Friday, 2 July 2010
Greetings from Utah!
Today is a three-state day on the road. We’ve already traversed through Idaho and are now driving along the Willard Reservoir, which is part of the Great Salt Lake of Utah. We’ll be crossing just a small portion of this state as we make our way to Wyoming for our next overnight stop. We have tentative reservations for a 50-amp site at Warren AFB in Cheyenne, but we’re probably going to stop before then. (There’s about a 100-mile [160 km] discrepancy between what the Garmin is giving us as yet-to-be-driven miles and what the signs on the road are indicating.) So, our new goal for the day is Rawlins.
Our Route from Boise, Idaho to Rawlins, Wyoming takes us on I-84 and I-80.
With another long day’s drive ahead of us, we didn’t waste time starting the second day of our cross-country journey. At 8:00a, well rested after a good night’s sleep, we were pulling out of the RV park in Boise. The park is well off the interstate, so it took us about 30 minutes of in-town driving to get on I-84E.
The temp was a breezy 62F [17C] when we left the campground this morning; the skies were clear with fair weather clouds adding interest. As the day progressed, the skies remained clear, but the temps rose steadily. By the time we stopped for lunch at the Juniper rest area at milepost 269 in Idaho (just shy of the Utah state line), the temp gauge was reading a hot 92F [33C]. Scrapping plans to eat at one of the picnic tables, we enjoyed our soup and salad lunch in the comfort of the Phaeton.
Typical scenery as we head from Idaho to Utah.
(the dashboard does make a good alternative to the dryer!)
On the menu … red pepper & tomato soup and green salad.
Western Kingbird at the Juniper rest area.
(thanks to empress ziti for the id)
The drive has been uneventful thus far … the best kind. We passed through wide open flatlands, with little to no human population. That’s going to change as we get closer to the eastern half of the US, so we’re savoring every moment. Once we hit Utah, the mountainous terrain added interest to our drive.
amongst the amenities that Truck plazas offer …
fast diesel pumps and long handled squeegees.
“U” is for Utah!
(tip: look at the mountain on the left side)
One of the things we were concerned about when we were making plans for this cross-country trip was that we’d be doing it over the 4th of July. Wha
That there was little construction to contend with along the way has been an additional boon — just a couple of patches, and even then, the single lane of eastbound traffic in those spots always moved at a steady pace.
We’re now on I-80, the second-longest interstate highway in the US (after I-90). We’re also in our third and final state for the day. We’ve been passing a steady stream of wind farms since we entered the state. A lot of people don’t like these farms; they say the wind turbines spoil the scenery. I disagree. Besides, they’re a great source of eco-friendly power — how can anyone take issue with that?
Personally, I like the wind farms that dot the landscape.
The wind turbines look deceptively small from a distance …
… but just take a look at this propeller;
it’s one of three that is attached to a turbine.
(darn shutter lag! I really did click before the truck passed us.)
The scenery is getting more and more interesting. I’m going to stop blogging now and see what’s what around me. More later …
Later … 50 miles from Rawlins on I-80
It’s 8:00p. I’d hoped that we’d be at the RV park the next time I pulled out the laptop, but no can do. Instead, we’re still on I-80, part of a long, long, long line of vehicles … so long, in fact that the vehicles ahead and behind us look like matchbox cars. There’s no traffic moving in either direction.
The line up of big rigs behind us look like train cars.
Can you see the head of the line of vehicles ahead of us?
I certainly can’t!
The Phaeton waits patiently for the traffic to start moving again …
… and so do I!
We’ve been at a complete standstill, our engine turned off, for 30 minutes now. With all hopes of arriving at the campground in Rawlins before the office closes at 9:00p dashed, a few minutes ago we called and made a reservation to guarantee a site for the night. Good thing we decided early on not to go all the way to Cheyenne!
Around us, people are walking dogs on the westbound lanes of the highway or entertaining kids that are putting up a fuss after a long day of driving. As for us, we just finished eating dinner. That’s the beauty of traveling in a self-contained unit. Are we enjoying the delay in our travel plans? No, but at least we feel like we’re getting things done while we helplessly await the re-opening of I-80.
I’m even going to use this time to get caught up on the blog from where I left off earlier.
After all the flatlands we’ve driven through, the rock formations of Utah and Wyoming were a nice change of pace. Near Green River, we even had some red rocks from the very northern tip of Flaming Gorge adding color to the scenery.
From wide open spaces …
… to interesting formations …
… to layered rocks in the Green River area.
Tollgate Rock towers over I-80.
to the right of the Green River Tunnel entrance is Castle Rock.
I’m no Ansell Adams, but I like the B&W treatment of this photo.
Westbound traffic is starting to whiz by. Granted there’s quite a bit of delay between seeing vehicles, but it looks like we might be on the move soon. More later …
Later … Western Hills Campground
We’re set up for the night. I’m too keyed up to go to bed, so I’ll relax a bit by finishing up this blog entry.
Around 8:15p, we started seeing vehicles coming down the westbound lanes of I-80. With a couple more clicks of the shutter, I put the camera away and we settled into the cockpit to start driving again.
First vehicles heading west. There’s hope that we’ll be moving soon.
I’m a sucker for sunset shots.
It was another 15 minutes before the traffic ahead of us had moved enough for us to start rolling. Once we got going, we moved at a steady pace through the 14-mile [22 km] construction zone. With the westbound traffic using one of the two lanes on our side of the highway, we were traveling slower than the posted speed limit, but at least we were moving. From the time we started rolling to when we passed the last vehicle in the westbound queue was 30 minutes (we were averaging 50-55 mph; you do the math to calculate how far we were backed up).
It turns out that the cause of the back up was a jackknifed travel trailer. With the westbound lanes of I-80 closed to traffic, it must have taken a small miracle to get emergency vehicles in there to reach the people in the vehicle and move the trailer and it’s tow-truck onto the grass median. Personal belongings strewn about the side of the road were testament to the serious nature of the wreck. Hopefully, the driver/passengers were not badly hurt .
I did say that I’m a sucker for sunsets; this one’s looking west.
We pulled into the Western Hills Campground around 9:45p. With only 92 sites, this is a smaller campground than the one we stayed in last night. It’s also much closer to the highway. We’re in site 134 for $27/night. It’s an all gravel, pull-through site with no concrete pads, trees, or other obstructions to present a challenge when maneuvering into the space. In other words, ideal for a late night arrival. That there’s 50-amp service is good as we needed to cool the interior of the coach down after a hot day on the road.
This is where we spent the night.
(photo taken on 3 July)
We were set up within 15 minutes, water and electricity hooked up, and all items on the arrival checklist taken care of. Mui, who has the ability to just drift off to sleep once he sits down, went to bed almost immediately. I don’t have that talent, so I stayed up to finish the blog and send a few emails. The latter wasn’t meant to be. Internet here requires an access code. Unlike last night’s RV park, there was no after-hours packet waiting for us. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to get the code so we can let friends and family know that another day of traveling has been successfully concluded. Luckily, I can write the blog offline.
Until tomorrow … goodnight!
| Start Odometer | End Odometer | Day’s Mileage |
| 9037 | 9631 | 594 [950 km] |
Statistics for Today
Oh by the way … wildlife sightings today consisted of one chirping bird; and four deer, all victims of vehicular traffic. To end on a positive note, though, we did see three deer grazing roadside just before we turned into the campground.
Next Up … Maiden Voyage: Day 3 on the Road
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