Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 7 – July 16th:
The Twin Falls / Jerome KOA campground was decent, but I was obviously there at a bad time. The bathroom and shower area was apparently under construction. They had a temporary trailer parked by the office that was basically a port-a-potty with a shower in it. Needless to say, it was disgusting.
After getting everything packed up, we headed south on US 93 in to Twin Falls. We crossed the Perrine Memorial Bridge over Snake River, and arrived at the Twin Falls Visitor Center. There’s a nice park here with a great view of the bridge, canyon and Snake River. The visitor center has some nice displays that included a restored stage coach.
Following the walkway just east of the bridge, you can see the site where Evel Knievel attempted to jump Snake River canyon in 1974. I was 7-years old. Evel Knievel was a super star when I was a kid. I remember having an Evel Knievel wind up motorcycle, and seeing his stunts on TV.
(Evel Knievel attempting to jump Snake River Canyon in 1974)
It’s crazy that I almost didn’t take this route. I was initially going to head north, but made the decision to go through Twin Falls for some breakfast and fuel. I didn’t expect to find the bridge and beautiful view of the canyon. If I hadn’t stopped, I wouldn’t have ever realized I was so close to a historic Evel Knievel site. Another example of the cool things you discover taking the old US routes, and stopping to look around.
My goal for the day was to head west to Oregon. I had made the decision to go to the Pacific Ocean, and was going to keep driving west until I got there. But, I didn’t want to get back on the Interstate.
I followed US 30 west out of Twin Falls. When I was passing through Filer Idaho (the next town west), I came across Cedar Draw Park. It’s basically a roadside park, or what we would call a rest area on the Interstate. You can still find these along the old US routes. They serve the same function that rest areas do on the interstate. Remember, the old US routes were the major travel routes before the interstate. I decided to stop and walk Marley. I had spent some time walking around in Twin Falls, but left Marley in the truck. This looked like a great opportunity to let him off his leash for a while. It was a decent park with restrooms and eating pavilions. I didn’t take any photos here, but I wanted to mention the park because they allow overnight camping. They even have electric. It’s $12 for a site with electric, and $8 for a site without. There is a pay station for you to leave the money. Had I known this park was here, I wouldn’t have stayed at KOA, and saved myself some money.
Marley and I continued west on US 30 until we came to Bliss Idaho. From here, US 30 overlaps IS-84. However, in many cases you can still find the original US route. We continued on past IS-84 / US 30 on to ‘Old US 30’. Old US 30 took us to Glenns Ferry where I saw a sign for the Oregon Trail. I decide to follow the Oregon Trail instead of US 30. I mean, think about it. How can you choose to take the old roads to Oregon, and pass up a chance to drive the Oregon Trail?
I have to admit though, there wasn’t much to see on the Oregon Trail but open plains and windmills. I guess that’s more than what the early pioneers saw. I couldn’t imagine making the slow trip by horse and wagon across this trail in the 1800’s.
The Oregon Trail reconnected with Old US 30 just outside of Mountain Home Idaho. From here I decided to take SR 67 towards Mountain Home AFB where the road becomes SR 167. We continued until the road ended at SR 78, and then followed SR 78 norh. When we got to Marsing we headed west to pick up US 95, but ran in to a road closure in Wilder. We had to head east on SR 19, and then took a shortcut north on Notus Rd to US 26. Traveling west on US 26 would lead us out of Idaho to Nyssa Oregon.
After crossing in to Oregon I made the decision to stop at a truck stop and get some fuel. This was a weird experience. I use the diesel pumps in the section for autos, so I’m not in the way of truck drivers trying to re-fuel. The station was really busy, and there was an attendant running around helping people with their gas pumps. I got out and started fueling my truck, and noticed that there were some people looking at me really strange. I looked myself over really quick, and then looked at my truck trying to figure out what these people were staring at. Everything seemed normal on my end, so I filled up the truck and left.
US 26 and US 20 overlap in this part of Oregon, and split from each other in Vale Oregon. I could have taken either route to to head west from Vale, but chose to follow US 20. This would be the only route decision that I would make on this trip and wish I could change.
Continuing west on US 20 took me across a very open and boring section of highway. I wished that I would have taken US 26. It actually passed through some national forests, and had to of been a more scenic drive.
After setting the cruise control and taking a nap, I ended up in Bend Oregon. Ok, I didn’t really set the cruise control, and we did stop somewhere along the way to stretch and get some food.
I decided to stop in Bend and top off my fuel tank. When I pulled up to the pump, an attendant came out and told me I that was allowed to pump my own fuel. I’m sure I gave him a ‘you’re an idiot’ look as I asked him “Why wouldn’t I be?”.
To my surprise, I found out that it’s against the law to pump your own gas in Oregon.
That’s right. You read that correctly.
It’s against the law to pump your own gas in Oregon.
I had to type that again because it still surprises me to hear myself say it.
I asked the attendant why, and he really had no idea. He thought it was to keep people from pumping gas and driving off. I informed him that in this day in age, pumps are set up to not pump until you’ve either prepaid at the pump, or in the station. Strangely enough, you can literally grab these nozzles and just start pumping. He then suggested that it was to create jobs. Ok. So out of curiosity, I asked him if he had to receive any special training. Apparently, he had to take a test. So while speaking to the professional fuel pumper, I asked him if he knew why I could legally pump my own diesel fuel. He didn’t have a clue. I explained that diesel fuel isn’t flammable, it’s combustible (that apparently wasn’t on the test). It ignites when it’s sprayed in to a hot cylinder and then compressed. I told him that I could pour it on the ground and throw a match on it, and it wouldn’t light. He got a look of panic, and asked me not to do it. Seriously? I then explained that I can probably legally pump my own diesel because it’s not considered flammable. I’m not going to blow myself up, or set the station on fire pumping it.
I think this is how the state of Oregon envisions people pumping their own gas:
I know it sounds like I’m making fun of the guy, but he was actually pretty cool. I stood there and talked with him for a few minutes before leaving. Looking back, this explained the crazy looks I got earlier at the truck stop. A real regular outlaw pumping my own fuel. While in Oregon, I even saw guys with diesel trucks letting attendants pump their fuel. This is definitely a state for millennials that can’t do anything for themselves.
From Bend Oregon, I traveled north on US 97 to the Redmond / Central Oregon KOA. It wasn’t a huge campground, but it was pretty nice. The tent sites were a nice size, and had well defined borders.
They even had a small fenced in area for dogs to play.
You can see Mt. Jefferson from the entrance to the campground. Mt. Jefferson is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the Cascade Range, and is the second highest mountain in Oregon.
After letting Marley play for a while, and cooking up some dinner on the grill, it was time to get some rest.
Tomorrow we would finally reach the Pacific Ocean, and I was pretty excited about it. The day would bring some surprises, and add to the amazement of the trip.
Links:
Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Main Page
Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 8