A lot of new things

After we left Utah, I had been looking at the best way to get to Alaska..unless you re flying or taking the ferry..Which I really wanted to do, but they were booked...you have to go thru Canada and British Columbia, so I started us on a path to Washington. I was going to take us in that way. Next stop was Idaho.. Twin Falls. Twin Falls is a city in southern Idaho, it is known as a gateway to Snake River Canyon, and what a canyon! I thought it looked a lot like the Grand Canyon! It was breathtaking...At the canyon’s eastern end, there is Shoshone Falls...these Falls cascades over beautiful broad rocks and at 212 ft it is higher than Niagara Falls, it is known as the “Niagara Falls of the West..and it truly is! 

 To get into Twin Fall you have to cross over the towering Perrine Bridge, which offers excellent panoramic views of the canyon and we were told that most afternoon it is a popular launching point for BASE jumpers. BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth. BASE jumpers leap from any and all of these four fixed objects with parachutes designed specifically for rapid deployment, and it is known around the world as the most extreme of extreme sports! I bet!! It was a long way down off that bridge

While we were at Shoshone Falls we were told about a Bird of Prey Center that was located on the top of the mountain...so of course we had to check it out!  The World Center for Birds of Prey is a world renown rehab and conservative site for birds of prey. This facility is part of a larger organization dedicated to helping prevent the extinction of many types of birds of prey. You can see the birds of prey eye-to-eye and explore the mysteries of their flight, survival, and relationship with humans. They have tours, live bird demonstrations and you can view various birds of prey (my favorite was the Harpy Eagle) they also have a large separate archive building and this displays lots of things related to falconry - hoods...they have some amazing ones....bells, perches, paintings, books, etc. This building also houses a wing dedicated to the Arab Falconry Heritage Exhibit, this wing is courtesy of a very generous donation from Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, son of Sheikh Zayed, the Founding President of the United Arab Emirates and a falconer, he has made significant contributions to the conservation of birds of prey...so...on the way out we met a couple...they were traveling with her parents..they saw the tags on Bender (our Jeep) were from Florida and they wanted to ask us some questions about Fl, but the best part of this was that their daughter lives in Fairbanks Alaska....they have traveled there many times! They told us so much...my head was spinning...but they said not to go into Canada via Washington...but to go in thru Idaho or Montana. I was already set up to go into Washington so I detoured is a bit and we headed to Spokane Washington, from there we decided to go to Montana and cross the border there! 

We stayed in Twin Falls for a few days and then on to Spokane Washington...

Utah

After Mesa Verda and the Four Corners, we headed into Utah. My goal was to stay in Moab UT and see Arches National Park but alas that was not to be, they were having some sort of Car/ATV show and there was no place to stay! Now... we had been having trouble with Esprit coughing oil out of her tailpipe and poor Bender was getting oil all over his starboard side(my side...of course) and we were having to stop at car washes and deoil him and it was getting worse! But....back to my story....with us not being able to stay in Moab, I started looking for another place, the one I found was in Salina UT, just a few hours out of Moab. Great....we stayed in Butch Cassidy RV Park, it was just off Hwy 70. The best thing about this happening and I firmly believe all things happen for a reason..one event or connection leads to another or somehow comes into play down life’s road and that was the case here, because right up the street was Wagner Truck Repair and they were a certified Cummins Repair shop. As soon as they opened Monday we went to talk to them. They were great with us, they ordered the part we needed (the only one in the US and it was in Tennessee) and had her fixed in 3 days.. we packed up and stayed in a local motel! That was kinda a pain, but it was needed and we got to explore the area. We found some real hot springs and even though we didn’t go into the hot springs we walked around the area and I took pictures..they had some Llamas too...of course they were my favorite! 

One day we drove up to Provo Ut and that was a lot of fun! Provo is home to Brigham Young University and lots of museums, including the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum and the BYU Museum of Paleontology, this one houses a collection of dinosaur fossils. I was excited..but they were closed!  So we drove up to Bridal Falls, this is a 607-foot-tall double cataract waterfall at the south end of Provo Canyon, located on the Jordan River Trail. The Jordan River Trail is a 45-mile, multiple use trail paralleling the Jordan River. The trail has a paved trail so we walked all the way to end of it after we hiked the Bridal Falls!

I also bought a pair of tennis shoes!

Really! 

Next stop was Antelope Island in Great Salt Lake, Utah, is part of Antelope Island State Park. On the island, a semi–free-ranging population of American bison that have been in existence there since 1893. Though the island was named for the pronghorn antelope that John C. Frémont and Kit Carson found there when they explored the Great Salt Lake, the bison were later introduced and now the island is perhaps most famous for its bison herd, they are all over the place!

We stayed on the Island and it was a big mistake... what they do not tell you is that the bugs are so bad you can not go outside without full bug gear on..they are horrible! We tried to leave Esprit a couple of time to go walk, but we were driven back in by the bugs..we had to leave the next day...I was upset because I had these visions of all the bike riding and hiking we could do on the Island...not!