Gas Rebuttal

John forgot to mention that when we filled up after almost running out of gas, we had half of one gallon left in the tank!! The next place to get gas was 27 miles away so we would not have made it. The next stop was a Flying J truck stop to buy a "Next Exit" book that Uncle Jim and Aunt Darlene recommended. It would have been handy when we were cruising along on fumes. I was ready to try to coast into a gas station or have John push the car. I think (I hope) that he is finally cured of driving the car down to when the red light comes on.

Also the speed limit in Wyoming, Utah and Nevada has been 75 mph which I love. Here the speed limit in construction zones is 65 mph.

And last...during the bug incident, we pulled into a McDonalds, while still battling the bugs. Some big flying insect landed on our car and went absolutely nuts trying to eat our bugs. We thought about staying there to see how many it would eat but we had to get down the road.

So tomorrow is Lake Tahoe!!!! Here we come. Watch out for the Barrys. Who knows what will happen next----Penny

Day 8 - Penny, the new poker phenom

As Penny mentioned in her edition, we swatted, washed, and did various methods of  hand to hand combat with these little creature that wanted to make our car their home. This is really fun going down the highway at 80 MPH. Noting that, NASCAR must have been in charge when the legislators decided to make the speed limit at 75 MPH. We topped out on cruse at 82. I guess when the traffic is so sparse and the only living thing you could hit would be some Pampas grass, it makes sense. Penny entered her first poker tournament this morning. She was very nervous. I am very proud that she finished 5th out of 20 players. I went out in 7th. She can't wait for the next opportunity. Watch out DPL in 2012. Interesting sign on a restaurant - "Louie's Chinese Bistro". Someone tell me how any of those words go together.--John

Day 6 and 7 - John, the car is thirsty

We left Loveland , Co about 7 AM, heading for Utah. I made a decision early in the planning process that we would go north and hit I-80 in Wyoming. Since neither of us had ever been in Wyoming, it was a good move. The sight lines were boundless.It seemed that you could see 50-60 miles. The one thing I would have changed was something I thought I had learned years ago. "Fill up the tank before you leave each morning!!" Penny was driving and I looked over to see that the low fuel light was on. Normally at home, this would be no big deal, since you can bet on 35-40 miles before you run out. Not here though.There are vast stretches of desolate terrain followed by miles of the same. We were very nervous, until we saw a Conoco sign around a bend. At first, I thought it was a mirage. But no, it was real. We filled up and was almost delirious with joy. As we left, I was thinking that Rod Sterling (Twilight Zone) would have had the station disappear after we left. We past an interesting business soon afterward. The logo on the side of the building was "Liquor - Fireworks". Yea, they really go together. We made a decision to drive to Wendover, Nevada. We stayed at someplace that a crackhead had to design. Neon everywhere with reflective ceilings. Vertigo, here we come. I played in a tournament. 30 players and I finished 14th. Meanwhile the car, underneath lights in the parking lot was being assaulted by the BUGS.

Poker

I played in my first poker tournament with real live people today at Circus Circus in Nevada. John played too. I was very nervous and had a quick instruction session with Hap the dealer. Out of twenty people, John finished seventh. I finished FIFTH!!! I am hooked and looking forward to playing again.---Penny

Wyoming, Utah, Nevada

Wyoming was absolutely beautiful. The mountains just keep changing all the time. Sometimes they are different on either side of the highway. I cannot imagine what it took to build the highway, but I am grateful. The scenery was wonderful.

Utah was even different from Wyoming but gorgeous.The drive through Salt Lake City took my breath away. The granite mountains there were different from others I had seen. My ears plugged up in the Rocky Mountains and I still can't hear very well. I have to raise my voice to be heard, which is great for John who insists he is not hard of hearing. Yeah. Right. A sign for a shooting range: "We have machine guns you can shoot." That is just wrong.

Oh. Started to get a cold in Kansas but stopped and took some wonderful medicine....starts with a "z" and ends with a "cam." Where have you been all my life? I feel great now. (This was a commercial.)

