A Great Day Tinged By Tragedy.

For the past two days Tom has been having trouble with his motorcycle. When he was running at highway speeds it would start to miss and run rough. He was unable to ride at highway speeds and yesterday afternoon he limped in to Twin Falls. The plan was to see if the local Kawasaki dealer could repair his sick bike. 

The first thing we did this morning was to ride to Action Cycle in Twin Falls to see what they could do. They took him in immediately and took his tank off, cleared his lines and did some more of that mechanic stuff. Instead of staying at the dealership we did a short ride to Shoshone Falls. We hadn't even heard of this landmark until we saw a poster in the restaurant we went to last night but it looked worthwhile seeing and it was only about seven kilometres from the dealership. 

When we arrived at the park the guy at the booth asked me if I had a Golden Age Pass or a National Parks card. When I told him I had a parks card he told me I was good to go. Garry and Jim had to pay three dollars to get in. The view was worth every cent they paid for it. I an going to indulge myself and post several photos of the Falls.

Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls, ID

Snake River downstream from Shshone Falls

The main cataract

The edge of the falls in close up.

Jim & Garry at Shoshone Falls

There is a hydro dam above the falls and they were releasing a large amount of water today, apparently for fisheries reasons. The falls were in full flow, but tomorrow the flow is going to be reduced so we serendipitously arrived at the right time. 

At the viewpoint, I saw a couple taking photos of each other with the falls in the background, I offered to take a photo of both of them and we began to do the usual tourist conversation; 'Where are you coming from?". Where are you from?" They told me that they were from Saltspring Island, 'on the West Coast of Canada'. They were surprised when I told them that I knew where it was because I was from Campbell River. On top of that, they know a person that I do and they even mentioned his daughter by name. Kerry refers to him as 'Sly Bob'. Quite a coincidence.

The Saltspring Island couple at Shoshone Falls

In this part of the US there is a chain of stores with a most unusual name. I first saw the name last year in Donnelly, ID. It is either total marketing ineptitude or marketing genius to have come up with the name 'Stinker Stores' for a gas station/convenience store chains. You have to love the logo though.

When we arrived back at the Kawasaki shop Tom's bike was ready so we went for breakfast. while we were there I was talking to a trucker who was on vacation. he told me that I-84 had been closed overnight because of serious wreck involving a camper and four semi trucks. Apparently one person lost his life. It is quite tragic when someone loses their life like that.

Tom led us out of town and we headed east to Salt Lake City. About twenty miles east of Twin Falls we came upon the remains of the wreck. A tanker truck lay on its side and the tractor was twisted upside down. There was evidence of a fire as well. It must have been chaos dealing with this wreck on a busy interstate highway in the middle of the night.

Truck wreck on I-84 east of Twin Falls, ID

Somewhere in southern Idaho 'Big Red' passed an important milestone. We have travelled more than 100 000 kilometres together since i bought her in September 2009, and she's still running strong.

More than 100 000 kilometres

Tom's motorcycle was running perfectly as he led us south and east out of Idaho and into Utah. We stopped at a rest stop where we saw information about Lake Bonneville, an ancient 20 000 square mile lake that eventually overtopped its containing land and emptied out through the Snake River leaving only The Great Salt Lake and Lake Utah. It is possible to see the old shoreline on the hills along the highway. As we approached SLC from the north, we could see the Great Salt Lake off in the distance on our right. It is quite an impressive body of water.

Along the way we passed places with names like Snowville, Honeyville, and Rattlesnake Pass. I wasn't in the lead at the time or I would have pulled in to see if there were really any rattlesnakes there. The people who named these places were quite literal. As we moved further into Utah we found more Mormon names like Orem, Nephi, and West Jordan to name a few. The name Zion figures prominently on banks, among other things.

At the Utah Tourist Information stand the person there was a real font of information. Previously we had passed a sign that noted the location of the Golden Spike where the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. We received directions to the actual location and museum that were much clearer, but unfortunately we were unable to visit. Apparently the museum there has about six miles of track and replicas of No. 119 and Jupiter, the two locomotives in the famous photo of the Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory Summit. It would have been great to have the time to see this.

We stopped at Ogden, UT, for coffee then continued on to Salt Lake City and the Harley dealer there.  My GPS paid for itself on the run in to SLC. The interstate running into Salt Lake City branches and twists under and over other parts of the highway. It reminds me of nothing so much as an intertwined nest of snakes. The GPS directed me and the guys following me right to the Harley dealership with nary a slip. I was really impressed with how well I was able to thread my way through this maze. I have no idea what I would have done without it.

I picked up a pair of floor board inserts to replace the one that came off yesterday and its partner which is getting ready to go. Two of the guys at the dealership had awesome beards but I only took pictures of John because he had a great look. He was a pretty friendly guy as well.

John. 'Fear No Beard!'

Across the parking lot from the Harley dealership is an Indian dealership. They have a large number of motorcycles there and while I'm not in love with some of their colours, they do look really great. 

Outside the Indian dealership

Because it was rush hour, we stopped for dinner to let things slow down before heading south to Provo. The last forty miles went very smoothly, and after making it all the way through Salt Lake City without a mistake we pulled in to the hotel, where I immediately parked at the wrong one!

We made 475 kilometres today after a late start so we have great hopes of getting into the really scenic part of Utah tomorrow. I am stoked to see this beautiful country once again.