Into Idaho On Day Two
Thursday, July 26th, 2018
Stopping for the night at Driggs, Idaho.
Starting out Day 2 we cruised over to the canyon overlooks by the Flaming Gorge Visitor Center before heading to Manila for breakfast. The Red Canyon Lodge serves dinner but not breakfast so we got going pretty quickly this morning. The route was a bit further north on U.S. 191 then left onto Utah 44.
From Manila we headed northwest on Utah 43 to the state line and then Wyoming 414 to Mountain View, under I-80, and on north on Wyoming 412 to U.S. 189 and north to Kemmerer.
At Kemmerer Jungle made a mistake the rest of us appreciated when he passed U.S. 30 and took us almost into town. There was a gas station so we stopped for gas. Relief! By this time it was starting to be clear that the rest of us like to stop and get off the bikes more frequently than the 125-150 miles Jungle seems to prefer. So starting at Kemmerer we took more frequent gas stops even though nobody was truly low on gas.
And yes, once again it was blazing hot. I’ve learned that I need Gatorade or something of that sort to ward of dehydration on days like this so Kemmerer got a little more sales tax out of me.
We went back the very short distance to U.S. 30 and followed it past Cokeville almost to the Idaho state line, where we picked up the north-south Wyoming 89 that serves as a shortcut around Montpelier, Idaho. Then we joined U.S. 89 on north into Wyoming’s beautiful Star Valley.
Past Afton, to Thayne, and a little beyond and we came to a very important stop, an ice cream shop we had been told about. The Old Mill Ice Cream shop serves single scoops that are as big as the double scoops you get most places. And everyone knows how important ice cream is when you’re traveling on motorcycles.
From there we continued north to Alpine, and Alpine Junction, where U.S. 26 took us northwest into Idaho and along the shore of Palisades Reservoir, which was one heck of a great ride. Absolutely gorgeous.
Once past the lake we turned northeast on Idaho 31 to Victor and then Idaho 33 to Driggs. We checked into our motel, had badly needed showers, and then spent the rest of the evening in the large, luxurious mobile home of Willie and Jungle’s friend Yuki, who lives in Driggs. This is a thing about traveling with Willie and Jungle. People they know come join you for a while and then peel off. We’ll meet a lot more of their friends along the way.
Yuki provided beer and wine, a variety of munchies, and we got so settled in we canceled our dinner reservation and sent a team out for a couple pizzas.
Two hard days under our belts and we’re having a great time.
Biker Quote for Today
Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long.
