Day 3

Sunday, Sept. 29^th 

I’m sitting in the trailer watching the sun rise.  There are huge wind machines dotting  the hill the sun is rising over.  I guess that’s a clue  the wind that rocked the trailer all night is not unusual.  We are at Massacre Rocks State Park.  The sky is covered with a thick layer of clouds but the sunrise was beautiful anyway. 

Someone might be wondering how we are traveling.  Our 17 foot Casita trailer is just perfect for us. Compared to most trailers these days it looks like a toy but we manage just fine.  “Stuff” that accumulates does have to be moved from bed to table area daily and passing each other can be tight but we have all the conveniences that the big guys have.  I am not a salesman but I could sell Casita trailers.  We have a stove, microwave, large fridge, heater, full bathroom, flat screen tv, double bed, table and seats for two. There is space for Glen to sleep and me to sit at the table and work at the computer.  What more could you ask for?  Chloe is the one who is disturbed the most as she constantly has to move so we can get into the bathroom or open a cupboard.  Once in a while she will get disgusted with all the moves and jump on the bed but she usually lays on the floor, right in the way of wherever we want to go. 

    A skirmish with the Indians occurred near Massacre Rocks.  The attacks took place on August 9^th and 10^th, 1862 along the trail east of the rocks.  Ten emigrants were killed and four different wagon trains were involved.

"Mr. Hunter, who was captain of our little train gave orders to get ready their firearms and prepare for fight, and right speedily was the order obeyed, considering the surprise in which we were taken, together with the fact that not one of us had ever been called upon to defend our lives or property by the use of such weapons."
--Charles Harrison, Aug. 11, 1862

Traveling in late September and October has benefits and drawbacks. We are finding that many visitor centers and museums are either closed for the season or have reduced hours.  The visitor center at Massacre Rocks was closed.   Register Rock is nearby.  It was a favorite camping spot for the emigrants as Rock Creek flows into the Snake River there and water was easily accessible.  Emigrants carved their names on the huge boulders in the area.    The Indian head scratched into the rock was done by a seven year old boy, J. J. Hanson,  in 1866,  traveling the trail.  He became a sculptor and in 1908 came back to sign and date his work at Register Rock.

We headed towards Pocatello hoping to see the Fort Hall replica however it was closed for the season so we kept traveling east.  The geyser as Soda Springs was impressive,  constantly shooting up a 30-40 foot steady blast.  

 We got to the Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho in the early afternoon.  It was a disappointment.  There are no trail exhibits.   You can take a living history tour where docents in period clothing talk about the trail but that’s not Glen’s thing so we passed on the tour.  There was a nice quilt show upstairs and a display of storyboards describing the history of the Basque people. 

Kemmerer, Wyoming was our stop for the day.  We planned to skip Fort Bridger as we’ve been there a few times so we took our own version of the Sublette Cutoff the next day.  Check in later to see how the day went.

(I'm writing some of this in present tense and some after the fact.  It may be confusing.)

Dee