Crossing Utah and Idaho

Yester day we traveled more than 400 miles. crossing Utah and Idaho (almost) and ending up in Boise, Idaho for two nights.
We witnessed at high speed a real cattle drive with cowboys on horseback crossing a huge number of cattle across the main Union Pacific railroad lines in Utah - unfortunately there was no pull off or exits to watch as we were traveling through a canyon.
We saw fields of potatoes and wondered how Dorothy's science fair project was doing! We had gotten off I-64 and had taken US 30 into Twin Falls and the area is well irrigated and producing lots of crops!
You younger ones most likely never heard of Evel Kenibel and his crazy stunts, including trying to jump this canyon in Idaho on his motorcycle! Did he make it? You might want to Google this or see on You Tube!

Camping in Evanston, WY

Tonight we checked into a campground and we were parked 50 feet from a highway - we ask for and received a refund and headed for Walmart! Half the trucks and campers were already there and we noticed a vacant Sonic Restaurant - and here we are for the night!
Shopping has been most convenient and we have yet to see how well we sleep with the trucks, railroad, and highway (but further away).

Crossing Wyoming

Today we crossed Wyoming and had an interesting day enjoying the western views that are so different. From frequent signs that "if lights are blinking, exit I-80 because it is closed ahead". We saw snow on the tops of mountains and lots of snow fences along the way. I missed taking a picture of a huge shovel that was at a mining operation - it must have been 7 stories tall!

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Today we only traveled a short distance - from Sidney, NE to Cheyenne, WY and what a delightful state capitol this is! Everything is very accessable and no parking meters with lots of parking available downtown.
We visited the State Museum and then Bill went into the State Capitol and even met Max Maxfield, The Secretary of State! My knee had decided that enough walking was enough and I missed the fun.
We are spending the night at the Moose Lodge with 30 amp service, water, and WiFi.
This evening we headed back downtown for dinner and there was a concert going on in the park across from the old railroad station which is now a Pub and Museum.
We found a geocache and a neighbor came out to see if we needed any assistance - very friendly and then he directed us to see the Big Boy Locomotive in a park. It was delightful to see all the people and the families enjoying the park and it was near sundown.
We have been enjoying all the "Big Sky" views - this cumulus cloud was spectacular and yet quite a distance away. It feels like you can see forever!

A Day in Sidney, Nebraska

Last night and again tonight we are camped in the Cabelas' Campground. This is the original store location and the corporate headquarters. This morning our mail arrived thanks to Barbara and we followed its trip from Big Canoe to Sidney on a USPS app for the phone - very cool. We had heard about a train derailment when we were at Bailey Yard and today we saw it in Sidney - quite a collection of wheels and cars. We wondered if a crane had moved the cars into a nice pile for future removal.
Shopping in Cabelas was our afternoon adventure - but mostly looked and had lunch there. Might get in some geocaching later - need a few caches from Nebraska!

Making Hay Bales

Did you ever wonder how they make the hay bales? We enjoyed watching this operation. First the tractor raked the cut hay into long piles. Next the baler drives along and rolls the bales and then stops and dumps them! Next the truck loads the bales and moves the bales to the collection area and dumps them off - all pretty cool!

North Platte's Bailey Yard

Yesterday we departed Lincoln and headed to Sidney, NE with a long stop in North Platte, NE to visit Bailey Yard which is the largest railroad yard in the world. We enjoyed the humping of the railroad cars (both east and west bound) to form new trains and the moving around of the engines. Their locomotive repair facility can handle around 85 engines for routine maintenance or rebuilding at once. A retired employee of Union Pacific was in the tower answering all the questions of the visitors. The yard is 8 1/2 miles long and 2 1/2 miles wide.