Day 7

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Greetings from Richfield, Utah! Today was a traveling day for us. We did not have any major destinations to view. My plans for today was just to go along for the ride! This morning we left Jackson Hole, Wyoming and headed south. We drove along US 89 heading toward Idaho. The Snake River flows along beside the highway about 20-25 miles. There are many guided float trips offered by businesses along the way, which Matthew would like to do on "The Great Western Adventure: Part II."

Throughout the southern part of Wyoming we drove through the Targhee, Bridger, Caribou and Cache National Forests. The Cache National Forest overlaps into our 7th state visited, Idaho. The land here was very similiar to Wyoming. We drove through many small towns with speed traps.

Right outside of Garden City, Idaho lays a beautiful lake known as Bear Lake. It is a 20 mile long, alpine lake. The lake is an intense aqua blue and is often referred to as the "Caribbean of the Rockies." This unique color is caused from the reflection of the limestone deposits suspended in the lake.

Next, we crossed over into Utah. Matthew changed our route and decided to drive through Salt Lake City. The traffic was pretty hectic but Matthew hung right in there with them. Right outside of Salt Lake City was a town called Sandy. We stopped here to stretch our legs and took a walk through their local mall.

Northern Utah is a lot like Idaho and Wyoming with many hills and still a lot of farmland. It had beautiful valleys with lush, irrigated alfalfa fields. Matthew has been exicted to see so much alfalfa. We also drove by a few lavender farms. This is not how I imagined Utah. However, the scenery soon changed. The farms began to thin out and the trees became few and far between. As you can see from this photo, the landscape soon became more arid and dry.

We have now traveled through 8 states and 2,800 miles.

Just "going along for the ride" can be pretty tiring. We both became a little stir crazy and stopped early for the day in Richfield, Utah.

~Amy