Travel Diary: USA Mid & Northwest (May & June 2025)

We started May in the desert outside Moab, where the Bureau of Land Management land (BLM) surrounding Arches & Canyonland National Park is beautiful, but the dust is relentless. At this stage we were a little undecided on which direction to take – should we head a little east and into Colorado or should we continue northwards within the state of Utah?  The deciding factor turned out to be “where can we find the most affordable hotel room for a night?” which turned out to be near Salt Lake City, Utah.

 But first, we had to survive Walmart. If you want to test the strength of a marriage, try paying for a T-Mobile data package in the little town of Price, Utah, at Walmart using an international credit card. We have been using a prepaid contract for our cellphone from T-Mobile and last month had quite easily paid the monthly amount at a Walmart, this time around it was the opposite. We walked out $84 lighter thanks to a helpful but not too clued up clerk who issued a “redeem voucher” for Metro by T-Mobile—which, as it turns out, is a completely different company that doesn’t do refunds.

Having paid some expensive school fees, we headed north for a date with a Days Inn (similar to a South African Road Lodge but at that point in time it felt like the Ritz). We weren’t there for the sights; we were there for the plumbing. We even brought Mr. J’s carpet mat into the shower with us. After both taking two “very, very long” showers in which we spent as much time scrubbing ourselves as the floor mat, we’re surprised the hotel didn’t charge us for a plumbing overhaul. 

In Salt Lake City we went in search of its famous Mormon Church but unfortunately the church is undergoing a major renovation and is largely covered in scaffolding so we drove on past.   In our research into the Salt Lake city attractions we did learn a little bit about the Mormon religion (the Church of the Latter Day Saints) and it answered a curiosity question we have had from our travels – all through Africa, South America and Central America we have often observed young men walking around in the poorer neighbourhoods dressed in black pants, white shirts with a tie and sporting a black name badge.  They stood out as missionaries but we never knew for which religion.  It turns out they are Mormon and as part of their entry into adulthood, they go out into all corners of the world and spread the good word.

The Snake River bisects the mid-section of Idaho and one of the waterfalls on it (the Shoshone Falls) claims to be the “Niagara of Idaho”.  As we approached it, we could see that the water flow was so minimal it looked more like a leaky faucet from the viewpoint, so we saved the entrance fee and kept rolling.  We are not sure if the water flow is influenced by dams and the release of water from those or if it is a seasonal thing.

Our overnight spot that evening was at a boat dock on the Snake River. We shared the lot with a classic American van lifer (single male/female, in this case male living in their van, usually with a dog for companionship), who come over to greet us and spent 20 minutes rambling about his travels around the country before making a hasty exit, without once asking where we were from or what our story was. It’s a strange American contradiction: incredibly sweet and friendly, but possessing the conversational curiosity of a goldfish.

While the boat dock parking/camping area was nothing spectacular and the neighbour didn’t offer much in terms of conversation it did have a few things going for it; the view across the river was decent, there was cellphone signal, it wasn’t dusty and it had a clean pit toilet.  With “all” this in mind, that evening we discussed staying for a couple of days but those plans quickly changed when some locals pulled in very late and proceeded to party until the early hours of the morning.  Given that it was heading into the weekend, we feared a repeat and over coffee the following morning looked on iOverlander for our next spot.

The research revealed that a little further north in the Sawtooth mountains are a number of natural hot springs along with many scenic roads to explore within the National Forest and of course loads of free camping opportunities.  With not too much distance to cover we decided on a following the back roads and meandered through pretty farmlands and small towns.  In one of these, Hagerman, Stuart spotted a sign for men’s haircuts at a reasonable price.   The door was locked but there was a sign requesting prospective clients to phone, which he did and 5 min later was seated and being asked how short he would like the cut?  He asked for it short and the lady did not disappoint!

Unfortunately for us, we hadn’t factored in that spring snowmelt increases the rivers water level and so the hot spring we had hoped to visit was in fact bubbling up underneath a cold and fast flowing river.  Nonetheless we did find a pretty campsite alongside the river and even got to have a couple of down days, once again without contact to the outside world.

We were camped in the Sun Valley and it was spring but the reality was it was still pretty chilly, so after a couple of days we set off on the backcountry forest roads in search of a warmer area and hopefully some cell signal. It wasn’t long before we encountered our first snow drifts across the road and with over 600m of climbing still ahead we knew it could only get worse and headed back down the valley and out to the main roads via the very pretty and fancy ski town of Ketchum.

Our plan was to find a sunny cove on the Anderson reservoir were we could soak up some rays and at the sometime connect to the outside world. Sadly we failed on both fronts but at least the spot we finally settled on was both pretty and peaceful and after taking a walk in the afternoon we found signal a kilometre or so up the road.   When we were bound to the corporate wheel, we were only too happy to go places that allowed us to digitally disconnect but these days the digital world is our way to stay connected and have interactions beyond just the two of us.

We were fairly certain that this lack of connectivity would only get worse as we headed north and into even less populated parts of the country and so made the decision to purchase a Starlink and “succumb to the dishy tribe”.  Now, we had the challenge of mounting a satellite dish to the roof of Mr. J without it looking like a science fair project.

After purchasing the Starlink at a Home Depot in Boise (pronounced Boy-See), we once again found ourselves camped on the Snake river, this time below the pretty Swan Falls Dam.  With once again no cell signal, it helped to ensure that we had no buyer’s remorse.

A few days on the river gave Stuart time to plan the mounting of the satellite dish, and so we packed up to head back into Boise and the Home Depot before heading out in the opposite direction past a couple of spectacular dams and reservoirs (remember the English lesson from the previous travel diary) for a couple of leisurely days camping on the Arrowrock reservoir where Stuart set about fabricating a mount that could lay flat when travelling but be tilted when stationary.

