10/9 Here Comes Idaho!

Today we saw Montana in the rearview camera!  It's been a good run, but time to move ahead.  We left our campground at a good time, we are not speed demons in the mornings when it comes to travel!  We drove south on Hwy 287 and then Hwy 20.  We planned this route so we could see the Idaho side of Grand Teton National Park, but it was misty and rainy so we saw nothing! We used I-15  for the last bit to get to Pocatello, ID.  This was a drive of 256 miles, which is a good length for us.  Most drive days we aim for 250-350 miles.  

We picked a kind of odd place to camp tonight, mostly for the sake of convenience.  At the Bannock County Fairgrounds on the outskirts of Pocatello there is a maintained campground, and that's our spot tonight.  Nothing glamorous, but practical.  There was a large livestock/horse show arena next to the campground, and there were a bunch of trucks and animal trailers loading up over there.  For some reason, I was finding myself in a very cranky mood when it came time to set up the trailer.  The first spot that we pulled into was not satisfactory because there was horse poop in my way!  The second spot was better, but not level.  So I needed to pull out the leveling blocks.  Usually, I do this while Bob backs up the trailer onto the blocks.  It had rained recently, so the gravel was soft and a bit muddy.  After the first attempt resulted in the blocks sinking into the mud, I was disenchanted with the whole concept of camping!  Bob pulled ahead and I got out more blocks.  Bob backed up, and they partially sank in the mud.  Now I check the level and determine whether we are on the level.  Really, we weren't, but I was so over this!  I told Bob there would be no more messing around with those blocks in the mud!  It was lightly raining by now, so my tears of frustration were just part of the weather!  Bob, to his credit, stepped away, unhooked the truck, told me he would finish up the outside work, and sent me inside.  Sometimes you just need a good cry!  No pictures to share of this!

We spent the night in and made a good supper of pasta with pesto, chicken, olives and tomatoes.  We watched an episode of an old TV series called Centennial on DVD.  I think it was a mini-series from the 70's, based on the book by James Michener.  It's definitely showing its age, but the story line is both entertaining and informing.  

And with our travel through the west, the story of early settlers is very appropriate.  I've also just finished a book titled The Indifferent Stars Above about the Donner Party tragedy.  It causes me to look around at these mountains and wonder how people could ever journey across them with whole families in wagons pulled by oxen.  They had a lot of courage!