Home at last!

We arrived at our "primary residence" 2 weeks ago after dark. The next morning, I went out and there were flakes of SNOW floating about. I said, "NO!, this isn't the way it was supposed to be." The terrible long winter our friends and family have been complaining about was supposed to be over when we got home. The plan was to enjoy 2 springs and no winter after January. Surely we weren't "home". A speaker we enjoy is John (Tim) Savage. (http://www.leadplus.com/Consultants.htm). In discussing understanding our thoughts and feelings, he talks about the ritual of "coming home". If you choose to stay with it, you are about to find out my ritual for "coming home". Since my body clock was somewhere between Pacific and Central time, I was later than usual, but decided to start my ritual by seeing if the "Mahomet Square" family restaurant was still in business. Well, not only were they still there, but the same local guys where there arguing over the same stuff. Ralph and Jim Bob would argue, Wayne would laugh and I would grin. The part that really helped me in my ritual was that Abel, the manager/cook and Brittany the waitress both remembered what I eat when I go there for breakfast. And it was delicious as always. A good start. Since then, I have eaten at Lil Porgys twice. MM good! (http://www.lilporgysbbq.com/) You'll miss out if you don't click on this link! When I got home from breakfast, the first order of business was to go spray Liquid Fence on the emerging tulips. As you can see we were successful in warding off the rabbits again this year. (got home just in time).

In the first few days at home, we got to visit with all of the kids except for Rod and all of the grandchildren except Celina who was with Rod in Atlanta when we were there, and Jack who was with his "guys". Last weekend, however, they were all at our house at one time or another. Jack and his "guys" did a little fishing (Johnny caught one). We had a great visit, but after spending 10 weeks "on our own", it was a little much. We weren't "used to" all of that. but it was great. Got to talk with my sister, finally visited with neighbors on both sides, ordered and spread mulch on the flower beds and am in the process of building a birdhouse for Pam. Got a replacement circular saw at Sears Craftsman Club "sale", took the explorer in for oil change (and dropped some more bucks on fixing a leak in the air conditioner), mowed the yard and trimmed up the dead stuff in the yard. Made a few trips to the Mahomet Ace Hardware for small items and we have eaten from Monicals (http://www.monicals.com/navbar/index.shtml) several times; and once from the Hidaway of the Woods.

Two things left undone; first need to contact Dell about the external monitor issue with the computer. Then second is to find the remote control for the basement TV (DISH). I have interrigated all likely suspects (short of water boarding), we have turned the basement upside down as well as searching the rest of the house. Guess I'll have to see if we can get a replacement... Really a mistery! But makes me feel at home. Tomorrow, I go to "work" at the U of I for a week, then I'll get back to "retirement" for a few more weeks.

So, I feel like I am nearly "home". Still have some stuff to put away, and other stuff to find. Want to be sure everyone knows that we didn't bring the earthquake home from California with us. We were also accused of bringing the Wyoming weather with us, however, after that first day with snow, the weather has been great (until the temp drop yesterday).. Again, thanks to the new friends we found in Corvallis, Oregon and Rock Springs, Wyoming for a really great "spring". Thanks to the folks at home for keeping the place safe. Thank God for all of the surprises we got to experience on this jaunt. Next is Michigan State where we will most likely stay at the same Hampton which is across the road from that shopping center with all of the great restaurants... Oh.. According to the doctor's scales, all of that good eating I told you about seemed to stick to us; we both gained a bit... Odds are we won't loose it before we hit Lansing. THEN.. we'll think about it.

last leg

Today is the day we have been looking forward to for at least the last 10 days. Today we will see the high flying guys at Briarcliff Connection and their mom. (Rest of the family is away on business today.) Most likely tonite will find us at home in our own bed for the first time since late January. As you read some prior posts, you will see that I got to visit a little at a couple of veterinary colleges on the way home. At this point, however, we have "kicked it into high gear" for home. (One of us has a doctor's appointment Monday).. If you are diligent in reading this blog, you will remember who... and why we're not changing the appointment. The point is, that although our trip home has brought us near other people I would like to visit, I had to draw the line somewhere. On the way out of Denver, we passed through Aurora, Colorado, the home of LifeSkills International. http://www.lifeskillsintl.org/. Would have loved to have stopped and visited at the home office. We have been facilitating Family Lifeskills classes since about 1996, but because we are traveling much more, had to "give it up". The local contact at home is http://www.grafixnetwork.net/fls/ . Also, we came relatively close to Colorado Springs, where Val Gates, a long time technologist at the U of I has been there for several years. We can within miles of Manhattan, Kansas where there is another veterinary college, and right now, I'm sitting in Columbia, Missouri, the home of the University of Missouri Veterinary College. Have several friends here, but it is Saturday morning, raining, and we really have the itch to get on the home side of the Mississippi River.

Yesterday on our trek across Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri, we were covered by a blanket of clouds that reminded me of the cover on the bed at a Hampton Inn. Seen too many Hampton Inns??? It was 44 degrees pretty much all day. This morning, it is still raining, but the wind seems to have let up a bit. The one thing I have learned on this trip is that I "don't know nuthin". I remember Kansas as a boring flat plate from previous visits. This trip, even after the fantastic scenery in the Pacific Northwest, we found this area interesting. The most striking thing was the vast area of burned grass. We didn't know if it was intentional or wildfire. I think, however it is part of a controversial controlled burning program. http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/habitats/splendor-of-grass.html

One interesting thing to us were the windmill farms. Here is part of one very close to the highway. The most impressive one was in Wyoming where you could see hundreds of them for miles and miles. We also have noticed that you would see one here and there, presumably privately owned to supply energy for some business. This seems to be another controversy in that some people don't want them "in their back yard".

In Rock Springs, we "got"' to interface with a convention that threatened to send us packing until the great staff there took us under their wing and made a way for us. Here in Columbia, Missouri, there is apparently a youth ball tournament, and some of the teams are staying here. The halls were full of "little voices" full of excitement. We are looking forward to hearing the voices of some of our own grandchildren yet today, and in the near future get some facetime with the rest of the family... Isn't there a birthday to celebrate Monday???

I have to say something about the comments in a recent post on Georgia-wintersong. I was pleasantly embarassed. For the past 10 weeks, I have gotten to spend more constant time than ever before in close proximity with the "shy little girl" I met in 1959, who became the loving mother of my 3 sons, the doting grandmother of my 9 grandchildren and my life partner for these past 45 years. Who wouldn't do their best to make it special???

OK enough is enough

Before I get into the subject of this post, I must apologize for possibly misleading you in the last. Remember, etc. etc. I don't think it was the 3 amigos. That was "plethora". So . Dang, there's another one... I might as well take care of that one right now ... SO, So. Aren't you tired of me saying that? I have noticed that that means the same thing as "anyway". which I have already apologized for at least once. I now realize that a more sophisticated phrase would be, "in any event", or "in any case".. The point is; they all mean nothing, it's just my lame way of starting a sentence.. so... today during the periods when I did have time to think, I realized that the movie with etc. etc. etc. was the King and I.. So ... to give you a handle on it, I looked it up and found this post. Is the King and I a remake???? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_and_the_King_of_Siam

Back to my subject. The last post was about the west bidding farewell to snow loving Georgia. I guess it isn't ready to give her up yet, because it is following us home. Let's start the day at Starbucks. Notice the snow on the hood of our car in the reflection. This is a test for those who know Georgia. What is in the green cup?? I'll post the answer after I have 10 guesses on comments.

We started out for Hays Kansas as I told you in the last post. My assumption was that we would drop down from the "mile high city" and the snow would turn to rain and we would simply be driving through some rain all day. Wrong!!! From Denver to about Oakley, Kansas it was just NASTY. The picture here is from when I felt safe enough to take one hand off the wheel and snap a picture (not under the approval of Georgia). There was white out much of the way. In this picture, do you see the truck (that had just passed us doing about 80)?? It wasn't that the snow was so heavy, but it was horizontal. The strong wind was from the north and we were heading east (Head East; who can give me the significance of that?) so, anyway, in any event; when a truck would pass us, they would break the wind and it was a real b(ear) keeping on the road. (This is a different breaking of wind.) It wasn't fun at all. I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY MORE SNOW TIL NOVEMBER! (Then when I complained at check in, the girl at the desk said, "Oh, it's supposed to be here tonight and tomorrow". Someone may need to come and get the car after we fly the rest of the way home...

Back to the road. About Oakley, Kansas the snow disappeared and we got to see vast fields of winter wheat. Here is a picture, but I see that the camera focused on the hood of our vehicle, but you get the idea. No Snow.. Then we heard on the radio that I-70 had been closed where we were about 2 hours before. Here we are in a new Hampton Inn in Hays, Kansas, resting up and waiting to see what tomorrow brings.

Goodbye to the west

Although folks in Hays Kansas (our destination for tonite) would argue that they are in the heart of the west, today seems to be the day that the west gives snow loving, cowgirl Georgia a fitting send off. As you can see by these pics, we woke up to a blanket of snow in Denver. The problem is that it looks like we will be sharing the rain for the day with the rest of the midwest, so our planned 5.5 hour trip may get stretched a bit. If you've been mapping us (now who in their right mind would waste their time doing that?) you can see that we are only good for about 5 hours per day. That long trip across Nevada and western Utah really took a toll.

We did try to take a few pictures as we crossed from Wyoming into yet another state on the list for this trip; Colorado. Although the most Spanish I learned wass when our kids were taking Spanish in high school, I think Colorado means, "color red". If you can see (in the picture below) through the rain that followed us from Laramie to Denver, there is probably a reason for that name.

You may wonder why we only went about 100 miles yesterday. Georgia found a western store in Rock Springs, but we didn't have a vehicle to shop there. But... she also noticed there was one in Laramie. If you go back to the early posts, you will find that Laramie was a favorite. Seems like a lot of our favorites are places where we have been in one place long enough to see what is there; Selah! So we found the local Corral West store. It wasn't such a panic when we found that they have a website, so some things we had wanted to get there (but couldn't remember sizes) we can get on line if we want. (Greg and Melissa; you can ignore those phone messages from yesterday.) There is a "back road" from Laramie to Fort Collins, Colorado that cuts off miles, but the time is about the same as taking the interstate via Cheyenne. That road passed withing blocks of the Veterinary College at Colorado State University. As when I visited in Davis, California, I knew that other people actually had jobs, therefore I had no specific expectations as to who I would find. Georgia rested while I went in for a short visit. I got to visit with Radiologist Robert Wrigley who is retiring from Colorado this summer and returning to his home of Australia. I also found that another radiologist whom I consider a friend (and lived in Urbana, Illinois in the early 70's) was doing a partial retirement this summer. He was teaching a class, so I didn't get to visit with him. In a nutshell, Colorado State veterinary radiology is at a similar plight as the University of Illinois, going from 4 radiologists to one in a very short time. (who knows, they may need help in the future also). The surprise was to essentially bump into Dr. Klopp, a veterinary neurosurgeon who used to be at the U of I. So I had a nice visit with the 2 of them and we were on our way. Georgia remembered some things about Fort Collins from when we were there in '89. So off to Loveland (about 10 miles south). Why did we go there? On our '89 trip we were in Colorado in mid February. Somehow, we got booked at the Lovelander B&B in Loveland, Colorado on Valentine's day.. Hows that for romantic? This revisit, however was one of the most disappointing of the trip. The "quaint little town" had grown and we didn't recognize anything; could find no reference to the Lovelander B&B, it was raining, etc. etc. (Isn't that a movie line; etc. etc.... Maybe 3 Amigos, or something of that ilk?) Looks like I didn't do my homework after all. I just decided to look up the Lovelander and find that it is there, on 4th street. See, we thought we would just drive up to it, but the growing town foiled our steel trap memories.

So now what's the plan? After driving "all day" in the rain, we hope to rest in Hays Kansas. That should put us in Springfield, Illinois or home on Saturday. We have to connect with Briarcliff Connection to see which we do. Jan, I noticed that after I mentioned that you guys were charged with keeping the rabbits off our tulips, I haven't heard from you???? hmmm. Surely they can't eat all of them before Sunday when Elmer Fudd arrives on the scene... So relax. Glad to know some of the bulbs are peeking up. Having gone from Snowy Oregon to Sunny California and back to Snowy Colorado in a few days, I have no idea what to expect as we forge toward Illinois. I just can't get the picture in my head between what I'm hearing about the weather there and what I remember from mid-April last year. Again, thanks for keeping an eye out, we're REALLY ready to be home.

Good people of Rock Springs, Wyoming

Here is the view out our room window. This is another part of the "high desert" in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, were we find there is Flaming Gorge and wild horses. It's amazing what you find when you get off the interstate. This morning, with Bob's advice, I called Phil at ABCO about the explorer. To this point, based on all of the people we have met here, I believe I can say that we have found some friends in this town. I already mentioned Angelina and Jessica from the Hampton Inn. Jessica gave us a number of a towing service here in Rock Springs and one in a near by town. We chose the local number and landed "Bob's Towing". This guy started out tough with a quoted fee and the statement; "You'll have to have cash". I'm sure that was due to the fact that he had been ripped off in the past. Well, he came and picked us up and dropped us off at the Hampton Inn. He was going to drop the Explorer off the truck to make it easier to get our stuff out, but I talked him out of it, though it was a bit of a balancing act to get the doors open on the flatbed. He said to call him about 9am Saturday. ON the 40 or so mile trip back to Rock Springs, I think we learned more about Bob and his family than from anyone in that length of time. However, it was just friendly conversation, not anything overbearing. We enjoyed him.

Saturday morning I called him and he said, "I thought you picked it up, it's not here".. This should give you some idea of his sense of humor. He quickly followed with, "I took it for a 15 mile drive this morning and couldn't find a thing, so I took it to Plains Tire to see if they could figure it out." So I called Plains Tire. While on the phone we were discussing that it sure seemed like a wheel bearing, but nothing was for sure. During that time, the mechanic came and told they guy I was talking to that the "scope" pointed to a transfer case. Problem is that they don't do transfer case work. There are apparently 2 qualified places in this town of about 19,000 people (http://www.rockspringswyoming.net/). It was unanimous that the local Ford dealership was a problem. The guy from Plains Tire brough our vehicle to pick me up and I took him back. I went in to settle up. "Since we couldn't find anything we could fix, there's no charge."... What? What auto service do you know that would do that? Then I went next door to settle with Bob. I had to expose my sense of humor by asking him, "I have my car and my keys, what made you think I would come back and pay you?" I didn't tell you that when he dropped us off, I assumed he would want the money then; he said we would settle later. So to my question he said, "I trusted you". Something tells me that in that ride back to Rock Springs, he was making his decision regarding our character. Anyway, assuming there would legitimately be some tacked on the the fee he quoted me over the phone, I asked what I owed him. He gave me a figure $20 LESS than the quote. I asked for advice regarding Monday as ABCO and Six States Distributors don't work on Saturday. We discussed the possibilities, then he said, just come back here Monday morning and we'll get it done. (Meaning he, a local, would "go before us" to get the best situation.)

OK, that's Bob!

Monday; Bob sent me to ABCO and told me to talk with Phil. I called Phil who told me to bring it over, he took me "home" and said he would at least have a diagnosis today. About mid afternoon, he called to say that it was a transfer case. Problem was that the closest one is in Memphis, (and we all know that most of Memphis is at the basketball game.) We decided to have it shipped "emergency" with the idea that it would probably be here Wednesday rather than Thursday, but possibly tomorrow (Tuesday). He said he could have it installed in a few hours. The costs he quoted seemed reasonable.

