Pictures at 11

I am back home and it is close to 11:00pm. Here are some photos of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. I will blog about trip later. Since I am not smart enough to figure out how to insert an image then post a caption, we will start at the top and work our way down.

Windmill farms of Wyoming; the land in southern Wyoming isn't good for anything, not enough good vegetation for livestock to feed off of and soil is too poor for raising crops, only in few small places close to a river do you see any cattle but in western and eastern Wyoming you are seeing more and more windmill farms, these windmills stretch for a good 5 miles in places, how wonderful is that. Along Interstate 80 there are frequent signs warning you of high winds and I fought winds going to Idaho and heading home, in the winter when it snow you can experience white out conditions which cause the interstate to be closed, oh yeah southern Wyoming and also southern Idaho are literally treeless, only thing which grows well is sage brush. Image being a pioneer on the Oregon trail having to cross this waste land.

Mountains outside of Ogden Utah; trying to show the beautiful orange color of the trees on the mountain side, going home we drove to Ogden then up the beautiful mountain pass into Wyoming. I lived in Ogden for 4 years in the 80's, nice place to live once you get use to its ultra conservative way of thinking, state is run by the Mormon church, separation of church and state does not apply in Utah:)

Next 4 are of the Snake river at Twin Falls Idaho, notice the high gorge, this is all volcanic rock, southern Idaho is littered with volcanic rock and sage brush, in the 2nd picture on the right side you will notice a golf course, I am not a golfer but to me this is one of the coolest golf courses ever, 4th picture is of a spring coming out of the canyon wall, there are 1,000 springs in a 40 mile stretch of river between Twin Falls and Hagerman Idaho. Once again think of what this must have looked like to the pioneers, doubt if any of them saw something like this in the eastern part of America.

Next is the Snake River valley outside of Hagerman, notice the canyon walls are getting less high and the valley has lush vegetation, great soil for certain crops and grazing. Before the white people the natives live here, farming, hunting and fishing, there are huge sturgeon in the river, the native people gone but some of the land they loved is still with us in its natural beauty.

These are hop poles, they stand about 20 feet high, the hops grow up them like pole beans, hops are a pod plant and it is the dust of the pod which is used in beer, just add corn and barley and you have what used to be my favorite beverage.

Last one of the Snake river, taken at Homedale Idaho, 15 miles from my aunts house, by now the river has gotten smaller and shallower, the local farmers depend on it for irrigation, the valleys west of Boise are home to onions, sugar beets, potatoes, corn, hops, dry beans farms, apple, grape and peach orchards, of course their corn fields are puny compared to those in the heart of corn country, Nebraska and Iowa. If we Nebraskans have nothing else to brag about we can brag about our corn fields and cattle;)

Next is a valley in the Cascade mountains north of Boise, I took my aunt and mom for a drive up there on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, temps in the high 50's, the trees where just starting to turn red, yellow and orange, there was snow on the high mountain tops.

This is the Payette river just north of Boise, taken on same drive. Of course everyone one knows who the curly headed little girl is, she got mad because she couldn't see any fishes in the river like she could at the zoo but had fun throwing rocks in the river anyway.

All the mountain traveling made me crave for buying either a pull type camper or a small RV. It has been quite a few years since I have been in the mountains and really miss them. I want to get a camper so I can take a trip once or twice a year to the mountains of Colorado or Wyoming, both are within a 5 hour drive of Kearney. Tents are alright but campers are so much more comfortable especially if the weather gets bad or it is cold, at least you have a dry, warm, comfortable place to kick back and read if need be.

Well it is almost midnight, I am tired from all the driving, good 12 to 14 hours both days. My little dog is happy I am home and curled up on the couch beside me, I am sure she is ready to go sleep in bed next to daddy, she stayed with Mich while I was gone. Hope you all enjoyed the photo journey and didn't wear your scroll out going up and down between words and photo's.

Hope all of you are doing well, love and prayers to all!!

Namaste, Peace, Love and Light

Scott