15 hours with a 5 year old
May 8, 2007: I was asked to accompany The Skirt's mom and young sister on a trip to see her family in Boise, ID. Since I didn't have anything going on at the time, and I rarely will turn down a roadtrip, I said yes. We had to compromise the roadgeek's credo of exploring the roads to get the five year old there and back as quickly as possible. On the way up, we traveled mostly at night, so I only have one picture of the trip up. On the way back, though, we left at 6am. The picts show the trip back.
Are we there yet?
Okay, we're packed up and leaving Boise, ID. It's early and the picts will improve as the sun continues to rise.
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The only picture I was able to get on the way up to Boise. We're on I-84 heading northwest-ish.
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Ugh. It's early. Idaho seems to like pairing the interstates and US highways. And those stripes in the right lane? Shadows. There's some serious rutting action going on here.
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Gets a little windy, does it?
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Slowly I-84 loses all of its add-on US highways. I'm guessing US 30 is a scenic route through here?
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Interesting thing about the state highway shields in ID. On the interstate's guide signs, the shields are black text with a white background. On the state highways themselves, the shields are black with white text. Is there a visibility issue?
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Nice loop exit sign.
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Two roads diverged in the plain. I, being the kind of traveler with a fidgety five your old, took the road more traveled.
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This is the western END! of the eastern segment of I-86.
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Gore point sinage is straight to the point.
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I got to see first hand what this sign was talking about on a lesser scale. The dust kicked up from a pickup on a dirt road just hung in the air. There was no wind to dissipate it.
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The other weigh station I passed had this sign, too. The only difference is that the blacked out parts here had the letters GVW on the other sign. Wonder why they were taken off?
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Looks like a trucker almost missed the scales. This is also an interesting place for a rest stop.
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Okay, I know it's hard to read this because of the sun, so let me 'splain: the inside signs read "Frequent High Winds/Next 20 Miles" and the outside signs read "Ocassionally Blinding Dust Storms/Next 10 Miles." Sounds like a fun place.
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Now we get a "Severe Storm Area" warning sign, complete with a wig-wag light.
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There's no mandatory chaining up spot here, I guess. Chains may be highly recommended, though.
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So the reason for all the dire warnings? Because there's a whole lot of nothing out here.
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And if the storms don't get you, maybe the massive deer migration path will. Sheesh. More dangers out here than I care to admit.
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Random exit. Idaho still has a lot of the old button copy signs. Of course, none of those picts came out.
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Oh, yeah. Did we mention that you may be trapped inside a raging dust storm?
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So how long until civilization?
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I hereby dub this trip the Trip of the Distance Shot.
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I like the Slow to 35 sign.
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Welcome to Utah! Check your sacriligous attitude at the door, please.
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SuperDeer! comes to the rescue of those trapped in a dust storm.
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The first distance sign inside Utah.
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Sir! Yes Sir!
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Utah's state highway shield looks like a beehive. Or a big coiled pile of poop, if you're sick and twisted like me.
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One thing that really surprised me is that none of the distance signs say Salt Lake City, only Salt Lake. I wonder why.
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Utah's Ranch Exit in all its glory. There's not much to exit to, but it beats having intersections in the middle of these rural freeways.
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The cement on I-84 is pretty beaten up here. There's rehab projects for about 10 miles to the north of I-15.
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Speaking of I-15, here we are! I-84 multiplexes with I-15 until Ogden.
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The scene looking out the left side of the car.
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I-15/84 in Ogden is seeing some massive widening. Here's the start to the project.
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Just after the bridge in the last picture.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the interstates were gaining two more lanes in each direction through here.
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Where the new asphalt begins.
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All the bridges in the project zone look like they're getting replaced, too.
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The narrowness of the roadway didn't bother me that much. When you combine the narrowness with 15 foot high piles of dirt, then I start to get nervous.
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The mile marker signs through the construction zone. I didn't see one that was at the .0 point at all.
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PSA for you: the I-84 turnoff is not well marked at all right now due to the construction. I almost missed the turn and was subsequently rebuked by the five year old, who hit her head on one of her toys.
- Where to next?
- This trip's Index
- Page 2
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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