Getting to Colorado

As we mentioned in the last post, our drive to CO had lots of weather issues.  Rain, snow, clouds and wind that blew the motorhome all over the place.  I know my hands are stronger just from gripping the steering wheel.

We made our first stop in Winnemucca, NV.  We knew the trip across Nevada and Utah would be long so we used the Road Atlas (yes, we bought one because looking on the computer maps were a challenge!) to guess good places for a stop.  Winnemucca is one of the larger cities on the Interstate and we were tired when we arrived.  We decided to find a place to eat in the downtown and settled for  a Mexican Restaurant.  After all the scrumptious food in San Francisco, this was a major letdown.  We should have ask a local person where to eat!

The next day was another long drive to Salt Lake City.  On the way we passed miles of white ground that looked like snow but it wasn't.  We texted family to show them the white stuff and ask if anyone knew what it was.  David told us to stop the RV and taste it - we didn't!

You can't travel this part of the world without appreciating how much trains are critical to transporting merchandise, oil, etc. across the country.  It is hard to capture how many and how long the trains are!  The tracks are everywhere.

It was also fun to make Floss nervous as we approached the tunnels through the mountains.  She was never quite sure they were high enough.

There were also lots of refineries along the way.  They seem to be the only thing around for miles.  Not sure where the workers drive from???

We arrived in Salt Lake City and checked into the RV Park.  It was a beautiful drive into the city because of the snow covered mountains.

We had our worst weather in Salt Lake City.  It poured most of the day.  We did have a pretty view of a snow capped mountain from our motorhome.

Despite the cold and rain we got on a commuter train to get into Salt Lake City to walk around.  It is a pretty city and our pictures would have been better if the sun had been shining.  We had a scrumptious home made meal in a restaurant that was formerly part of the dining services for BYU.  We also toured the visitor center and all the history surrounding the Church of Latter Day Saints.

We knew we were in for a tough drive as we left Salt Lake City.  The clouds were ominous.  We hit snow and ice as we drove to Rawlings, WY.  We chose to get a hotel that night.  The motorhome was covered with a sheet of ice and Floss wasn't looking forward to sleeping in an igloo.  We did ask locals about a good restaurant for steak.  One woman laughed and said, "We don't have any in Rawlings!"  Another man however recommended a place and we had a delightful dinner.  We were grateful to be in our hotel room and warm beds for the night.

Because the weather was windy and more snow was predicted we decided to get off the Interstate and take 287 to CO.  I knew 287 as the road that goes through Fort Collins but I had never driven it through Wyoming.  It was fun to begin to recognize the road that we used to go to the Poudre Canyon, Vern's, Patty's house and other special places in our lives.

We drove through Fort Collins without stopping to see all my friends and colleagues there because we were off to Denver to see Lisa and Tom.  We arrived in time for dinner and the beginning of our visit in CO.