Enjoying the Country and the Scene - 299.9 miles!

Yesterday I had the day off. The whole day off. No photo shoots, no pet sitting obligations and no bar-tending. My favorite thing to do is getting into my 98 VW Passat with my two hounds; Rico & TC, my canon 50 D and a full tank of gas. I have been really wanting to take a drive into the hills to see the flowers, lakes, trees, birds, nests, barns, old signs, rivers, streams, horses and anything else that comes my way. I have also been hoping to go to our old family home in Star Valley. I haven't seen that place for at least 10 years, but it feels like much longer. The goal on this trip was to try to only take the back roads wherever possible.  Taking it slow, stopping for pictures, enjoying the country and the scene. This trip went from Pocatello, Inkom, McCammon, Soda Springs, Tin Cup, Freedom Wyoming, Afton Wyoming, Palisades, Swan Valley, Idaho Falls, Fort Hall.

                                     I took S. Grant to head out of town and saw these! Poppies are the most beautiful flowers, they POP with amazing brightness and grow in flurries. I make sure to hunt down poppies with my camera every June.

Traveling on through the beautiful Portneuf Gap to the South toward Inkom is a beautiful back road drive to avoid the high speed of I-15 . Passing behind the old cement plant and staying south to Fall Creek Road we meandered along until we got to our favorite spot to take a dip in the water and stretch our legs. This land is gorgeous. It is set with a backdrop of steep blackrock cliffs, green pastures and a small quiet fall creek winding through each field. I sat on the bridge and threw sticks to the dogs. Rico showed off his cannon ball jump while TC focused intently on each stick in the air. 

Moving on we drove another 10 miles to Walker Rd. toward McCammon. This is the spot where we had to get off the back roads. Taking Hwy 30 we pass McCammon, Lava Hot Springs, Grace,  beautiful farm fields and mountain passes in between. It was gorgeous!! (As you can tell by the cell phone picture through the window while driving.)

We drove through Soda Springs and into the hills of the Caribou National Forest. This area is magical! You can go to Blackfoot Reservoir, Greys Lake, The Bone Store, China Hat, the small boating town of Henry, among probably a thousand other places I don't know about. I chose to go through this area to Freedom Wyoming on my way to Afton, Wyoming. We stopped at a beautiful lake, it was so tucked away and private. The mosquitoes have found it, and there were some camp trailers along the way but no other signs of life. 

 

The next time I go through this area I hope I will be prepared to stop and camp. I want to stay around and enjoy the area for a night. Since I was just passing through on this trip I followed the directions on google map into Freedom, Wyoming. This town is tiny, real old school, beautiful hills all around, some farms and some newer poorly built apartment buildings.

The drive into Star Valley was full of memories! The smell of taxidermy, the view of the dilapidated cheese factory, an arch way made of antlers, drive thru liquor stores and beautiful mountains and landscape welcome you into town. The following are pictures going into Afton, seeing our old home again which felt so good to see and the drive up to periodic springs.

 

Going home, I chose to take the palisades to Swan valley route. The next time I do this it will be interesting to go through Bear Lake. I love that traveling through this area has so many possibilities of routes. I let the dogs swim in Palisades, stopped in Swan Valley for square ice cream, cruised down the yellowstone highway through Idaho Falls, Shelley, Firth, Blackfoot, Fort Hall and finally at 299.9 miles I made it back home!