Tuesday, September 3, 2002
Our flight left Knoxville at 10:35 a.m. and arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah, our "Gateway to the West," at 2:10 p.m. Alamo Rent A Car tried to get us to upgrade our cheapo Internet special for an extra $11 per day. Yeah, right. Whatever. They threatened us with a Chevy Geo Metro but wound up giving us a Hyundai, which was perfectly fine. I'm not buying the darn thing, after all; we just want to borrow it for eleven days!
We stopped in Brigham City for lupper (you know, late lunch/early supper) at a flavorless restaurant called Melina's Fine Mexican Food. Northern Utah needs some authentic Mexicans! I embarrassed Tom by adding my own jalapenos I had imported from Tennessee, but the food needed a little pizzazz!
The Oregon Trail-Bear Lake Scenic Byway took us north past the 120-square-mile Bear Lake. The minerals in the water make the lake a striking shade of blue which contrasts nicely with the mountain desert backdrop. It was late in the day when got to the lake, so our pictures are not great.
Bear Lake, on the Utah-Idaho border
Well after dark we arrived in Soda Springs, Idaho, "Historic Oregon Trail Oasis." Soda Springs is at the junction of the Oregon Trail and the California Trail and was a popular rest stop for travelers in the 1800s. We had reservations at the J-R Inn, what I would call a "no-tell" motel. They couldn't find the reservation, but they had plenty of rooms available anyway.
There is going to be a LOT of driving on this trip. We just scratched the surface today with 214 miles.
Continue to Day 2