Once again we were in the Sawtooth mountains and hadn’t given up our hot spring dreams, so once the mount was made we headed off to checkout some options we had discovered by perusing google maps. The Loftus Hot springs looked like they were slightly above a river and so we hoped they would thus not be flooded. This took us via Twin Springs, population of 4 –  a true remote outpost!

This part of Idaho is just one giant backcountry playground made up of various national forests (Boise, Payette & Salmon-Challis) covering over 9 million acres. For two travellers looking to explore and take their time this means lots of dirt roads, spectacular scenery and semi 4×4 tracks to follow.  In early spring this also means not all routes may be open, which we discovered the one day when after 3 hours driving deep into the wilderness we found our path blocked by snow and ice necessitating a multi-point turn on steep mountain pass while being directed by the member of Mr. J crew that is petrified of heights.  That day after 5 hours driving we ended up only 5km from where we had started.

Realising that we were too early in the season for full access to the backcountry and that the route north would most likely be blocked by snow, we headed out of the wilderness area and joined the tar road going north via McCall.  Sadly this would be a day we would rather forget and will probably haunt us for many kilometres to come. A pickup truck tried to overtake us on a solid white line and hit an oncoming sedan head-on right next to Mr. J! It was horrific, not only for everybody involved but also for the 911 operator who answered Tania call and had to deal with a hyperventilating South African accent. 

Even though we had shrapnel flying over and into the windscreen, miraculously, Mr. J only sustained minor damage with a single piece of metal embedded in his rear left fender. While the occupants of the other cars involved were not so lucky and taken to the hospital, we were left shaken, realizing how quickly a “scenic drive” can turn into a tragedy.  Once Highway Patrol had taken our statements and opened the road, our only thought was to get off the roads and find a camp spot as soon as possible, which we found 20 minutes up the road in Riggins. We spent the next 5 days decompressing by the river, chatting with locals like Larry and Mike who were there to fish for Salmon over the Memorial Day weekend. Larry even gifted us a couple of Salmon fillets from his catch.

Over the next couple of weeks we wandered our way from one National forest camp spot to another in the Idaho panhandle until we reached the Canadian border and could go no further.

In early June, we hit the big leagues: Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. Glacier was… well, “underwhelming” compared to the secret backroads we’d found earlier. It turns out that when people rave about “magnificence,” they often forget to mention the traffic jams.

Yellowstone was even more of a “Disneyland trail”. We spent 20 minutes in a traffic jam just to get into a parking lot, walk 200m to snap a photo of a waterfall, and leave. But the wildlife delivered and the geysers were spectacular.  We saw lots of Bison, a two-year-old Black Bear, and eventually, a mama bear with her cub.  At this stage we had decided the national parks are “spectacular but not special”.

As always we camped outside the parks on BLM land each night and then slipped into the parks during the day. On the east side of Yellowstone , we climbed high into the hills above Cooke City (another backcountry one horse town) were one of us (Tania) didn’t sleep a wink as a bear spent the night foraging around Mr. J and ripping apart a fallen down tree trunk in his search for grubs. 

In between our visits to Glacier and Yellowstone we had a couple of fun evenings and found pockets of wonderful community:

• The South African Connection: At a dam near Toston, we met Andrew, a seasonal farmworker from back home. Upon his invite, we ended up at a local bar playing pool with a group of SA farm boys—a much-needed dose of home. 
• The Tesla Truckers: In remote Polebridge, we spent hours chatting with an IT couple from India who were exploring Glacier NP in their “sci-fi” Tesla truck. 
• The Old Saloon: We traded the quiet of the forest for live country music and a night of partying in Emigrant. 

And in Bozeman, Mr. Jones once again stole the show when we went in search of a mechanic or lube shop that could do an oil change. After a frustrating morning stopping at many places and being turned away because he “is not on the computer” we eventually landed up at a very fancy Subaru dealership were the service manager was willing to go “old school” and just take our advice on what quantity oil and filter was required.   While they went off to purchase the filter, Mr. J sat in the service bay and drew the attention of every customer who had come to collect their car.   As a bonus Tania got to wander around the showroom floor and admire “Maverick”, the Subaru Crosstrek model she had fallen in love with during our wanderings – they are very common in this part of the world.  Sadly for her she possibly doesn’t qualify to own one, as urban legend and our own observations are that they are generally driven by single women who may have a preference for other women.

Montana & Wyoming are most definitely cowboy country. In Cody we camped at the Walmart so we could spend the night in town and go to the rodeo, definitely a sporting event different to anything else we have ever experienced. 

South of Yellowstone NP lies the Grand Teton mountain range and the Jackson Hole valley which includes the super chic town of, Jackson. It is a spectacular part of the world in summer but more famous for its location as an isolated wildlife and winter sports destination – 97% of the land is protected and only 3% available for private ownership.  

In recent times it has gained notoriety as the USA’s most wealthy county per capita and is now a “billionaire wilderness destination” with most real estate prices having risen above anything that can be afforded by a normal local and even making it extremely difficult for hospitality workers to find affordable accommodation.  A catch 22, that they have yet to figure out the solution too.  We parked Mr. Jones down a side street and wandered around town but as you can imagine didn’t pause for a bite to eat or to buy anything.

Despite it being the summer solstice, we were still experiencing cold temperatures and cold fronts, so when the temperatures dropped to 9DegC during the day we fled south across a Karoo like landscape to the Flaming Gorge reservoir on the border of Colorado.   Here we found a lovely private little cove to camp on along with some warmer weather.  It totally had a “white wine in the sun, with feet in the water vibe”; the perfect way to spend the last week of June.

For more insights into the months travels please follow the links below: