Evanston, WY

Another early start and we were on the road by quarter of seven. Well if you thought the drive through Nevada was boring, wait 'til you see Utah! The first 60 miles was nothing but flat, flat, flat. At least Nevada had scrub brush and an occasional hill. All we saw was sand, salt, and puddles. But at least we were able to continue at 70 mph and were in Salt Lake City by around 11:00. (It was 10:00 to us but the time zone changed at the Utah border).

I heard horror stories from friends at the Elks Lodge in Elk Grove about how bad the roads were getting through Salt Lake City. They were a reported mess due to the construction gearing up for the Olympics this winter. Well the construction must be complete because we had no problems.

I had also heard horror stories about pulling the grade out of Salt Lake City. Now it wouldn't have been so bad if I had the road to myself but of course that's not the case. There's three lanes but trucks and trailers are limited to the right two. Some of the trucks are having such a hard time getting up the hill that they're down to about 5 miles per hour and driving the shoulder. Others are doing 10 and 20. I think I could have held the hill at around 35 - 40 but I was impeded by the slower trucks. Then I couldn't get around them because I was doing 15 mph and the traffic in the lane to my left was coming up at 50 mph.

So there I sat. The engine and transmission got hotter and hotter until I finally thought I would have to pull over and let things cool. But then we reached the top, just in the nick of time.

We're making good time now and should be in Evanston in another 45 minutes as it's only 38 miles. Hmm, road construction next 12 miles. I don't see anything. Then we crested the hill and traffic was STOPPED! Go 100 feet. Stop. 50 feet. Stop. 25 feet. Stop. Stop. Wait. Stop. 3 inches. Stop. Stop. Stop. It was so bad that when the second train passed us on the tracks running beside and slightly below the highway, driving over the edge and hoping to land on a flat car actually seemed like a viable plan. It took more than an hour to get through the construction mess.

We finally made it to Evanston, WY. We're at the Elks Lodge. According to the travel guide, they have water and electricity. Well the water pipe broke and hasn't been fixed. And the electrical outlets quit working and no one knows why. Nor does anyone really care.

The lodge here is pretty quaint. The people are nice but there's not much here. However I did snap one picture of the view. They're having a 50th wedding anniversary party tonight. If it wasn't for the party, we'd be the only ones here. We went into the lodge and had a few cocktails but then retired to our trailer. They serve dinner and we may go back later or we may not. The flies here are incredibly numerous but we seem to be the only ones bothered by them. I guess that's city folk for ya. In any event, it will be another early evening as we still have 220 miles before we reach Sinks Canyon State Park tomorrow. We're both looking forward to actually starting our vacation.

Questions, Comments, Praise, Complaints?
Please send me an email at drew@mykitchentable.net.