SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH TO HOME (CLARKSTON, GA)

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Thursday, June 28^th Arthur Austin's home in Midvale, Utah

77 degrees already at 8:15 this morning. Blue skies but smoky from fires burning near Saratoga Springs and EagleMountain about 40 miles south of SaltLake. 28,791 starting mileage.

Meet with Art at 7:00 on his front porch to have breakfast at the Outpost Cafe, a nearby restaurant he frequents. After a neighbor took a group picture of the three of us, we said our goodbyes and headed to Interstate 215 that circles around Salt Lake City. After a smoky view of downtown SaltLake, we intersected with I-80 again, and headed due east and started our climb into the WasatchMountains. We couldn't help but notice a huge growth in the number of homes built around the ski resort of ParkCity that was the site of the Winter Olympics in 2002. We were through this area with Dad in 1999 and it wasn't at all built up this way. Pretty drive through this region with ranches in the valleys where they have irrigation.

Crossed the border into Wyoming and stopped at a very nice welcome center near Evanston. We picked up maps and state park info and talked with the Rangers about this and that. Had a nice looking campground across the road if we were looking for a place to stop for the night. Quickly, left the forests and got into some really dry desert looking soil, some alkali flats, and various buttes in the distance. Back into mining country.

Got gas in Little America at $3.719 per gal and wandered through the gift shops. Valerie and Diana stopped here one night when driving the U-Haul after dad’s sister-in-law died in California as the snow was blowing so bad. This place is absolutely in the middle of no-where----no town just motel/restaurant/gas station a stop for travelers with picnic tables and playground equipment. Started by a man who had spent the night in a blizzard here while watching a herd of sheep so the story on the T-shirts says.

The towns of Green River and Rock Springs are oases on this stretch of I-80 as they both draw water and irrigate from the Green River that then flows into the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Another place to visit when the weather is milder. Continued east on Interstate 80, heavy smoke now from the Colorado fires, spotted antelope here and there, and climbed through the Medicine Bow Mountains and then down into and around Laramie. My grandson, who lives in Laramie was visiting in Colorado so continued on without seeing him. At the summit of the LaramieMountains in the MedicineBowNational Forest, we took highway 210 through some really strange boulders and rock formations to the CurtGowdyState Park. Parked Rosie right on the shore of the Granite Springs Reservoir and watched a family of Canada geese and all of the fishermen. It was $17 per night to camp with no hook-ups.

Friday, June 29^th Curt Gowdy State Park between Laramie and Cheyenne, WY

Cloudy at 6:33 and 66 degrees out. Starting mileage at 29,219

Started early this morning and drove down the mountains, still on highway 210. Pretty drive through ranch land. After about 30 miles, this highway intersected with I-25 and we then drove a few miles south back to I-80. Got gas at a huge truck stop where the two interstates cross. Paid $3.449 per gal---cheapest gas price this whole trip, we think. Pulled around and through the Micky D's there for a snack. Really smoky now from the Colorado fires since we are so close to the border. This land is flat for crops of wheat and we are now seeing plenty of oil wells working.

Crossed into Nebraska and continued along I-80 stopping at a rest stop near Sidney that was against a small dry and rocky hill. Signs were posted all around the base of the hill warning against climbing the hill, as there were lots of rattlesnakes up there. I talked with a woman, when she paused from mowing the lawn, and asked her if the snakes read the signs and didn't come down into the grass of the rest area. She said that they come down for water all the time. Took a couple of bird pictures as they were also enjoying the water sprinklers going---a western kingbird sitting on one of the warning signs, was a new bird for us.

After driving about 180 miles or so from the border, through fields of corn and sugar beets, and into the central time zone losing an hour, we were on a stretch of I-80 we had traveled the summer before following the Oregon Trail. We began seeing the many lakes that dot the land next to the freeway as it follows the PlatteRiver. We didn't see any wild turkeys along this route as we had the previous year, but did see lots of fishermen standing deep in the lake waters.

Spent the night at MormonIslandState Park that was a camping spot along the Mormon Trail on the PlatteRiver. It was a nice park for overnight travel---lots of trees, on a lake stocked with fish, and very easy off and on I-80. Not sure now what fee we paid but had full hook-ups so we could run the air conditioner all night. I think it was $18 per night with additional fees for each service---electric, water, and sewer.

Saturday, June 30^th Mormon Island off I-80 near Grand Island, NE

A hazy/smoky 75 degrees at 8:45. Starting mileage at 29,612.

Drove north about 10 miles to the town of Grand Island looking to get Rosie's oil changed. The Jiffy Lube was backed up and the wait there was an hour---guess everyone is out to do this on a Saturday morning. So, we drove to the nearby Wal-mart and found they didn't have pits but lifts. Whole thing was a waste of time so we drove back to I-80 and continued our drive along until about the town of York where we took a turn due south on highway 81 toward Kansas. One thing about these prairie states, is that the roads generally follow sections of land and are, therefore, all squared off like a checkerboard. Got gas and paid $3.399 per gal. with ethanol added. Took 23.45 gals so she was really thirsty.

The drive south into Kansas was interesting as we were into rolling hills with small farm towns off the highway. At Belleville, the first town across the border we stopped at the WelcomeCenter for a break. We got maps and brochures and looked at the hand crafts they had for sale. The usual knitting and quilting items plus work in tin and straw were displayed. By this time the temps were at 91 degrees. Called our friends Jim and Diane who live south of Wichita, who traveled along with us last year from Whitehorse, YK to GlacierPark in MT, only to discover they were in Maryland with a brand new granddaughter. Guess we will have to visit them another time.

