Day 13 - Burley to Pocatello

The side roads along the highway start and stop - no direct Old Oregon Trail to Pocatello. I am thinking of jumping on and off I-84 / I-86, but have 80+ miles to cover and want to get to Pocatello at a reasonable time due to upcoming mountains and heat.

Jump on the highway and ride !!!

Great conversation with a couple from Bay Area on a camping trip with a big rig.

Their 5 year plan is to be retired, and rent out their house for part of each year. They get to travel, and their now-23 year old son will have to move out and get his own place when they rent !!!

They said they passed another thru-bicyclist 30 minutes earlier. I'm at the rest stop for 30+ minutes but do see him. Except for the Ride America group I still have not yet coma across another thru-rider. Surprised.

Only have a few pictures. Clear to see why there are no side-roads to follow. Desolation Row; sunny; hot.

Stop in American Falls, have a pastry and drink in a Mexican bakery; their pastry has much less sugar. It's good.

Enter the Fort Hall Reservation on the highway; evidently I will ride thru it for a while tomorrow morning - should be interesting.

Been looking forward to Pocatello - 50,000 + people; Idaho State Univ: direct commerce path to Salt Lake area; Om semiconductor facility.

Disappointed. Downtown not very vibrant, though I find a Harvest Bread for a break; very big train yard; very big sprawl area on outskirts of town bordering the Interstate highways.

Clearly I am a really big downtown afficiando. They're disappearing. John Mellencamp was right.

For any respectable food tonight I need to walk along sprawl row to the mall area.

One more day before Teton Pass day; looking forward to a stop in Idaho Falls, noon-ish tomorrow.