The Open Road....

My travels along Hwy 50 continued for most of Tuesday. I left Ely early in the morning and headed out once again through wide open country but soon I was driving, up, up and up into another mountain pass. I met a biker at a gas stop who said that if you drive the entire length of Hwy 50 you will drive up, over and through 11 mountain passes. The last one I crossed was the Sacramento and snow was still very visible at the top.

Again, I rarely passed another car - just me alone in this beautiful country for as far as my eyes could see. What I really wanted to do when I finally drove into Delta, UT was to turn around and drive Hwy 50 all over again, all the way back to Lake Tahoe where it begins.

One of the most amazing things I saw coming into the UT portion of the road was this huge, shimmering lake with high mountains behind it.

The color reflecting off the water was almost white....and as I got closer, it got even whiter. When I was close enough to the 'water' I realized it wasn't moving so I grabbed my map and realized what I was seeing was the bottom end of the famous Bonneville Salt Flats
where the racing of very fast cars and the testing of secret weapons take place. It's also the place that one of my favorite movies, The Last Indian, staring Anthony Hopkins, was filmed. What a treat to just 'stumble upon,' but that's what has been great about this entire trip - the unexpected.

Hwy 50 gigs a bit at Delta and you need to drive Interstate 15 north for one exit before it heads back southeast and connects to Interstate 70.

Traveling Interstate 70 is another treat thanks to a very smart road-designer, you have wonderful 'vista points' to pull over and enjoy. It makes it even more enjoyable as you travel through the huge, rocky and very red landscape of this part of Utah.

I drove 30 miles south off Interstate 70 to visit friends Sue & Jim, owners of the Moab Rim RV & Campground. I had first met them when RV-ing 2 years ago, then stayed and worked for them for 3 weeks and we had stayed in touch while I've been off the road. They put me up overnight in one of their cute, very well-furnished housekeeping cabins and we enjoyed catching up at The Blue Pig, Moab's newest and tasty Bar-B-Que joint. They made me promise that if my plans to return to RV-ing comes to fruition, that I would come back and help them out next season.

I woke up really early (4:30 a.m.!) yesterday morning and thought why not get started? I was driving by 5 a.m. - the sun wasn't even peaking over the horizon yet. I drove from Moab to Colby, KS (The Oasis on the Plains), 585 miles, through Glenwood Canyon, the huge Eisenhower Tunnel, right through the middle of downtown Denver and back down to the flat-lands. It was cold, wet and not a fun drive. I had on jeans, a t-shirt, 2 sweatshirts, my blue, rubber, hooded raincoat (which thanks goodness I had thrown in the Jeep at the very last minute) and a blanket wrapped around my shoulders (where the most air comes pouring into the car. This is the only day I was upset I hadn't did this trip with the top on the car!

I am now 628 miles from St. Louis, my destination for the weekend. I probably won't make it today as it's already 8 a.m. here in KS (I lost 2 hours yesterday just driving into different time zones) and I splurged and stayed at a brand new Sleep Inn. Really comfy bed and a hot breakfast is waiting in the lobby once I get showered, so.....

Until next time....