Goodbye Utah… Hello Oregon

 

Our last couple of weeks working in Utah went pretty fast. We did not finish the area due to the fact that most of the remaining routes are ATV and Motorcycle trails. We inventoried several of those routes as long as the Jeep would fit. Most of those routes started out fine but would soon narrow down too much to where we could not continue. Luckily the motorcycle teams showed up and will finish up the area.

It would figure that we would get so close to the end of the season with no damage to the Jeep except some scratches and scrapes. Then out of the blue a “Sniper Rock” was hidden on the down slope of a creek crossing and I caught the rear bumper on it! I cried for a week!!

Ouch!

 

Our bosses Chuck and Claudia are sending us, our co-workers Danielle and Jessica Shaner to Oregon to meet up with Delano and Tracy, and their teams to help finish up in the Oregon area before the weather shuts them down for the year. There should only be around two weeks worth of work, but the area we will be working in is very remote, and we may have to boondock the last week or so to be close enough to the work area. It should make it interesting for sure!

We will miss our bosses Chuck and Claudia, they were great to work for and they are super people to boot. We know we will see them again this next year. Thanks Chuck and Claudia for making our summer so memorable and fun!

We left Nephi, Utah on Wednesday with the Shaner girls right behind us, and traveled to Twin Falls, Idaho and spent two nights at a nice little county park while we explored the area. Twin Falls is an area where you need to visit in the spring when the falls are full.

Shoshone Falls is called the Niagara Falls of the west. During peak water flow the falls look like this.

Visiting off season and in October the water falls looked like this.

Down river from the falls.

It was a big difference but still pretty none the less.

Also close by was Evil Knievel’s  Snake River Jump site.

There was a time in American life ( 1974), when millions of people would turn on their TVs Sunday afternoons to see if Evel Knievel had died yet.  After clearing 50 cars in 1973, and thinking of jumping the Grand Canyon, Knievel decided to jump the Snake River Canyon a distance of some 1,600 feet, with the canyon floor 500 feet below. For the jump, Knievel used a steam powered motorcycle known as Skycycle X-2.  On this day in 1974, Knievel sat in the Skycycle perched at a 54-degree angle, and launched, only to have the parachute open immediately. While the Skycycle hit the top of the far rim, winds blew it back across the canyon.  Knievel survived with minor injuries, but proved once again he was willing to try any stunt once.

In 1974, I was 14 years old and growing up riding dirt bikes Evil Knievel was a hero of mine. Back then all of his stunts were televised on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and I never missed one. So this was pretty cool to see where he was going to jump. Now reflecting back I think he was nuts! I wish I still had this stunt cycle though.

Here is the take off ramp

R.I.P. Evil, you were the man!!

We pulled into our camp spot at Steen’s Wilderness Mountain Resort on Friday and got settled in.

Then on Saturday, our new bosses Delano and Tracy led us, and the Shaner girls on a 50 mile loop to check out the “Rim” and “Big Indian Gorge”.

“Big Indian”

“The Rim” at 9,960 feet

Our Bosses Delano and Tracy

Jessica, Danielle, Tracy, Max

We are starting to make plans for when we leave here in two weeks or so. We are thinking of heading over to the coast and explore the Oregon coast line before it gets to cold.  We will then drive down highway 101 into California check out the Redwoods and then back to our winter resort at Jojoba Hills. Our alternate plan is to take Hyw 395 down through Reno and check out Lake Tahoe as we quickly head south. Either way should be a great drive.

Enjoy Your Day!