Travel Diary: Tour Thru WY, ID, NV, UT & CO, Part 4
We headed south in the morning from our Swan Valley, Idaho camp toward Craters of the Moon National Monument. Once we were out of the Swan Valley area the drive got a bit boring. We passed through the small town of Arco, Idaho. Arco was the world’s first town to be completely lit by atomic nuclear power. It was also where the world suffered its first nuclear reactor fatality. Go figure.
Do a web search for “Atoms for Peace” to learn more. Look up “Atoms For Peace” on Spotify to hear some good music.
We drove 20 minutes further south from Arco and parked at Craters of the Moon. The park encompasses over 300,000 acres containing 3 major lava fields along the Great Rift of Idaho. In the park you’ll find tree molds (cavities left by incinerated trees) and lava tubes (essentially lava caves). If you decide to visit, be sure to carry a flashlight (they are unavailable at the visitor center shop which seems silly). Visitors are allowed to explore some of the lava tubes unsupervised. We did so and had A LOT of fun doing it! Our visit here was VERY educational and one of our favorite stops. It’s a very unique place.
Wasn’t it nice of them to add a path to the lava tubes?!
After we left Craters of the Moon, the BRAKE warning lamp remained on. I was a little concerned, but not too worried about it. Well…driving down into Twin Falls, Idaho, the brake pedal got really spongy, so I reduced our speed and cruised into a parking spot in town. By the time we stopped, the pedal was sinking to the floor! I crawled under the Vanagon and found the banjo bolt for the passenger front brake hose had come loose, leaking brake fluid. The calipers included in the Go Westy Bigger Brake Kit don’t have a notch to help secure the hoses like most calipers do (a major flaw in my opinion). This can allow the bolt to come free (this has happened to us twice now). I grabbed a wrench from our tools and tightened the crap out of the bolt. We filled the brake fluid reservoir with fluid we keep onboard, and off we went. We stopped for a beer flight at Koto Brewing Company before we left the city. After the stress of driving with no brakes, a drink was much needed.
We left Twin Falls and continued down the road into Nevada. We drove eastward late into the night with our GPS set on a free camping spot we had found on the iOverlander app. When we finally arrived at the spot after driving a long sandy desert road, there was a sign posted that read, “IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU ARE WITHIN RANGE.” LOL. Well, I guess the “spot” was on someone’s private property. We got the hell outta there and ended up posting up in a casino parking lot in West Wendover, Nevada. Located just across the border from Utah, West Wendover boasts nothing but casinos.
Say Hello to Wendover Will!
After a surprisingly quiet night of sleep in the parking lot, we filled up on fuel because we were headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats! The Salt Flats are a 12 by 5 mile densely-packed salt pan in northwestern Utah. These “proving grounds’ are where many land speed records have been set over the years. We were gonna put Brakayla through the paces to see what she could do!
Can you find our BINK sticker on the sign?
Nothing but wide open space at The Salt Flats!
Driving into the Salt Flats was something special. There is nothing but white, flat ground for miles with a backdrop of mountains. It was gorgeous! We were hoping to really see what kind of speed our van could do that day, but there was a major swirling wind. We barely got her over 85 miles per hour because of that. However, all the open space the area offers allowed us to play a little more with our drone. With no trees around, we could really let it fly.
We took turns playing around in the van for a couple hours before we decided to keep heading east. The van was an absolute mess of salt. We stopped at the nearest car wash in Salt Lake City and hosed her down for a good while. Salt isn’t exactly a 36 year-old Vanagon’s best friend. While we were in SLC, we grabbed an IN-N-Out Burger for lunch. We can never pass up the opportunity!
On our way out of SLC, we stopped for an afternoon of shopping and food/drink in Park City, Utah. Known for it skiing, Park City was quite empty in the late summer. We didn’t mind that at all! We always seem to drive through ski towns in the summer. We spent waaaay to much money there! We had some nice hauls at a bunch of stores we don’t have at home: Fjallraven, Helly Hansen & Burton to name a few. Before we left town, we had a couple beers at Wasatch Brewery. We gotta say the Polygamy Porter is one of the best beers we’ve ever had.
Finding a parking spot can be tough in Park City, even in the slow season.
We left Park City in search of a nice AND free campsite in the Uinta National Forest. Due to being the opening weekend of sage grouse hunting or something, we had a helluva time finding a place. We drove by occupied camps for over two hours. Right when we were ready to throw in the towel and find a parking lot somewhere, we happened to come upon a National Forest campground! There was a crazy-long line into the entrance of Currant Creek Campground. Fortunately, a fellow VW van owner was working the pay booth! He walked down the queue, took our payment and waved us around the line. We LOVE the VW Community! It was time to set up and relax.
Current Creek Campground offers some nice privacy at their spots.
In the morning we would be heading out to explore Northern Colorado for the first time.
-Thanks again for reading.
Andrew
If you like what you see, check out our map on NanoWhat. You can download a Google map of our roadtrip to The West straight to your phone!
