161.9/29–10/06 Wyoming Through the Windshield

This is the last blog of our memorable Octogenarian Odyssey. It shows how we got from Colorado to California on I-80 through Wyoming. Most of the pictures were taken through the windshield, therefore not up to our usual quality. At the end I will reveal some of the statistics of this 5 ½ month journey. If you have unanswered questions, feel free to e-mail us at bjpawek@comcast.net.

We left Estes Park with a rainbow at our back
and headed for Laramie, Wyoming.

There are some mighty big critters in Wyoming!

Instead of cows,
wildlife is commonly seem under the big sky.

Wyoming is noted for its pronghorn antelope
along the roadside.

Can you count the number of boxcars in this train?

Whoops! After an overnight at the Wal*Mart in Laramie,
we woke up to snow!
We had no chains and the Interstate was closed,
but our trusty GPS navigator, Millie,
found us a detour around the ice and snow
through the town of Medicine Bow.

The truckers apparently either had their own Millie
or already knew about the clear detour.

There is a lot of Wyoming!

Wow! We’re back on I-80 after the 12 mile detour.

Last stop in Wyoming…
Little America for a pit stop and free ice cream cone.

Down the verdant Ogden valley into Utah.

Through Salt Lake City and by Tooele,
our old stamping ground when we were in the Army.

Past the Morton Salt Works —
“When it rains, it pours.”…

And out into the hot, dry Utah desert.

Soon we are driving through the shimmering white vista
of Utah’s Great Salt Desert.

A greatly anticipated oasis on the barren salt fields—
& a famous rest stop…

Through Wendover UT/NV and across Nevada.

Ominous skies
welcomed us to the Sierra Nevada Mountains at Reno.

Falling snow, icy pavement, and near zero visibility
frustrated our attempt
to squeak through Donner Pass on the I-80.
We had to turn back and spend the night at Truckee

That about caps it!

TO SUM UP OUR 5 ½ MONTH AND 11,000 MILE OCTOGENARIAN ODYSSEY…

• 11,000 miles in 161 days @ 68 miles/day from April 29 to October 6, 2007
• $2,200 for gas: 679 gal gasoline @ an average of $3.24 per gallon
• Gas prices: max $4.04 in CA and Montreal, Canada,
  min $2.70 in Midwest & West, excluding CA
• Mileage: over all average 16.1 miles/gallon varying from 14 to 20 mi/gal.
  
• Best in FL, Northeast, & Canada, worst in CA, AZ, & Midwest.
• Lodging: total for 161 nights $1,846
  
• 63 days (39%) free at friends, Wal*Marts, truck stops, etc.,
• 98 days (61%) commercial or government parks, average cost $19 per night.
  
• Max $40 at a Florida KOA & in Canada.
• Generator for air conditioning: 487 hours @ 4 gal/hr ≈ 122 gal gasoline or $395.
• Tolls and entrance fees: $384.
• Roughest interstate highways LA, noisiest TX, smoothest FL & Northeast.
• 36 states and 2 Canadian provinces—combined with our 2004 trip, we have hit all the lower 48 states and with our 1998 trip to Alaska, we can add AK and 4 more provinces and territories in Canada. (I am sure the RV will never reach Hawaii for number 50.)

•••

With this last blog of The Trip, we start a new era.

Our standard procedure is to take off on the morning of the third Sunday of the month and return on Saturday evening. This year's trips so far include February: Death Valley National park, March: Pinnacles National Monument, April: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, May: Yosemite National Park, and June will be Mono Lake area on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The blogs for Death Valley, “Poster Peaks of Death Valley” & “Fancy Flowers of Death Valley” are done and will be on the net within a week or so… promise.

I’ll end this blog with an image from one of my favorite places on the trip, the Antelope Slot Canyon in Page, Arizona. [See blog May 30, 2007 — “a photographer’s dream”]