White Bird, ID to Provo, UT

August 19 - 24

Leaving White Bird, we were hoping to leave the smoke, but it seems to still be ahead of us. Sad to know there have been so many fires in the Northwest. The road south on Highway 89 was a very windy canyon road along the river and it was beautiful. Would have been fun to make the trip on the motorcycle. There were two active fire areas that we went through, weren’t sure if we were going to get stopped, but made it through.

             








 

       

McCall, Idaho

We decided to take the route south that would let us stop by McCall Idaho.  John has gone there before on a snowmobile trip, but never been there in the summer.  We stopped in town, had lunch and then unhooked the jeep for a quick look around town.  It looks like a fun, active little city right on the Payette Lake with the feel of a small Bend Oregon.  

There were lots of activities there from biking to all kinds of water sports and a really nice city park along the lakeside.  They also had a big ice skating arena in the middle of the town.  Looks like they could have some big events there. 

We met some people in Provo who say they love McCall in the summer, they spend the month of July there every year at the McCall RV Park right along the river and see lots of wildlife, including bears.  May have to go back there for a longer stay someday.

Mc Call City Park on Payette Lake

As we head into Utah, we are seeing the price of diesel drop.   We were happy to pay $2.71 a gallon just a few miles back and now we see prices in the $2.60 - $2.50 range.  And, we have the fuel filters changed in Moses Lake, so we are starting to see better fuel mileage as well.  Yeah!  Too many other fun things to spend our money on.

Salt Lake City and Provo Utah

Just before we reach Salt Lake City, in Farmington, we see the Lagoon Amusement Park along side the freeway.  Looks like a really fun place to stop if you have kids, or a love for roller coasters!  The price is $49 per person and it also has a waterslide park and an RV park.  We didn’t stop, but it looked like a fun detour if you are traveling this way.  

We made it to our campsite at Lakeside RV park, which is right next to the Utah Lake State Park.  Utah Lake is very big but looked kind of dirty.  There were people boating out on the lake, but nobody swimming there.  However, there was a Triathlon the day after we arrived, so I am sure they swam in the lake.  

Provo and the surrounding hills and canyons are beautiful.  We took several motorcycle rides around the area.  The road up to Sundance on Highway 189 (Provo Scenic Byway) goes along the Provo River where there were lots of people kayaking and rafting, looked like a lot of fun.  We also saw Bridal Veil Falls.  If you look close in the picture, people were climbing up the Falls.  They were up about half way.

These pictures were taken on the Provo scenic Byway.  Beautiful ride.

                     

We also took a ride up to Park City, home of the 2002 Winter Olympics.  Really fun place, reminded us of Whistler Canada.  Lots of shops, ski lifts, summer and winter activities.  Higher end stores and lots of restaurants, bars and eateries.

We also did a little shopping while in Provo, went to the Traverse Outlet Mall.  Super nice mall with that indoor/outdoor look, lots of good stores and found some good bargains on our new wardrobe needs, shorts, t-shirts and flip flops!

The City of Provo is home to Brigham Young University and the Provo Utah Temple.  We aren’t Mormon, but one thing we can say for them is that they have beautiful buildings and grounds.  The city is pretty much shut down on Sundays in Provo and there seems to be churches within walking distance to almost every home.

    

Well, on to Moab!  Can't wait to get there and start exploring some of the National Parks!