Boise, ID: Getting Close

We started the day in Laramie and drove into this fabulous blue sky with cattle ranches on either side of us (and me still wrestling with a craving for steak with every meal).  It was landscape like I'd never seen.  We had seen in Nebraska the signs saying, "When lights flashing, exit immediately, road closed" and we had no idea what that was about.  Apparently, the snow gets so bad in Nebraska and Wyoming (and Utah and Idaho, now that I think about it) that they just have to shut down the whole interstate.  Wow.  They also have intense wind rolling through there.  The weather forecast for today was for only 25-30 mile/hr winds.  Small potatoes for Wyoming - they have railroad-tie fences stacked up facing southwest to cut the wind for their farms.  


Wyoming is some of the most amazing country I have ever seen.  My feet itched for my boots the entire time, and I remembered every horse I'd ever ridden.  For the first time in my life, I didn't like loving the city.  Wyoming is where the deer and the antelope play - Debbie and I saw it.  I imagine it's normal for people like me to want to stay in Wyoming and work on a ranch.  I sure got the bug.  I didn't want Wyoming to end.  


And then we crossed into Utah.  Utah is the most amazing landscape so far.  This is Utah:

And this:

These pictures are taken from the car and a rest stop, respectively.  Utah is so beautiful that even its rest stops are majestic.  There are amazing mountains on either side of the interstate; it's hard to keep eyes on the road.  I had to remind myself to breathe in Utah.


What is probably one of most striking things in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho are these great stretches of nothing.  I mean, seriously, nothing.  There will be an exit from the interstate and it tells you right off that this is to some non-descript ranch, and no, you can't get a diet coke or gas at this exit.  You must wait until the exit 40 miles down the road.  It's sort of alarming and beautiful at the same time.  I admit, I've considered scrapping it all and staying in this part of the world.


Boise is nice.  It's pretty civilized compared to where we've been.  I caught my first Portland beer here, so I know Seattle is close.  I'll be sad, though, to end this trek, as I've loved this experience.  I love the American West.  And the Plains, and the Prairie, and the Midwest.  We have good thing going here in this country of ours.


Tomorrow:  Seattle!