Day 10 - July 11, 2020

Amber DeBono
Jul 12, 2020
3 min read

1 very hot day (103 degrees), 2 capital cities

We started our day in Provo, UT. This was a really cute town with a lovely downtown, but hardly anyone wore masks. On the other hand, in Salt Lake City, nearly everyone was wearing a mask - impressive! However, there was not much to do in their downtown area and it was a little spread out - making it difficult to stroll around. We took pictures of some Latter Day Saints sites (in Provo and SLC) and the capital building, but ended up sharing a flight at Level Cross Brewery.

Last night, we decided to change our route to Boise - and we are so glad we did! After SLC, we hit Great Salt Lake State Park. My research indicated that it would be stinky and there would be many bugs - they were right, but the water was clear and very warm. The water tingled my freshly shaved legs because the saline percentage is so high - 12%. I'm glad that I can say I've actually been in the Great Salt Lake!

After that was our favorite part of the day - the Bonneville Salt Flats. This is an area of land that race car drivers apparently race on, but it is essentially a wide open field of salt - as far as the eye can see. The salt is the result of Lake Bonneville evaporating over many years. The salt is thick, wet and bright white. We took some and put it in a baggy - can't wait to try it out!

On the way to Boise, we ended up going through Nevada (we were actually in the Pacific Time Zone for a while), which we didn't plan on initially. We ended up driving through a town called Jackpot, and I just had to lose some money! In the casino, everyone was required to wear masks and there were stickers that indicated which machines were clean. Gamblers were supposed to discard the sticker after using a machine - which we did - I wonder if anyone else did. Sadly, no jackpot was won and they are now enjoying my $10!

After my financial loss, we visited Twin Falls, ID and drank/ate at Koto Brewery. We each got a beer and split their smoked coconut tofu bites which were pretty tasty. Their downtown was small, but cute. No one was wearing masks there. It seems the smaller the town, the fewer the masks. Afterward, we visited the falls and headed to Boise.

Boise has an unexpectedly lively downtown. They made 8th street pedestrian friendly and posted signs requiring everyone to wear masks. I would say about 60% of people did so. We ate at Bittercreek Alehouse, outside at a large table. I couldn't wait to try some potatoes, so we ordered chips and dip and an impossible burger, which we split. The chips were purple and everything was delicious. The inside was socially distanced with cardboard people at different seats and tables. Afterward, we split a delicious chocolate chip cookie from Chip Cookie when we got to our room at the Hampton Inn.

We decided to head to Bozeman, MT instead of Jackson Hole, WY tomorrow because the hotels are crazy expensive in Jackson. We book our hotels the day of so its easy to make these adjustments.

Until tomorrow night!