8:49 a.m.
We visit the truck stop before getting on the road. The truck stop is amazing. See, the hotel breakfast was completely lacking in anything I could eat. But the truck stop has little packages with carrots, dip and cheese. And a different one with apples, peanut butter and trail mix. The peanut butter is just peanuts and salt. Plus I get some V-8. Breakfast of champions obtained!
I negotiate a little stop for the morning. I have no idea how I got this one approved...
10:18 a.m.
At the Pearl Izumi Factory Store in Park City, UT. More bike shorts are acquired. Mark gets a cute jacket – I mean a manly jacket of course. We chat for while with Amy who is originally from the Midwest and loves to ride bikes too. She tells us about a cool coffee shop on the other side of the freeway, owned by their mayor. After a detour through Gap (all capris are $12.99), we head out. We can’t find the coffee shop – she said go toward the freeway, but I think we went the wrong way toward it – so we just hop on and are off.
Don’t worry – she also told us about a coffee shop we have to visit in Nebraska.
Noon or so…
Maybe if I just sort of lay down on this seat a bit, I can see the tops of the mountains better. Zzzz…
5:29 p.m.
My turn to drive. After MV makes fun of me for driving on the toot strips, he sleeps so all is well. I am pretty good at this truck driving thing. It would be fun to be a truck driver – for maybe one week or so.
Of course, as soon as MV falls asleep, it starts raining. So I drive through the rainstorm with lightning. Not sure if there was thunder – didn’t hear any but the truck is pretty loud when the windows are cracked.
8:17 p.m.
We stop at a rest stop. This is the dirtiest place we have been on all of the trip. I have actually been impressed with the rest stops – clean and in good repair. This one – well, there was a poo smell in the air and poo to go along with it. But cute baby cows along the road in. And MV decides he wants to drive again.
9:23 p.m.
Uh oh! MV just got pulled over. And we had no clue why – especially since the truck won’t even let him speed. Turns out, we were in a climbing-to-the-summit zone where no trucks can go in the left lane. MV had gone out to pass. Apparently there was a sign and we didn’t see it. But the cutie highway patrol guy gave us a warning when he found out we were not commercial and said just to make sure not to go in the left lane when climbing. They even have blue warning papers that you get. Poor MV – he is actually very careful about following all the truck rules (we even went to a weigh station) so not fun to miss one and get pulled over.
But there were some fabulous wildflowers and this amazing rock formation right where we were stopped, so it was quite lovely for me.
9 p.m.
We stop for dinner in Cheyenne, WY. MV still wants to get to Nebraska tonight – even just over the border so he can check off three states for the day – but agrees that there might be nothing to eat then and we cannot live on snacks alone. Cheyenne is in bold type on the map and has its own little city map inset, but apparently it all must be relative. We seem to have picked the most populated exit, but see only fast food. We were aiming for a little diner or family restaurant. I remember that the Holiday Inn billboard had “full service restaurant” listed. It is not well labeled – almost like they didn’t want us to find it – but totally worth the hunt. I got a huge platter of fresh raw veggies, a grilled burger with no bun and real mashed potatoes with no gravy. OK, I’m thinking that maybe this doesn’t sound fabulous to you, but this is one of my favorite meals. They even had the good pickles.
Now, revived, we drive again. It is dark and there is fabulous lightning in the sky ahead so we are amused.
10:48 p.m.
The Days Inn is sold out? What could possibly be going on in Kimball to sell out the Days Inn? But the Super 8 had a room with three beds that he can give us cheap. Three beds? It is just a weird night.
I would just kill for a soy mocha in the morning!!!
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