Day 96 Ends in Cokeville, WY

This day was to have ended in McCammon, Idaho. But the smoke haze from the wildfires was so thick and unpleasant — not to mention unhealthy — that we decided to add another 90+ miles to our driving day and stopped in Cokeville instead.

Our 368-mile drive was once again uneventful … just the way all road trips should be. With very few stops along the way, we pulled into the Hideout Motel around 3:30p. The skies were still hazy, but at least it didn’t have a greenish yellow tint. Later, I was told that until about noon, when the smoke moved in, the skies were clear here.

The motel is right off US-30 … very convenient for an overnight. But we’re not in one of the motel rooms. There are three 50A FHU sites at the back of the property. There’s nothing special about the sites … they are dirt and fairly tightly spaced. No matter. Now, around 8:00p, the sites on either side are occupied … and there is a car in front of practically every motel room as well. Nonetheless, all’s quiet … not even any neighing from our equine neighbors behind us.

After settling in, we walked across Hwy 30 to the Gold Buckle Grill, the only restaurant in the vicinity. We would have sat on the patio, but there was a stiff breeze and the smell of smoke was noticeable. So, we ate indoors. At the time we were there, only one other table was occupied, but I can see through the windshield that the parking lot is filled with cars. Glad we went early.

Mui and I both ordered burgers … mine with fries; Mui’s with onion rings. Dos Equis lagers washed down our food. The food definitely deserves it’s 4-star TripAdvisor rating. We were both so full that we got our dessert — cheesecake — to-go. We’ll enjoy our sweet treat when we sit down to watch a movie on TV … compliments of our satellite dish.

We continue east tomorrow … through familiar territory in Wyoming. We were going to skip I-80 on the way back home, but when we couldn’t get a place to camp at Yellowstone National Park, we decided to take the fast route back instead. I’m so glad we jiggled our plans. I hear the AQI is even worse up there.Read more