Okay. Now lets talk about Nevada. We decided to not stay in Salt Lake City and drive to Nevada for the night. We did see the Great Salt Lake and lots of other pools of water that obviously have salt in them. It was amazing to see some of the ground had salt coming through. Very weird for a girl from Iowa. We stopped in Wendover, Nevada, for the night. I gambled $20 and left with $50. (only good news on gambling so far). We went to our car the next morning to leave early and found it was covered with bugs!! COVERED!! They were like the size of a gnat but more like baby flies. We hurried and got in the car and took off for breakfast. That's when we realized we had a serious problem. They were everywhere inside our car and outside of it. We had to brush them off our clothes to go eat. When we got back to our car it was still covered in bugs. We jumped in and headed down the road. The bugs clung to the car. We had hundreds inside the car and kept rolling down our windows to get rid of them. We didn't realize we were actually letting more in. We drove for about an hour swatting and killing the flies as we drove until we stopped to get gas. The car still had bunches of them so we ran it through a car wash. Now we had CLEAN bugs....we managed to get most off the car but not all of them and the ones that washed off were now clean but not dead. We jumped in the car and took off again. After another couple of hours we stopped for lunch. We had used up all the paper towels and napkins in our car trying to kill the bugs so when we stopped for lunch I grabbed a roll of toilet tissue. John laughed his butt off to think that first I would steal and that second I would steal toilet paper. But we drove on. We got about fifty miles from Reno and we stopped for a break. I went into a WalMart to get bug spray. When I came out of the store, John had unloaded all our belongings into a shopping cart so we could spray inside. It looked like we were homeless people!! We sprayed the car, put everything back inside and took off down the road killing the few that were left. NOT FUN!!!!

We are now at Harrahs in Reno in a very nice room. I have to wonder though what the valet thought about parking our car that smells like bug repellant and with a roll of toilet paper on the passenger's seat. ---Penny

Day 5 - Three layer salad

We are excited today as we are going to the Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive was rather long (over an hour), but was absolutely gorgeous. We took several shots prior to getting into the park. We saw quite a few fishermen going after mountain brown trout. We went through Estes Park, which was very touristy. A few miles outside Estes Park was the entrance to the Park. I got a lifetime pass since I was of an advance age. For the rest of my life, I will be able to enter all national parks at no charge. This also includes National Forests and camping facilities. It pays to be decrepit after all. We were not even prepared for what we were about to see. At the base of the mountain, we were already at 5600 elevation. At the peak of the route, we were well over 12,000 feet!! The views were breathtaking. At one stop, we were very close to ice and snow flows. We were going to climb to the peak, but it was a half-mile hike uphill. We got a quarter of the way up when we waved the white flag. I now know what oxygen deprivation feels like. Not fun. During our journey, we went from shirts to light jacket to winter coats. The peak was in the upper 30s with high winds. All during the drive up we noticed 12 foot poles on the sides of the road. These are for the snow plows. Without these, they would plummet down the mountain. Penny did rather well, although I could have paid for the trip if I got a dollar for each time she screamed, "I am scared." The next time we do this, I am installing a steel shit bar, so she can hang on to something. We couldn't believe the number of RVs and bicyclists on the road. I would love to camp at the base of the mountain, but take these beasts up to the top. I don't think so. As for as cycling, bury me on the side of the road. These guys have to be in unbelievable shape. Tommorrow, we are heading north to Cheyenne, Wyoming and catch I-80 to Salt Lake City.---John

Rocky Mountains

Anyone who knows me knows I am afraid of heights. John has managed to get me onto a plane twice to fly to Vegas but I was still scared. I can paint the ceilings in our house on a four foot ladder but I am still afraid. All of that paled compared to our drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park! I was so scared I had a crucifix in one hand, a rosary in the other, and the Pope on the phone!!! John is a great driver but he deserves a medal after putting up with me. It wasn't as bad coming back down the mountains as I had my window rolled down snapping photos as I yelled I was scared!! Honestly, if you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it. Reaching the highest peak was like visiting the moon it was so barren. But it was a fantastic adventure.

Tomorrow we head to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Do they have mountains there?---Penny