Beer and Potatoes

My cross-country travel-blog continues from Bozeman, MT.

I started the day in Salt Lake City, where I downed a couple of fine beers before crashing early last night.  Yes, you can buy real beer in Salt Lake, and the microbreweries there are quite good.  I sampled a tasty porter from Wasatch and ales from Unita, Desert Edge and Hoppers.  Utah still has fairly strict alcohol laws.  In state-run wine stores, you can only buy "near-beer" (3.5% alcohol), but in taverns and restaurants, full-strength beer in all its glory is available.  I was happy to find a collection of microbreweries I had neither tried nor heard of.

I made a quick stop on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, the magnificent body of water you see above.  Then, I spud northward to Idaho.  I realize Idaho is known for its potatoes, but I didn't think it would look like them.  The hills around Pocatello resemble giant potatoes with chives sprinkled on them.  Take a look!  Otherwise, southeastern Idaho isn't much to write home about.  But as you get closer to Montana and Wyoming, the terrain changes in spectacular ways.

I won't make it to the Grand Tetons this trip, but you can see them off in the distance of this photo.  Even from far away, they look HUGE.  I stopped briefly in West Yellowstone, the gateway to the national park.  I chose not to stay there because it is swamped with tourists and insanely expensive for what you get.  Instead, I tacked on an hour or so and headed even further north to Bozeman, a rugged, outdoorsy place -- home to Montana State University and lots of rodeo.  I feel like I'm driving a toy car around here.  At every stoplight, I see a truck that is bigger than the biggest truck I've ever seen.  These aren't trucks.  They are TRUCKS.

I've been doing a lot of driving (1300+ miles in 3 days).  Seeing America like that gives it a different perspective than if you stay over in one place for a couple of days.  If you keep moving, you feel how distinctive each state is, and how they bleed together into one enormous country.  The reddish crags of Nevada and Arizona give way to the blue and green peaks of Utah, which roll into the yellow and brown potato hills of Idaho, which give way to the cedar and pine forests of Montana.  It's a visual rollercoaster -- albeit a really, really long and slow one.

I passed through a bit of Yellowstone, and I can already tell it's a special place.  The fly fisherman were wading into the quiet streams, while further north, bus loads of whitewater rafters were tackling the rapids.  The forests are breathtaking.  I can't wait to see more of it tomorrow.

Today's soundtrack included Johnny Cash, The Jayhawks, Jay Nash, Keith Wasserman, Kings of Leon and KT Tunstall among others.