Since we needed to make the Hampton Inn as our "home" for a few days, and the specific number of days was unknown, we brought our problem to the folks at the Hampton. Chief among these people was Kathy. Although there is a group coming to town that will fill the Hampton, she has assured us that we will have a place to stay if we need it. We had a bit of a problem with a couple of items in the room and Kathy spent considerable time working that out. In all of this we had several conversations that to us formed another "kinship", especially as we found that like us, she lives a faith based life. We traded family stories, coming to the conclusion that although we must always do the best we can, we simply don't have much control over the happenings in our lives. She had read our blogs and among other things, was touched with the TJ horror, especially as they had a similar experience in their family. And of course, "why" often doesn't get answered. Jessica told us about "Wonderful House" a Chinese food place down the street. Georgia loves Panda Express Orange Chicken. So we asked if there was a Panda Express in town. Jessica said, "No, I wish there were, but Wonderful House has great Orange Chicken..." How did she know it was Orange Chicken we were after... hmmm. Those folks were also great as well as the little lady at the Local Pizza Hut who directed me to the Post Office. This morning, Julie at the desk at the Hampton Inn performed some kind of "majic" (I spelled it that way because Kathy Majdic told me they would perform magic necessary due to the conference if we needed to stay over.) Now Kathy has assured us of a room for Tuesday nite if we should need it, and we'll play each day by ear. Hopefully we will be on our way soon. In the meantime, we're getting rest and interfacing with some wonderful people. And now that we know what's here, we may need to come back just to visit Sweetwater County.

Bulletin::: Phil called about 5 minutes before I had planned to call him to see how to plan this day. He said, "are you ready to go?" The part was there this morning when they opened, they had removed the old part last nite and had it finished by 10 am this morning. The bill was, I think reasonable. As I finish this, we are sitting in the Hampton Inn in Laramie where we were stuck on the way out due to weather. Overjoyed with the friendly and honest folks in Rock Springs. So as I say, there are a lot of nice people in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

You know how people who live next to railroad tracks get used to trains and soon it is part of their "background"? Well, the interstate runs "through" Rock Springs and it is uphill near here. So the "background" is trucks downshifting. An interesting concept for we prairie dwellers.

As a bit of an explanation; I started this post on Sunday in Rock Springs and finished it on Tuesday in Laramie. Therefore, it might be more disjointed than usual.

another turn of events

Today, I got to fulfill one of my wishes. For the past several years, Stevie Jay on newstalk WDWS radio in Champaign, Illinois has played excerpts from Hans Peterson's "Twelve Days of Christmas" during the Christmas season. He would periodically say that the only place he knew that handled that recording was Randy's Reconds in Salt Lake City. Finally this past year, I found Randy's Records address and phone number on the web and called. I had a great conversation with Randy. I told him that Stevie Jay was annually giving him good press in Illinois. He said he thought that was interesting because he can't get the local people to play it. The story is that Hans Peterson, a local radio personality made this recording. He made over 400 phone calls looking for supplies to put on a play, The Twelve Days of Christmas, using various voices and personalities. The people he called legitametly did not know anything except what they heard on the phone. I have found this hilarious for years and was so glad when Randy said he could mail me a copy (for a fee.. not much really). It came on Christmas eve and I was overjoyed as one our sons and his family had just arrived for our Christmas celebration. During my conversation with Randy, I mentioned that we were going west and maybe I could stop in for more copies. If you will remember, we got stranded in Wyoming by road closures, so had to rush past Salt Lake City. You may also remember that we raved about the help we got from Angelina in Rock Springs on the way out. 1600 down; 500 to go (no longer available.. taken down to make space) We'll come back to this. Also on the trip out, we were buried in snow. All of that was going out. Now, coming back. We landed in Salt Lake City last nite and checkout wasn't until noon today, and I knew that Georgia would need to rest up as much as possible before heading out again. So, I pulled out my directions to Randy's and Checked on his hours. Shortly after 10 am this morning, I made my way downtown to follow my quest. Randy wasn't in yet (supposed to come at 2pm). however the cool lady that was attending the store was great once I got across to her what I wanted. Most of all it was a blessing to experience Randy's Records. Talk about quaint... And they had to have every recording known to man. You can see by looking around the place that their motto should be the same as the old Huey's in Urbana... "If you can find it, we have it". or something like that. So for me the day started great. Georgia's back was a bit of a problem, but we got that to a managable point and took off. As we left Salt Lake City, the surrounding mountains brought the song we used to sing in church to mind; "like the mountains all around Jerusalem...." as the tall snow covered peaks seem to be standing guard around the city. When we passed through eastern Utah and western Wyoming, we kept saying to each other; "I don't remember this". Well. duh! it was all covered with snow on the way out. Here are a few of the beautiful sightings.

