Idaho Falls must have been a great place to spend the night, as both slept in and we didn't leave the Snake River RV park until 10:00 AM. So much for trying to travel a long distance in the daylight. We filled up with fuel at a service station just outside the RV park. You almost don't mind paying $3.39 a US gallon for fuel when our last purchase in Canada was $1.39 a liter.
We carried along through Idaho and on to Utah. Many years ago our favourite route was to travel west to Twin Falls, ID and south through Nevada. However this time we thought it would be better to stick with the major highways, since we were travelling alone.
Immediately to the south of Pocatello, ID there is a narrow valley through the mountains. There was a huge bank of fog that appeared to be rolling over the mountains and down into the valley below. Just as we reached the mouth of the valley, there was a huge gust of wind, before becoming calm and foggy.
The I-15 highway became very congested as we got close to Salt Lake City, UT, but fortunately a friend had recommended taking the Legacy Parkway that skirts to the west of the city. It proved to be good advice as the traffic was much lighter and the road was still very smooth and dry. The Legacy Parkway reconnects to I-15 just south of Salt Lake City.
We think the worst part of travelling in Utah is the seemingly endless hills and valleys to the south - all the way to St. George. It always seems just as you reach flat ground, you start another uphill climb. One of the summits reported an altitude of 6600 feet, with at least 2 others in excess of 6000 feet. We reached St. George, UT in the dark and contemplated staying the night. However, we were following a trucker that appeared to be familiar with the road, so we stayed at a close distance behind and decided to let him lead us along to Mesquite, NV. That was a good choice as the road passes through a series of narrow valleys - with road construction to add to the fun. Although many other vehicles and large trucks passed us, our lead truck maintained a safe, reasonable speed and guided us through to Mesquite, NV.
Without knowing where to stay in Mesquite, we checked a couple of RV parks. The first one answered, with a recording stating that the office closed at 4:00 PM. I guess they don't get a lot of winter traffic. Our second call went to the Oasis RV Park, which it turns out is operated by the Casa Blanca Resort Casino and RV Park. They advised that the Casa Blanca RV Park was full, but the Oasis was available. We booked 3 nights in what ended up being a narrow campsite in a 100% paved parking lot that was serviced as a campsite. We had all services except WiFi. Good enough for our purposes to de-winterize and prepare for the next leg of our journey to Arizona.