their way when there's a fire." |
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