About the time we passed through Rock Springs, we noticed a strange whine in the car. We had made reservations at the Hampton in Laramie, so I had decided that when we got there, I would look up a Ford Dealership and have it checked out. We got about 40 miles east of Rock Springs and there was some serious noise and some girations. We decided we had better just stop. So rather than the sensable "call 911 or 411 or whatever", we decided to call our "old friends at the Rock Springs Hampton Inn" We had the Hampton Inn book with phone numbers, etc. We called and Jessica answered. To make a long story a little shorter, she cancelled our reservations in Laramie, booked us in Rock Springs, and gave us the number of a couple of towing services. We called Bob who came and hauled us back. (another chunk of money tossed into the air). Tonite we are finally staying at the Hampton Inn in Rock Springs, which seems only fitting since they have been of such help to us. We will call Bob in the morning to see what he things about fixing the Explorer. Until then, our life is again in the air.

goodbye to california

We spent last evening in Truckee, California on the north end of Lake Tahoe near Squaw Valley. We went to an "authentic Mexican" diner for some delicious mexican food before leaving California. (Yes, my bouquet is gone.) We stayed in a very unique Hampton Inn that was decorated and set up to fit in with the western lodge motif of the area. It was fantastic, except that apparently the room spray they used got to Georgia's breathing and we had to leave very early this morning. That in turn was a blessing because our goal was to make it to here in Salt Lake City because we couldn't find a Hampton Inn between Truckee and here; and mapquest said it was a 7.5 hour drive. (It was more like 9 and we didn't dilly dally.) As we left California, we descended through the clouds into something called the "great basin" I had heard about it, but knew very little. The biggest thing I got from it was that now I understand why gambling is legal in Nevada... On the road we took there wasn't much else to do and after the first 100 miles of the great basin, it was pretty much the same. It included the "40 mile desert" where many pioneers starved to death trying to reach the "promised land". We did see some neet stuff amidst the sagebrush and tumbleweed, including this tunnel, the hot springs that spewed little steam puffs along the road. I think this was close to what I was supposed to see when watching for whales spouting. These, I could see. Another cool thing was that although we were in the middle of a desert, there were snow-capped mountains all around us. That had to be frustrating to the early travelers. A plaque said they mostly traveled at nite because it was so hot (must not have been during April.).. Anyway, it must have been frustrating for them to endure that heat and see the snow all around them. As you can see, however distance is really decieving in this expanse. Here are a couple attempts to capture the mere size of this basin, which seemed to go on for miles and miles and miles. First there is the shot across the basin to the mountains beside us. Then there is another one of my "patented" mirror shots where you an see how far the flattness goes in front of us while seeing what is behind us in the rear view mirror. I'm sure this would be more effective if I weren't driving at the time, but with all of this nothing, what else can a guy do? I can't whistle!

