Road Trip #3 Day 5 - The road to Wendover UT

July 17, 2012
Colorado, USA

From Twin Falls, ID to Wendover, UT

Day 5 found us a bit lazy this morning. After the great Mexican food last night neither one of us were wanting a big breakfast so we had a couple of cups of coffee and a light snack off the Continental breakfast bar at the hotel. We rolled out about 9:30 am in shirt sleeves under sunny skies. Yippee! Our first stop was the visitor center at the bridge we crossed coming into town yesterday. The I.B. Perinne Bridge is a truss arch, four-lane bridge crossing the Snake River Canyon via Hwy 93. It is 1500 feet long and 486 feet from the canyon floor. In the 1970s it replaced a cantilever bridge originally built in 1927. The bridge is named for a pioneer of the area, Perinne is credited with the founding of Twin Falls.

Free-Base Jumper I.B. Perrine Bridge - Twin Falls, ID

At the visitor center we watched a motley crew of base jumpers packing and preparing chutes and saw a few take the plunge. We visited with the friendly and somewhat elderly volunteers manning the visitor center. One asked if I knew who Evil Knievel was. I immediately wondered if this was the canyon he tried to jump in the 1970s. When I answered of course, she said let me point out the ramp he used to launch his jump. We stepped out the door and she pointed to a mound of dirt on the canyon rim to the east. That's it, she said. The ramp is on private property now but it is clearly visible from several vantage points in the area. Kool!

The Ride with the Evil Knievel Ramp in the background. It is well known as the site of an unsuccessful 1974 attempt by Evel Knievel (1938-2007) to jump the Snake River Canyon in the Skycycle X-2.

The area around the bridge is well-developed so we strolled under it on one of the walking paths, admiring the construction and watched a couple more base jumpers. We stopped to appreciate the statue known as The Twins. A friendly jogger stopped and offered to take our photo.

"The Twins" Sculpture southeast side of Perrine Bridge by Idaho Artist David Clemons

Tim and Vik with The Twins near Perinne Bridge - Twin Falls, ID

Next up we rode a few miles east of Twin Falls to visit Shoshone Falls. According to the literature, this falls is called the Niagara of the West. Shoshone Falls is 212 feet high. That's 45 feet higher than Niagara Falls. It flows over a rim 1000 feet wide. I also read that Shoshone Falls has existed at least since the end of the last ice age, when the Bonneville Flood carved much of the Snake River canyon and surrounding valleys. Here's something interesting I learned, the falls is a total barrier to the upstream movement of fish (spawning runs of salmon and steelhead could not pass the falls). It is an awesome sight and we had the perfect day to enjoy it.

Tim & Vik Shoshone Falls

We enjoyed the morning, especially the warmth of the day. It was almost 1 pm when we rolled out of Twin Falls, heading south on Hwy 93 toward Nevada where we planned to pick up the interstate (I-80) and head east. The winds were up and all along the way we watched some of the tallest and widest dust devils we've ever seen ravage the land on the sides of the road. Fortunately, we managed to avoid riding through the middle of one. And, of course - what's a day in road trip #3 without road construction! Just over the border of Nevada we rolled through a tiny town called Jackpot. Yep! You guessed it - nothing but casinos with the obligatory casinos and restaurants and very little else. We stopped in Wells, NV for gas (Yikes! $4.69/gallon) and decided lunch was a good idea.

We noticed a small restaurant called Bella's Espresso House and decided to give it a try. They were busy and the waitress was quick to mention why - a fire fighter training crew bus had just arrived and they were working like the devil to fill their orders. We said just bring us some coffee and take care of those boys first. Truthfully, it wasn't that long of a wait and my BLT was great.

While we were waiting on our food, I used the WIFI on my smart phone to figure where the next point of civilization might be and looked at a potential stop for the night. It looked like Wendover (a town that sits both in Nevada and Utah) at the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats was the stop. We were hoping there might be a Bonneville Speed Museum or something like that. The wind was howling all along I-80 which did not surprise us at all. We travel I-80 across Wyoming all the time - it's the same there.

The Ride rolled over 37,300 just as we rode up on the salt flats. What an awesome sight. It has been a great day and we enjoyed riding in the 80s.

Riding up on the Bonneville Salt Flats

We saw the site outside of town where a proposed Bonneville Speed Museum will be built - but, there is no existing location. Bummer!

We are staying the night in Wendover, UT. We cruised town, stopped and quickly decided against a couple of hotels before grabbing a room at the worst excuse for a Days Inn I have ever seen. Take my advice - don't do it. But we will manage it for one night. There is no restaurant close by so pizza and wings delivery is on the way.

Today's ride = 213.5 miles

Slide show of today's ride = 118 photos

Alternate link to this slide show

I.B. Perrine Bridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perrine_Bridge
Shoshone Falls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshone_Falls
Bonneville Salt Flats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonneville_Salt_Flats