Days 14 and 15: Price to Pocatello to Livingston

The trip's final two days were its most boring in terms of sightseeing--all but the first 70 or so miles was a retrace of the trip there, and we'd planned no major activities. But they made up for it by being the most exciting in the air-cooled-Volkswagen-mechanicking sense.

Soldier Summit

After a night in Price we planned to get to Idaho Falls for our last stop. This fierce headwind (note the flags) all day did a number on our mileage.

But how much of a number, exactly? We couldn't really know since Ludwig's gas gauge has two modes: inaccurate and non-functional. That's usually okay though, we just determined our fill-ups by the miles traveled since the last fill-up and a conservative estimate of Ludwig's mileage.

This works unless you fight a headwind, lower your mpg beyond your conservative estimate, and run out of gas. Which is what happened, just short of Pocatello's Southernmost exit.

We called AAA for a tow truck to bring us a couple gallons, keeping in mind that something else might be wrong. I mean, I tried to figure out what else the problem could be but it really seemed to be just plain running out of gas. Melissa hoofed it to a gas station about 1/2 mile away to buy a can and some gas as well, since the wrecker was taking so long to arrive.

The wrecker and Melissa showed up at about the same time but none of the gas worked. I asked the driver to tow us 300 yards to the gas station. He let us ride in Ludwig during the tow, surely a violation of his company's insurance.

It wasn't as harrowing as all that.

I thought maybe the carburetors weren't primed, which, if you don't remember how to jump the safety relay and prime them that way (I didn't), requires getting at them from above, itself requiring the removal of all the sleeping bags and blankets and suitcases and everything out of the back. The idea of dumping all our gear alongside the interstate wasn't appealing, hence the tow.

The priming worked and Ludwig fired up. In fact, he fired up a little too enthusiastically, with a huge backfire, thanks to my unintentional over-priming. At this point darkness had fallen, so we retreated to Pocatello's Holiday Inn Express.

Montana! That's the second-longest stretch, by about 12 hours, we've been out of Montana since we moved here in 2006. (The other time was in Ludwig too.)

All the next day, the last day, Ludwig ran like garbage. Well, that's not totally correct. He idled well, ran cool, and if you could get him up to speed, sped along just fine. But pulling away from stops and climbing up even the slightest grades, he was a dog. To me, that pointed to the loss of his vacuum advance, which the previous evening's big backfire might've destroyed.

We soldiered on, Ludwig soldiered on.

The poor running made the last day a long, anxious struggle, but we did make it, including up the alley to our driveway which I suspect was the steepest grade of the whole trip. 

miles 40871.7-41492.1

Day 1: Livingston to Antelope Island State Park

Ludwig was running a little funny. Maybe he just didn't want to leave Montana.

We didn't read carefully enough: you can't enter Antelope Island State Park after dark. 

miles 38290.6-38757.2

Heading Home from CotM

It's the last morning so I'm taking a self+Stinkertonie while Melissa packs up. I guess there's blowback against selfies now? Why?

Somewhere along ID 33 we pulled over for a diaper break (a recurring motif). In the distance are the Menan Buttes.

Same stop, different view. There was a dessicated, mangled coyote carcass off the side of the pullout that E found morbidly interesting.

E had wanted to eat at the dead coyote place since it was close to lunch anyway, but I talked her into waiting. "Maybe there'll be a park with a playground in this town [Howe ID, pop. ca. 300] a little ways ahead" I guessed.

I was right!

The greenness of heavily-irrigated Howe in the pictures above might fool you into thinking this part of Idaho isn't a desert. But it is.

Earlier we'd driven past a 'Danger--Unexploded Ordinance' sign and I regretted I didn't get a picture. From a distance I thought this was another, but nope.

Waaaaaay off there, about 100 miles away, is the backside of the Grand Tetons, in Wyoming. You'll probably have to zoom a lot. Their snowpack looks like clouds, but is finer and more detailed, if that makes sense. (And it really is the Tetons.)

Just zoom in...

...reeeeeally close and you'll see them, I promise.

Decisions, decisions (actually, we went straight and always knew we were going to). 

One, two, three, wait: who's taking this picture? The driver? Dangerous.

Ludwig claims another Montana (MT/ID in this case) Great Divide crossing, Monida.

Lima Peaks

The Pipe Organ

The West Pioneers

And that big stack (just left of center) says we're almost home. Except for one hiccup, to be addressed anon, Ludwig was a champ.

To the Moon, Ludwig!

Before we left the family's two older ladies wanted to show me how many bugs, including that biggish moth, Ludwig has killed lately.

We headed toward Idaho the back way, also the shortest way: over the Divide and then along the Big Hole River. There was some minor barfing in the back while driving through some bumpy road construction.

A diaper break in Wisdom turned into a frenzied escape from the billions of mosquitoes which were apparently waiting just for us. Those that made it into Ludwig before the doors got shut were dispatched before we got moving (more dead bugs). This is my attempt to photograph the eleven that were waiting for a chance to get in, near the driver's side window.

Mosquitoes vanquished, we made it to Lost Trail Pass on the MT/ID border. The lady in the visitor center was really enthusiastic about feeding the resident chipmunks, which we've always stressed to E is a bad thing. E did us proud and refused the lady's strangely dogged insistence that she feed them as well.

I guess doing this is a thing.

Into Idaho!

Aaaaand right away another diaper break. E is showing how she can lock the window by herself.

Okay, onward again.

A failed shot of one of those awesome truck tipping over signs.

Roads that huddle up against huge rocks? One of my favorite things.

I like it when rivers do it too.

This isn't Idaho's highest mountain, Borah Peak, but it's somewhere near it in the same range. We drove past Borah later, but it too was cloud-covered.

Past Willow Creek Summit the climate changed from alpine to semi-arid. It's basically a sagebrush desert, as seen here around Number Hill above Arco (every graduating class since 1920 has added their digits).

Not that we explored it, but Arco is kind of a weird little town. Number Hill, "First City in the World to be Lit by Atomic Power", this satanic submarine conning tower (technically, "sail"). Weird.

E did a celebratory rock climb and dance after we finally arrived at Craters of the Moon.

More "I'm finally out of the car" excitement. I say so often that we get the best campsites that it might seem untrue, but seriously, I think 36 is the best one in this campground.

(continued....)