I must admit that I slept through most of Idaho on the way down. It was starting to get dark, so I couldn't see much anyway. I am so nightblind. Stopped for the night by Idaho Falls at the lava flow park. We were supposed to go for a walk in the morning but I was tired so I got to stay in bed. JR took Buddy for a walk and then headed down the road. Buddy is doing a very good job of peeing on every tree he can in the states.
  I woke up shortly after we crossed into Utah. The landscape is really starting to change. Still lots of mountains in the distance but more flat elsewhere. The agriculture that I see is all done by irrigation. Some huge irrigation systems down here! Starting to notice tons of billboards everywhere. Advertising everything from doctors, plastic surgery, bail bonds and the ones I found interesting are the ones that show you the wait time at local hospital emergency wards. Stopped at some tiny town to grab some munchies for the road and walk the dog. Wow they grow the grasshoppers big!!  They are about the size of 3 of our grasshoppers together. Weather getting much warmer, had to change into shorts. Yaa!!

Capital Building in Salt Lake City

  Saw my first glimpse of the Great Salt Lake. I wanted to check it out, but it's too far off the highway..One of these trips we will stop so I can check it out. Salt Lake City is huge and spralling. The sprall starts north of Salt Lake City and doesn't stop for about 2 hours once you get past Provo Utah. Couldn't see the Mormon Temple from the highway. Did see a store that Evelyn would love. It's called Halloween Headquarters in Salt Lake City. All Halloween, all year round!! Again another place we are going to have to stop at on our of our trips.

Mens Prison

Saw where the Utah Jazz basketball team play. Passed three prisons in a row, the males, then the juvenille center, then the womens. The amount of fences, razor wire and guard towers, they are not fooling around!

<>

Womens Prison Notice guard towers

<>

Juville Center

Stopped for fuel and a shower in St. George Utah. Tempurature is up to 39C. I'm loving it!! Buddy is not so impressed. lol It's hard for him to tap dance from the heat of the ground and pee on a tree at the same time. Saw my first palm tree and cactus!! It's easy to tell where the rivers,streams and creeks are that is where there are trees. Decided that we will stop in Las Vegas for a couple hours this evening and then continue south before we stop for the night. So excited to see Vegas, and curious too after everything I have seen on tv and movies about it. 2 hours to Vegas!! Dipped into Arizona for 48 miles. The whole trip is through the Virgin River Gorge. WOW! Absolutly beautiful country. The colors in the rock! So different from the Rocky Mountains I am used to. Saw our first wildlife, 3 big horned sheep, along the side of the road.

First Trip to the States

August 31 2010

Loaded with a trailer full of containers with hasmat residue headed to Fontana California. It's cold outside, looking forward to the warmth in the states. It's now official Buddy and I are becoming travellers. Headed down highway 2, spending the night in Nanton Ab. Stopped in Claresholm Ab to mail a letter, what a cute town, I want to go explore it sometime.

September 1 2010

Whoo hoo the border!! According to the information from JR's company, I am 110 years old. LOL They had my  birthday as December 31 1899!! Even the fellow at the border said I looked good for my age. hee hee. Now I have to figure out how to fit a rocking chair into truck.
Stop at the duty free to grab smokes, $37.50 for a carton of Canadian smokes.

The Border at Coutts

Secondary Radiation Sensor

  The northern half of Montana really reminds me the the area around Drumheller, coulees, and kettle and drum hills. Cattle, grain and pumpjacks. The pumpjacks here are baby ones, about a third of the size of the ones in Alberta. Lots of wind power farms around too. Those things are huge! All the access roads have Texas gates where they hook up to the interstate..Don't want those cows getting on the highway. Grey and raining out, where is this warm weather I was told about??
  Great Falls Montana. Stop for fuel and a quick walk for Buddy and a smoke for me. This only being able to smoke every 3-4 hours is going to kill me. South of Great Falls, the geography really starts to change. On one side of the road is the Big Belt Mountains, the other side of the road is the Rocky Mountains. The colors of the rock is amazing. They are totally different than 'our' mountains in Alberta. Terrible to see the damage done by the Pine Beetle. Whole mountain sides that should be green with Pine trees are full of dead brown trees.
Up one mountain and down the other side. My ears are popping from the difference in altitude like popcorn. Hope it's not bothering the dog like it is me. I play tourist all day looking out the window, taking pictures and checking the big atlas book to see where we are and what is all around us. They sure like their flags here! It seems every second house has a very large American flag flying in the yard. Drive by a little town that claims it is the opal capital of the U.S... One of theses trips we will have to stop and check it out.

Big Belt Mountains

   Dillon Montana. It's official I now know I am in the states. Stop at a store, walking around exploring the store. First thing I notice is that you can buy liquer in the store. I start giggling when I see in this same store you can buy guns and the ammo to go with them. Talk about your one stop shopping!! LMAO!!  Seems very odd to see Spanish on everything instead of French.

Notice the shotgun blasts through sign

On into Idaho where we spend the night in Blackfoot, just north of Idaho Falls. JR wants to show me the lava flows where he usually stops for a walk. In the parking lot of the rest area where we stay is a truck haul one blade for a wind farm turbine. Holy crow! It's well over 75 feet long and about 8 feet tall and the circumfrence was about 12 feet where it would attach to the rest of the turbine.

<>

Wind turbine blade