(These aren't readable at this size; the colors tell the story.) I checked the highway report through Wyoming through the
state government web site. All clear –
time to go! We loaded up the totes in
the back of the truck and headed off through the Bonneville salt flats.
Emily and I stopped for gas just outside of Salt Lake City. While I was filling the gas, Emily was
looking at the tires and thought that they looked low. It could just be altitude change, but we
decided to check them out. I brought out
my trusty tire gauge that I had had since I was 16. All of the tires registered at around 20 PSI
– oops! We started filling the tires
and that same trusty tire pump now registered the tires at 160 PSI –
yikes! We went to a local Jiffy Lube to
get that corrected, and also replaced all of the fluids for colder weather.
Back on the road, we see an overhead sign that I-80 is
closed! What?!? I had just check two hours ago and the road
was clear – now it’s closed!
We went to the visitor center in Salt Lake City to get an
update. I asked one of the reception
guys if he had any information on road conditions in Wyoming. He didn’t, he said, but he did say, “I have
the Internet”. We spent the next 15
minutes looking at Wyoming travel routes and cameras, and concluded that I-80
would not work:
He also looked at I-90 (through Montana) and I-70
(through Colorado). I-90 was showing
closings from Billings to the North
Dakota state line and I-70 was closed at Loveland pass and at the Twin Tunnels. After much discussion, I decided that none of
these northern passages would work in the next week. We’re headed south!
Our new route has added two days and 1000 miles to our
trip. We overnighted in Beaver, UT and
considered taking a shortcut via Hwy 89 to avoid Las Vegas traffic. Good this we didn’t; once we got on I-40 in
AZ, we found out that the road had closed.
We sticking to interstates for the rest of our journey.
One exciting part of the trip was a drive over the new
Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge! We’ve watched
it’s construction over the past few years, and it’s a marvel in engineering. It cuts at least 45 minutes off the route
from Las Vegas to Kingman, and the barriers deflect most of the cross-winds
that the gorge receives. There is also a
footpath to walk the bridge (though I don’t think I’ll ever do that). The bridge is 900’ above the Colorado river.
After
stays in Flagstaff, Tucumcari, Oklahoma City and Cameron, MO, we’re
stuck in Mason City, IA. (25 mph crosswinds slowed us down between New
Mexico and Missouri.) A
snowstorm is coming through the upper Midwest, and we’re not taking changes
with the trailer. We’ll get into
Minneapolis tomorrow. At least I have time to update this blog!
Here’s how the route was originally planned: (1900 miles,
four days)
California, Nevada, Utah,
Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota
Here’s how the route actually played out: (3000 miles, ten
days)
California,
Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Nevada (again), Arizona (again), New Mexico, Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota
I guess you can't always believe the Internet.
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