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July 31, 2005

To Idaho Falls

Bright and early (our body clocks were telling us it was two hours
later then the local time) we were off and heading north.

Salt Lake City is like a mirror image of Denver. It sits on a flat
plain (next to a Salt Lake would you believe) with the Rocky
Mountains rising dramatically like a wall to the east behind the
city (Denver sits on the edge of the great central plains of the USA
and has the eastern edge of the Rockies rising majestically in the
west behind it). So with the mountains to our right and the salt
lake to our left we headed north on the I15.

We had only gone a mile or two when I noticed that the fuel gauge
was showing empty. My mind went into panic. I could not definitely
remember checking the fuel when I picked up the van, but I was
almost certain that I did. We left the I15 in search of a petrol
station (Gas station to our American friends). A mile or two up the
road I pulled in and filled up. I managed to get just over a dollars
worth in and it was full - faulty fuel gauge ! I thought about
taking the van back but decided to carry on feeling certain that
some the towns ahead would have a Hertz Depot in them if I needed to
have something done with the van. I turned on the engine and the
gauge showed full. The gauge then worked for most of the holiday
with it dropping down to empty a couple of times before it went back
to reading correctly after a mile or so.

The drive was uneventful and relatively dull just getting some miles
on the interstate under our belt. As planned, some 215 miles and 3
1/2 hours later we arrived in Idaho Falls, located our Motel and
went for lunch. After lunch we checked in, left the bags and went to
explore Idaho Falls. We were lucky that the Museum of Idaho located
in the town had a travelling exhibition from NASA and our boys had
great fun trying to land a shuttle simulator and playing in a space
station mock up. In the same museum was a really interesting exhibit
about the history of nuclear power and the fact that nearby was the
major nuclear power experimental site for the USA and the town of
ARCO was the first to be powered by nuclear power.

We then headed to the centre of town and the river walk a really
well maintained park area along the side of the river looking at the
extensive waterfalls that are maybe half a mile long and are now
backed by a low weir/dam which is used to generate power. These
falls are the reason behind the name of the town and are the place
where the mighty Snake River was bridged many years ago bringing
people to this spot.

After a dip in the motel pool, a meal in a nearby restaurant, we hit
the sack.

Posted by Graham on July 31, 2005 06:44 PM
Category: 2005 Going to Glacier ?
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