Idaho - Oregon
On March 14th, we woke up in Idaho at the Old Sawmill Station and it was just barely snowing. We packed up to get on our way and visited the owner, Mike's, store. As you can expect, he had a pretty limited supply but in his stock he had the propane and butter we needed to continue cooking along the road. The area was tucked far into the mountains so we were miles from cell service but he put a router in the shop just big enough to spread wifi throughout the small building. I connected just to load up some directions and check the road closures...luckily there were none along our route! While we were in the store, Mike offered us some breakfast he had supposedly made for a couple of hunters he had staying there but they were late. He served us up cheesy eggs, a ham steak, and a bit of buttered wheat toast. After we were fueled up, we hit the road to see the Sawtooths.
These snowflakes on my sleeve were actually visible hexagons!
The road took us in a generally west direction through the landscape encompassing Sawtooth mountains. After passing a few very small towns, you get into this basin area where the mountains literally surround you from all angles. It really shows off Mother Nature's strength to create such amazing structures. We continued on through the snowy landscape and up to Galena Pass. It wasn't nearly the climb that Loveland Pass required, but it was still a great view at all angles. These public lands are not what most people think when they think about Idaho, and they are sure worth a visit.
Found some geothermally heated pools on the roadside in the Sawtooths
Panorama of the view at Galena Pass
Getting some selfies at Galena Pass
Roadside views on the way down from the Sawtooths
The road ahead after the Sawtooths, ID
As we descended from the mountains, we happened upon a ski village where we stopped to make our lunch. It seemed like a very nice, upscale town but we had many miles left in our trip so it was only a short break before chugging further down the road. At this point, we decided to start calling insurance agencies because a home we were applying to rent required renter's insurance before we could sign a lease. It is quite the interesting process trying to get a quote when you are in and out of cell service across Idaho's desert. However, we succeeded! We found an awesome agent at State Farm and told him we would be in town Friday to meet and sign all the paperwork. He knew we were in Middle of Nowhere, USA by that point so it came as a surprise but we knew we could deliver. By this point, it was reaching late afternoon and we still did not decide on a place to sleep that night. I think this was our biggest mistake yet. We had taken for granted the easiness of finding campgrounds so far and just blissfully kept driving.
Another awesome mountain view
A view of east Oregon with mountains
Soon enough, we were in Oregon! How exciting?? Finally in our new 'home state'! We considered staying in a few different towns close to the border but we felt like driving more so why shouldn't we? Well...east Oregon is an expansive, empty, undeveloped desert. That's why. We passed a sign noting "Last gas for 68 miles", it didn't seem like a big deal until the next few hours unfolded. To preface this, you may have heard that Oregon recently passed the law that allows its citizens to pump their own gas. Well, a quick Google search will reveal the truth that only counties with less than 40,000 people are affected by this law, larger counties still require a gas attendant. So we flew right past that sign with about a quarter tank of gas and did not see anything for quite a while. We came up on a small town maybe thirty or so miles later with a place called the Good Vibes Cafe. There was a sign on the other side of the street outside a fenced area saying there was gas only for municipal use there. We went into the cafe and learned they had not sold gas in years. They did offer us 5 gallons for $30 but also said the next town with gas was only about eight miles down the road. At the time, it seemed very doable, why wouldn't you believe the locals? So we continued on with only slight worry, but we didn't want to pay double price for gas if we could help it. Eight miles came and no gas station. Wonderful. Eventually, when we had the gas needle just above E, we happened upon a shop with a house next door. It was about 5:30pm and they were closed. Chris tried the pumps while I ran around looking for any sign of helpful life...nothing. The one pump that was there was not open after hours but somehow dispensed 10 cents worth of gas. We realized there was no hope and just continued down the road hoping some town with gas would be within reach.
This next section was long, empty, and worrisome. We traveled through the hilly desert of Oregon, observed many cool rock formations, and more sage bush than I ever care to see again. During this leg, we decided it was time to use our extra gas, we brought 1.5 gallons in case of emergency and had not used it yet. Who knew east Oregon was SO empty? By the time we added the extra gas, it wasn't even enough to turn off the 'Low Fuel' light. Chris was not hopeful. I had never run out of gas in my life so I thought surely we could make it. We had to pull a few hills and travel A LOT of miles yet. About 9 miles outside of the town Burns, the truck started to buck from too low of fuel. Chris said, "this is it, it's happening", I was dumbfounded. Thank GOODNESS we were in cell service when it happened. I began to search for 24 hour gas stations in the town ahead. We were not walking 18 miles in Oregon desert today! I called Sam's Service and spoke to a man who said his driver could be out here with gas in twenty minutes. While we waited, Chris started up the truck and kept us going a couple more times which all amounted to about a mile and a half. I thought he was playing a joke on me, but sadly, we were just out of fuel. It took over half an hour, but the driver arrived with maybe five gallons of gas. Not sure if it's small town Oregonians or just him, but he was not a fan of joking around. Chris did not believe that the gas would get us to town but it just barely did. We rolled up to the gas station practically sputtering out of fuel again. The driver that had met us was just a negative, crap-talking guy. He made unnecessary comments about the truck and then tried to get us to pay cash so he could pocket the money and keep it off the books. What a great 'Welcome to Oregon', right? From a quick look around town, it seemed like a rough area that we wouldn't want to stay in anyway. However, we were starving so we found the only open restaurant in town, a Chinese/American combo place. Every family needs a spot to get their chow mein and cheese burgers in the same spot! After some of the saddest egg rolls ever, we decided Burns was not for us and we would keep driving. Only problem...for the first time on this journey...it began to really snow. I think it was around 9pm local time, the snow was coming down, visibility was low, and we did not have a planned place to stay. Chris thought we could make it to Bend (a big town on the east side of the Cascades) but I knew Murphy's Law was already in full swing today and we needed to quit.
A few miles up the road, we found a rest stop so I decided we should just stop there to sleep and wait out the snow storm. There were a few other people on the road too, surprisingly. One was a big truck towing two camp trailers who also stopped to sleep at the rest stop. Another guy was in a small sedan and asked Chris how to put on his chains, only he had truck sized chains which were never going to work for his small wheels. He continued on in search of a hotel. After visiting the prison-cell bathrooms at this place, we jumped in the bed with the dogs and went to sleep. We woke up in the 7 o'clock hour and got back on the road. It was still snowing lightly and the camp trailer truck was back on the road with us too.
Check out my next post for the rest of this day's journey!