There were some interesting rock formations as we got nearer to Utah. We also saw a couple of groups of Antelope. There was one place where there were scrubby cedar trees and bushes. Although we saw horses and cows grazing the sparce vegetation along the route, among the cedars Georgia saw a couple of horses that seemed out of place, with no "homestead" around. Later we read about a pioneer party that suffered severe hardship in the "cedar mountains".. aptly named... and now the wild horses roam the cedar mountains. So surely those were wild horses. I remember from my Animal Science days that in the midwest, farmers managed their herds by limiting the number of cows that were set to graze an acre of ground and that in parts of the west, ranchers used similar formulas, but it was "acres per cow" rather than cows per acre. This area had to be such an area.

Probably the most interesting thing about Nevada was their rest stops. First, there were few. I made a composite picture of several of them, ranging from a glorified portapotty to something similar to that seen in other states. Needless to say, (sorry Greg... if it was needless to say, then why say it, right???) anyway (to use one of my worn out phrases) we didn't have to wait in line. The shocking thing was that they were all very clean, and the brick one was one of the nicest and cleanest ones we have ever seen, and believe me, we have seen a few. When you're my age, you never trust a fart and you never miss a chance to pee. Well, with all of this driving, we have seen rest stops in 10 states since the last week in January and I'm good for about 2 hours. nuf sed.

So that was Nevada. The cheapest gas so far on the trip. Georgia got a little sleep time because with a simple straight road from Reno to Salt Lake (not really, but close) she didn't have to "help" me drive so much. Gambling casinos in the middle of nowhere. But just like Reno which surely draws from California, on the other side was Wendover which draws from Salt Lake City, 120 miles away. We saw one of the busses from Wendover near Salt Lake City. Leaving Nevada and entering Utah on I-80 is really a dramatic experience. Check out this picture where you see the gap in the mountains for the road to go through. When you go over that rise, you see the Bonneville salt flats. I mean flats. I'll never complain about the flat prairie of Illinois again. The funny thing (to me) was that when we came across here in the opposite direction 19 years ago, I don't remember Nevada being so "nothing" and in my mind, we came around the end of the Great Salt Lake and right into the salt flats. I remember driving the Chevy out on the flats. However a couple of reality checks came my way on this trip. First was the fact that the mountains you see in the distance on the picture looking down the road are as best I can tell, about 100 miles away. If I am mistaken, I know they are at least 50 miles away. When there is nothing between and the mountains, you can virtually see forever (taking into account the curvature of the earth.) Again, those pioneers surely thought they were seeing a mirage when they could never reach the other side. Along this line, it's worthwhile looking at a map of this area to see what a really straight road looks like. It looks like someone used a ruler to draw it. Speaking of the mountains, I couldn't resist "treating" you to one of my "artsy" shots (again, while driving somewhere between 75 and 80.) Notice that through the water, the obligatory fence along the interstate is held with wooden posts rather than metal. My guess is that the brackish water would rust the metal posts quickly. That reminds me; the rest stops in Nevada, had cattle guards. We found this confusing because the cattle, although apparently free-ranging outside the bounds of the interstate, were fenced out of the highway zone. Anyway.. (again) there were cattle guards at nearly all of the Nevada rest stops. (If you don't know what a cattle guard is; look it up; http://www.barnworld.com/sa/c/Cattle_Guards_3434.htm

The other reality check for me was that there was "stuff" between the salt flats and the salt lake. It's worth a look at a map of the area, using the satellite view to see the huge salt flats, then rough terrain, then the lake. Here is a sample of the stuff between them. We found the Salt Lake City Airport Hampton Inn because it was the most western one and we didn't want to driver further than we had to. This is probably the most elegant Hampton Inn I have ever seen. I used to say that you were never surprised at a Hampton Inn. Well, these last 2 were surprises, in the positive sense. (except for the room spray at Truckee.) Tomorrow, we hope to get to Laramie. It's supposed to be only a little over 5 hours. The stretch between Salt Lake and Laramie will be a repeat of our trip out.. Hope we don't get bored with this repeat. PS; if my use of the "F" word offends you, feel free to let me know. I wouldn't want to lead the grandkids astray against their parent's wishes.