Trip across the sage brush desert

We left Idaho Falls yesterday morning for our next stage of our trip.  We traveled across the sage brush desert to Arco.  This area is a actually called a “sage brush steppe” which means a desert on a high plain.  We lived here in the little town of Arco back in 1977 for 3 years.  Traveling across the desert can be interesting or on the other hand very boring!  On the way across the desert in this area are three large buttes that come out of the ground seeming out of nothing.  This used to be a volcanic area years and years ago – I mean like over 15,000 years ago!  Out in the middle of this desert the land has been used by the navy for a nuclear industry of research,  test and development.  Mike was on nuclear submarines when he was in the navy and his training came from here back in 1973 when we were stationed in Idaho Falls for six months.  Then he went on the submarines for 3 and 1/2 years then we came back here where he was an instructor for close to 4 years.  For most of that time we lived here in Arco as it was a much closer commute than living in Idaho Falls.  The town of Arco is very, very small.  Not much here and it is now a town that looks like it has fallen on hard times and has a poor economy. 

So many homes look in poor shape.  We found our old home from 30 years ago and it sure looked different.  I had a big picture window in the living that I loved as it gave us a view of the mountains.  It has been replaced with a dinky little window.  The roof looks like it has been repaired numerous times.  My big shade trees in the back yard are gone as are the shrubs we planted on our backyard fence line for privacy.  We had freshly painted the outside after we moved in and it doesn’t look like it has received a coat of paint in twenty years.  It was and always will be a tiny house – but it looked better 30 years ago than it does today.

The house – no big picture window to see the mountains now:

The back yard – no big shade trees (there had been one on each side of the backyard – types of willow, not weeping willows but a different variety), no shrubs, no flower gardens.  Our girls loved to climb those trees and play and in the shade, they had basically shaded the entire yard:

Well they always say “you can’t go home again” and expect it to be the way it was.  We lived on a military salary and didn’t have much – but it sure looked better when we had it then it does now.  The whole town was disappointing to see – it is so dirty looking now, the streets do not look like they have been repaired in the time we have been gone!  Yes a few houses here and there looked good, but overall half of the town at least needs fresh paint.

On our trip across the desert we stopped at the rest area out of town and took pictures – the rest area was pretty new as it had been remodeled since left

This is the Little Lost River with the big butte in the background:

This explains what a butte is for those that don’t know:

There is also somewhat of a weather station out here at the rest area and you can see the signs that show what the temperature and humidity is.  Here you can see that the humidity is at 13.8% yesterday – very dry air.

This is a topography map of where we are.  Arco is at red dot in the center of this map.  You can see how there are a lot of mountains around it:

Out at the rest area it explains all about the nuclear reactors that are out here and how it came about.  It explains it all really well. 

Here is what a lot of the area looks like.  What we always liked about this area is that you only have to drive about 30 miles before you get to the really pretty mountains that are forested.

Today we are driving 20 miles away to see “Craters of the Moon” National Park.  It is basically old lava fields from the ancient volcano’s in the area.  Pictures later today or tomorrow.  We want to get out there this morning and have a picnic lunch and then leave the park by early afternoon – it gets really hot out there later in the day.