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posted May 15, 2003 11:25 PM
US 20 Boise-Bend So, leaving Boise, ID today, I84 was *utterly* jacked up all the way out past Meridian. I went through two intersections from where I was staying, and turned right on US 20. This is an old US highway that meanders out west from Boise, through Oregon.
It's kind of interesting, how US 20 parallels I84, until Caldwell, where I84 veers northwest and crosses over US 20. Travelling through Enrose and Notus, you are taken back to the Golden Age of the 1950s, where agriculture was still a viable industry for many communities. These small towns still exist, but they are farther and fewer between. And keeping the next generation around is harder too, given the lure of higher paying jobs in other industries.
As you turn north and pass by Roswell (no, not THAT Roswell) another small town appears in the road ahead of you. Ah yes, Parma, jewel of the... umm... umm... Well, it's a nice small town, and hasn't really done anything to piss anyone off. One thing that is getting kind of old is the 25mph speed limits through town...
North of Parma, you split off from US 95, and head west once more. A short hop across the Snake River, and you enter your first touch of Oregon. Nyssa. Yep, that's Nyssa. Cars wander aimlessly at 18mph down the road in front of you. Old farmers sit on bench car seats on their porches, tobbacco juice stains on their shirts...No doubt about it, Nyssa is best avoided, but unfortunately, if you are on US 20, it can't be helped. Oh what else...Kids in rattly pickup trucks come up beside you and make revving noises...Feh, they are probably the sheriff's brother-in law, or maybe cousin...or both!
After putting Nyssa behind you (gladly!) You turn north once more and head towards Cairo (no, not THAT Cairo!) (sheesh!) Taking a left at Palisades Corner, it's west once more! Malheur Junction comes up on the road, and for once, there's no pesky speed limit signs in view. Looking to the north, Malheur Butte loom in the distance. I lived just two miles down the road from this piece of geologic history, and climbed / tobogganed / sledded ever fire road and gully on it. Highway 26 splits off and heads north just after going through Vale. (No, not THAT Vale, damnit!)
Highway 20 continues west, bending south slighty. Towns appear and disappear behind you. Hope, Grove, Little Valley, Harper Junction, all come and go. Now comes the LSR (Long Straight Road). Eight, maybe ten miles of completely straight, lightly travelled road. Pavement quality is about 80% however, so caution would be in order until you learned the best line. After a high speed blast, you come to curves...Not tight 60mph curves, these are big, broad 100+ mph curves, that sweep through the mountains here. (Dino, Doug, feel free to supply the name of the mountain range here)
Lots more curves, some smaller straight runs. The highway bends to the southwest and Jonesboro, Juntura, Buchanan all come and go. It straightens west once more after Buchanan, and straight road appears in front of you. You blink your eyes, looking down between the double row of telephone poles that define the roadway that goes on...and on... In a perfectly straight line. I would guess that close to 20 miles define this testament to just how far you can go without having to make a turn when you build a road across a desert.
The terminus of this straight ruler of a road is Burns, a not so lovely town that really doesn't have any redeeming features. Ugly town full of ugly people living ugly squalid lives. Sort of like New Jersey, except smaller.
After a quick jog through Hines, the road straightens once more for about THIRTY miles. However, there are rolling hills to deal with, so high speed would definately be tempered by your desire to stay attached to terra firma.
About two-thirds of the way through, you'll find Riley, a nondescript little town that doesn't show any apparent signs of life. The only building in town that appeared habitable was the gas station, and it was for sale. Highway 395 splits south at this point, and once again, you've got US 20 to yourself.
You start climbing in elevation now, as you slowly crest the mountain range in front of you, and the highway bends to the northwest as it nears Hampton. Yet another long, straight stretch, but the undulating and patchy pavement preclude any real speed. Along the way, you'll go through Brothers and Millican, but I don't have kind words for either of those towns, because their gas stations were both out of business. (Was getting nervous now, estimated range was only about 8 miles beyond Bend.) Finally, you climb up a bit, and the road turns west into Bend. Did I save time as compared to going I84 and then taking 97 south? Good question, I have *no* idea. It took me over 3 1/2 hours to go about 280 miles, so I didn't make *great* time. But the curves were some fo the most enjoyuable ones in recent memory, especially with the very light traffic that I encountered.
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82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted May 16, 2003 04:41 AM
Highway 20 is pretty nice in the other direction too. In eastern Idaho it winds through the hills of a national park and into the north end of Yellowstone. It eventually wanders across the country and right through my town (Freeport, Il) and ends up in Boston. Yep, it's a coast to coast little highway.
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posted May 16, 2003 05:37 AM
I'll have to explore that direction some time! I've got to take at least sixty hours vacation soon, that'd be a good time to do it. Maybe start at the western terminus and come east as far as I dare.
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82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted May 16, 2003 01:28 PM
Swft, ...you didn't get to the good part of 20!!! The roads get betterwhen you start into the Cascade range.....fun, fun roads. You were in the boring half of the state!
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uh oh
posted May 16, 2003 02:47 PM
Nice story. I've been an Oregonian all my life. Always wondered what was out there. Your description is exactly as I suspected.
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posted May 16, 2003 05:01 PM
We are talkin "country" Heh heh........sounds like you had fun swft.........that's definetly no mans land. Damn near run out of fuel in a tractor trailer one NIGHT, between Burns and Ontario heading back to Boise. Whew!...I was shittin' bricks! NONE of those little gas stations you passed in the daytime were open at night and a lot of them probably didn't have diesel anyway. Boy was I glad to start seeing those lights from Ontario in the distance! ____________
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posted May 16, 2003 10:58 PM
Thanks all, it was a fun trip! Dino, yah, I agree, would be nice to do the western half. Went and picked up the bike from Muzzys today. Just got home. Next trip, maybe I'll make it to the coast! Would be cool to take it to Yellowstone sometime. Could come down on I84 and just take it east out of Boise.
posted May 17, 2003 04:49 AM
Edited By: 12RPilot on 17 May 2003 05:50
Wasn't long ago (maybe a year) that some writer for one of the motorcycle mags wrote a story about his trip out west and he mentioned the part of 20 in eastern Idaho. That Egan guy I think. I remembered it because when I was a squid I was stationed at Idaho Falls, which is a nice little burg BTW.
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posted May 17, 2003 12:04 PM
LOL. Yep, and about to delve back into the nuclear field after 15 years. God help us all.
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NESBA #209
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posted May 17, 2003 08:42 PM
Then again, I was more of a neutron/alpha guy, whereas I would suspect you were more of a beta/gamma kind of guy. Tell me, ever run into any issues with neutron brittlement in the reactor vessel? And how bout all that damned stainless steel piping in AMR2? Oy! Oh wait, that's a bubblehead question, you might be a skimmer puke.
posted May 18, 2003 04:20 PM
I was a target. USS Enterprise. Interesting tidbit about embrittlement: as you may know embrittlement of the vessel is one of the most limiting factors in extending reactor life. Apparently, some outfit can now eliminate the embrittlement problem. I'm calling my contacts in the field to see if anyone knows how they pull this off. I can't imagine any feasable process unless they somehow heat the vessel and run it through some thermal cycles. I dunno. That's alot of metal to heat cycle.
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posted May 15, 2003 11:25 PM
Highway 395 splits south at this point, and once again, you've got US 20 to yourself. 
posted May 16, 2003 05:01 PM
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