We Leave Idaho Falls

On Sunday, Bob and I said goodbye to Idaho Falls and continued on our way southward. Within minutes we were in a snow squall that had us wondering if we had left too early. Fortunately the snow quickly changed back into rain and before too long, even the rain disappeared.

I had noticed the night before that we would be passing withing .4 of a mile of Idaho State University Library in Pocatello, where they happen to hold a copy of a book I've been trying to find for years. Bob said, "sure we can stop," and so he navigated through the city streets and stopped the rig in front of the library. Talk about service! He stayed with Auggie to make a sandwich and read a little while I ran in to find my book. And I actually found two I could look through.

I spent a few happy minutes photographing some charts, then we were on our way again, through some beautiful areas. There was some fall color on the mountains which gave them vivid splashes of color.

Idaho is very pretty. This is the potato farming area of the state. Years ago, we had visited tge northwestern part on a river rafting trip, and the topography was much more rugged.

It was a fairly long day, between the stop in Pocatello and another 4 1/2 hours of highway driving, but soon we were seeing the mountains that surround Salt Lake City, Utah.

We got settled in to our campsite and immediately decided to stay here for a full week. I think there's a lot to see, and we want to not feel rushed. Our 18th anniversary of the day we met was on Sunday, so the next day Bob and I hopped on the light rail into the city to find a place for lunch.

We found the light rail to be an easy way to travel.

The Vertical Diner in Salt Lake City serves plant based food and we each enjoyed yummy sandwiches here. Bob had his first Cuban tempeh sandwich and I had a vegan Reuben.

There was an interesting sculpture at the train station called Faces of the Neighborhood, with glass faces imbedded in the metal. Very cool.

On Tuesday we took advantage of the fact that there is an IKEA within a few minutes of our campground, and picked up a few things we needed. I'm also hoping that we'll have time to visit the geneology library in SLC while we are here, so I set up an account on Ancestry.com and have been spending a lot of time entering our family information. I spent a lot of time on this many years ago with daughter, Kristen, and it was exciting to see the familiar names popping up again. On my father's side I have traced the family back to the 1640s when they emigrated to America, and back even before that to Dudley Castle in England where they lived in the 1500sx. Records of my mother's family were destroyed when the local church flooded a couple hundred or so years ago, so I'd love to see if the library here can help fill in some gaps.