The next town south was the prosperous-looking railroad town of Concordia. They have a museum and research center here dedicated to the orphan trains that from 1854-1929 brought an estimated 200,000 children from the slums of New York City to be placed in rural homes and farms to work as child laborers. We didn't stop to tour the museum, but this would be a place of interest next time we are through here. They also had a WW II German POW camp a few miles out of town that housed 4,000 prisoners who worked on local farms during the war. What really caught our eye however, was a 140 foot long 15 foot high carved brick mural on the front of the visitors center. Very interesting area.

Just north of the town of Saline we stopped at a rest stop in the shade of some big trees, turned on the generator for the air conditioner, and had lunch. The 4 lane highway we had been traveling on became Interstate 135 and we continued on it until the town of McPherson where we took off east on highway 56 to avoid Wichita and continue through areas we hadn't traveled before. Lots of oil wells in this region pumping away out in the pastures and grazing land. Now so hot, the cattle are gathered around and under the trees or standing belly deep in the farm ponds. Although we were heading toward a number of State Parks around several different lakes, by this time we realized it was going to be too hot to camp, even with an electric hook-up to run the air conditioner.

At about the town of Marion, we turned south on highway 77 and continued to drive through rolling hills of grazing land sprinkled with working oil wells. In the pretty community of El Dorado, we got gas at a grocery store that is connected with the Kroger Company and paid $3.27 per gal with the bonus of 2 cents off with the Kroger card. About 17 miles further south we dead-ended into highway 400 as it goes east and west across the state of Kansas. Here we hit quite a bit of traffic as it also goes through Wichita and it was now late in the afternoon. The towns now got further apart and the hills of limestone became rougher with river valleys. Lots of black walnut trees, some growing wild but many planted or left to grow in pastures and around farm houses. Pretty area around the town of Neodesha that sits at the confluence of two rivers. Finally arrived at the college town of Parsons where we found a Best Western motel for the night. Had really good Chinese food delivered to us in our room. Enjoyed the air conditioner set really low and called it a night.

Sunday, July 1st Parsons, KS

Partly cloudy/partly hazy 82 degrees already at 8:00. Yesterday we passed 30,000 and are starting mileage is 30,044.

This morning we continued our drive along highway 400 as it turned due south about 5 miles from the Missouri border. We are now in the corner of 3 states and the road cuts through the very corner tip of Oklahoma where they have a huge casino/resort. Dropped onto Interstate 44 at this point and drove into Springfield, Missouri. Missed the freeway we wanted that ran south of town as the signs gave it a person's name, like John Jones Parkway, and we were looking for a highway number. So we virtually circled Springfield to get where we wanted to go. All along the freeways were flashing signs saying, "high fire risk". Many states we noted are allowing the sale of fireworks, but banning the individual use of them. Many communities are banning any fireworks displays especially in the western states like Utah.

At Springfield, we finally found highway 60 which become 60/63 into the Ozarks Mountains. Most of the time this road was a 2 lane road with frequent passing lanes, but at several places it became a 4 lane, divided highway. I think in the future this route will become fully a 4 lanes or even an interstate as the traffic warrants it. Crossed into Arkansas and started looking for a place to have lunch----it must have SHADE. After searching through a couple towns looking for a park, we found a perfectly lovely park/welcome center in Mammoth Springs. The park was situated on a Lake fed by the Spring River and the area around it is full of vacation rentals, camping, boating/rafting/fishing and summer cabins. Ate lunch in Rosie running the generator/air conditioner as even in the shade the temperatures were brutal.

Continued driving the rest of the afternoon through the lovely forested hilly Ozarks until we quickly dropped onto the Mississippi River plains at the town of Jonesboro. Here the road became an expressway through the rice fields. The expressway joined I-55 and we crossed the "Mighty Mississippi River" into Memphis, TN. We then took highway 78 through town and then south into Mississippi. We wanted to be south of Memphis to start out in the morning. I think this day we have been in more states than ever before in one day's time---6 of them---KS, OK, MO, AK, TN, and MS. In the community of Olive Branch, we settled for the night into the cool comfort of a Comfort Inn. It had hit 105 degrees today!

Monday, July 2nd--Olive Branch, Mississippi

83 degrees at 7:00 am. 30,500 starting mileage. Hazy mostly blue skies.

Got on the road early as we planned to be home tonight. Continued to drive on 78 that had signs posted that it would soon be Interstate 22. Not sure why it wasn't so now, as the road looked like an Interstate. Got gas in Tupelo at $2.99 per gal. It has been a long time since we saw gas prices below $3.00 per gal. Decided to avoid the mess of getting around in Birmingham since this new freeway has not yet been completed on this side and it dumps you into regular street traffic. So, left 78 after crossing into Alabama at the town of Hamilton and took 278 toward Gadsden. The sky was now looking very much like it was going to rain on us as we wandered through small dying communities tucked into mixed southern forests on this 2 lane road. RAIN, cooling rain. Dropped the temp to 69 degrees so Valerie pulled into the shaded back parking lot of a Dollar General Store and took a short nap before we continued on toward home.

When we got to Gadsden, we found the library and donated the accumulated books we had read and bought some new books for 25 cents for our next trip. We then hit lots of going home traffic all the way to Interstate 20 and then on home. This journey along 278 was a pretty drive in the mountains but not the best way home as the mess of surface travel down 431 from Gadsden through Anniston and Oxford was bumper to bumper. Ending mileage for this trip was 30, 903 miles.

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Comments

[Pat Davis]

Your Trips
Thank you again as usually for sharing your travels with me. I have so much time now to really enjoy the articles and especially the photos. Thank You!!!