Day 16 though 18 – The Trip Home
On Day 16 we left Saint Mary fairly early, at least for us on the trip, seems like we both liked sleeping in, especially at the Saint Mary Lodge where our room backed up to the babbling river. We slept with the door somewhat open so we could hear the water… cool mount air and environmental sounds it doesn’t get much better for sleeping!
We made our way through all of the free range horses and cows down 89 to I15 which we picked up in Helena MT then down to Pocatello ID which was a nice 520 mile run on good roads. We got a real surprise when we crossed into Idaho, low and behold the speed limit went from 70 up to 80! Which of course I pushed to 90! When we got to Pocatello we took a room at the Comfort Inn and went to dinner at the Sand Piper Restaurant for a last Date Night on our trip at a great restaurant, really nice place full of young folks – Pocatello is a college town about like Flagstaff. A really nice evening.
On Day 17 the plan was to drive down to Monticello UT for our last night on the road. It started our well. Again another pleasant surprise when we hit Utah, the speed limit on I15 was also 80 MPH! Almost felt like being back in Germany… until we hit Orem UT on I15. Major accident involving a large truck and a much smaller jelly bean car. It was so balled up that I could not tell too much about what it was, I am thinking it might have been a new small Chevy, since the freeway was still open, I don’t think anyone passed away, which would have been a miracle.
When we hit US6 south of Provo and began our journey across the mountains, all hell broke loose. Torrential rains, bumper to bumper traffic headed back into Salt Lake, narrow mountain roads and to top it off the dew point was such that we had a cloud form inside Bettie that her marginal Vintage Air defroster couldn’t handle. Down went the front windows to cool off the inside of the wagon – finally with a lot of wiping I was able to somewhat see where we were going. Pretty much a white knuckle drive to 191 where we headed south to Monticello.
We found a great little motel in town for less than $70 for the night. Shortly after we got our stuff into the room four Harleys showed up being ridden by two couples for Denmark. We had a long conversation with them and showed them Bettie. I am guessing that they were in their late 50’s early 60’s and as I gather they try to take their yearly holiday on Harleys that they rent in some of the warmer spots of the USA. Both Michelle and I really enjoyed meeting them and talking about travel, Europe, cars and motorcycles.
On Day 18 we made the 300+ mile trek from Monticello to Show Low, its a trip that we have made numerous times over the years, and I have to say driving through this part of the southwest is truly one of life’s pleasures. We got home a little after 1:00 PM and had the wagon unloaded and Michelle got a start on 18 days of laundry.
When I pulled Bettie into the shop for the night, I noticed quite a lot of brake dust and metal shavings on the left rear wheel… more to come … later!