After deciding against traveling on a windy day with strong gusts, we spent Tuesday mostly kicking back. We didn’t go anywhere, just hung out. Our decision to stay put was a good one. The gusts were so strong at times that the coach and trailer were rocking. I can handle that when we’re stationary, but rocking and rolling down the road is not a good idea.

Wednesday’s forecast called for 10-15 mph winds. It was 15 mph for sure, but it was from the south-southwest. This gave us mostly a tailwind component which makes for easy driving. We hit the road around 10:15 and left Pocatello on I-15 north.

We had only traveled about 270 miles since I last filled our fuel tank, but looking ahead, I knew we might not have a good opportunity for fuel until we reached Missoula next week. I also didn’t know if we would be boondocking – if the Elks Lodge RV lot was full, we had a plan “B” for some BLM boondocking. BLM is Bureau of Land Management – they administer much public land, especially in the west. Many BLM areas allow dry camping for up to 14 days in a 30-day period. We stopped at the Blackfoot exit at US26 and topped up the tank, then got back on I-15.

We went west at the junction of ID33. There was very little traffic – even on I-15 once we were north of Idaho Falls. On ID33, then on ID28 we didn’t see many vehicles on the road. We passed through several small towns and crossed large ranches. We saw deer and antelope as we headed north on ID28. The road surface was good but it’s a fairly narrow two-lane highway and you have to stay alert. Donna snapped a few photos from the passenger seat that give a feel of what the country was like. We’ve never traveled in this part of Idaho before.

I knew we were gradually climbing as we went along. The only real indication was the gauge showing turbo boost. We were running at 19 to 23 psi of boost, which means there was a pretty good load on the engine to maintain our speed of 60mph – not maximum load, but not just loafing along either. Eventually we hit the Gilmore Summit at 7,169 feet above sea level. From there, it was a very slight downgrade over the next 65 miles all the way to Salmon.

We found the Elks Lodge off of US93 on the north side of Salmon and they had an open site for us. We have a large pull-through and didn’t have to drop the trailer. We were set up and relaxing by 3:30pm. We’re now at an elevation of about 4,000 feet above sea level. Looking out our windshield, we see the Continental Divide.

The Continental Divide is a hydrological divide that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific from those that drain into the Atlantic – including the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean Sea.

After dinner, Donna took a walk down to the Salmon River. There’s a recreational area right across the highway from us called the Lemhi Hole Fishing Access. That’s where she ended up on her walk.

We paid for five nights here. We want to relax, do a little exploring and enjoy the area before we move on again. The weather is agreeable – not as dry as we’ve been experiencing. The temperature might reach the low 80s this afternoon and the humidity is currently at 35%. Saturday has the warmest forecast with 90 degrees possible, but otherwise it should remain in the low 80s with cool overnight temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s.

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