Idaho to British Columbia 5/12/2010

We made a brief stop for coffee in Wallace, Idaho. Wallace is a beautiful 19th century gold mine town located along Interstate 90, about an hour east of Coeur d'Alene. We enjoyed warm, homemade cinnamon rolls and fresh coffee, then walked around the quiet little town to stretch our legs.
Back onto I-90 westbound, headed for Spokane, Washington. Amazing river and forested mountain views. Joe is drooling over all of the fishing spots. Dozens of Norman Rockwell villages and towns along the rivers and in the valleys and forests, A world of difference between what we are seeing here and what we are used to in Arizona and Ohio.
Got off of I-90 in Coeur d'Alene and tried to find Cabellas'. We did see the store, but couldn't get to it. When we got back on the freeway we were in Washington. A few miles into Spokane and we turned north on U.S. 395, on our way to the Canadian border. We arrived at the border crossing in Laurier, Washington with no trouble. We pulled over to make sure we had everything in order for the crossing and discovered that TJ had misplaced Joe's Passport. After a frantic 10 minute search, Joe found the dang thing on the dashboard, under the atlas, right where I put it. We loaded all of our munchies, drinks, jackets, etc. back into the cab and crossed the border into Canada without further excitement.
It's difficult to describe the views along the road from Grand Forks, through Princeton and Merritt and on up to Kamloops, B.C. Stunning, gorgeous, outrageously beautiful; so many adjectives, so little memory.
We made Kamloops, on the Thompson Rivers (north and south) about 9:30 p.m., checked into a motel and had our first shower and good nights sleep since leaving Prescott Valley.

DAY 1

We left Prescott Valley at noon May 10, 2010 heading north on Hwy. 89 to Ash Fork and the junction of Interstate 40. We stopped outside of Cameron, AZ to take pictures of the rock formations to the west and the snow covered San Francisco peaks to the south.
Back on the road, we headed north on Hwy. 89 through the Painted Desert and the Navajo Nation, on our way to Page, AZ.
Once through Page, we stopped to check out the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, on the Colorado River. Leaving Arizona behind, we crossed the border into Utah and began the heading west and north along the Virgin River. The mountains and valleys are amazingly beautiful in this part of Utah. As dusk crept into the Valley, we began to see large herds of white tailed deer and a few elk. We followed along the edge of the Staircase Escalante for more than a hundred miles, until we turned west toward I-15.
Once on I-15, we made a fuel stop at Beaver, UT, before heading on to Salt Lake City.
The day has been long, but we were determined to make it to the north side of Salt Lake City in order to avoid any morning traffic delays on Tuesday.
We spent our first night in the truck cap at a Pilot Truck Stop just north of Ogden, UT. Our first day had been a long one, but we managed to cover 600 miles by 2:00 A.M.
A solid four hours sleep and we were up in the cold and mist to refuel, get hot coffee and get back on the road.
As I write this, we are at the Homestead Farms Resaurant in Blackfoot, Idaho. It is cold and rainy, but the countryside is awe inspiring none the less.

Underway, Shift Colors!

Today, we will be getting underway for Deadhorse, Alaska, some 4,000 miles from our homeport in Prescott Valley, Arizona. Our goal is to reach Salt Lake City, Utah late this evening. Along the way we will pass through Flagstaff and Page, Arizona; Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Kanab, Utah before reaching Interstate 15 just north of St. George, Utah.

Trip from Ohio to Arizona (PHOTOS)

Bonneville Salt Flats (PHOTOS)

JOE and TJ on their first land cruise in 2009. This was a short, five-day cruise to the Bonneville Salt Flats, Fall Time Trials.