PART 8:
WESTWARD TO HOME!
5.8.16 Sunday
Sylva, NC to Columbus, IN
432 miles
Well, today rather shifted in nature
around 10am. Rick was checking the
weather forecast again for the next few days, especially in regard to a massive
storm system that is brewing over the middle of the country. The lead point of the storm (dark red on the
storm chart) was set to strike tomorrow evening right at the point of Kentucky
and our reserved campsite! So….we
discuss the option of leaving a day early and heading north to try and outrun
the storm, or at least just get wet on the northern edge rather than encounter
hail and tornado warnings in the middle!
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| Ohio River bridge at Louisville |
Randy, Patty, and Mom came by just
as we were getting ready to leave. So we
drove up to the hotel, parked the trailer and hopped in with them for the trip
back up to the cabin. Randy had called
Rob and he said to come up because they had plenty of food in leftovers from
Friday night! So….we got a chance to say
goodbye to everyone except Matt and Kristen.
Randy and Patty were taking off for Atlanta and their flight home, Kurt
and Megan driving back to Pittsburgh today (Kurt has to work tomorrow).
We altered our intended route to
travel north into Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa before hitting I-80 and the long
haul across Nebraska!
So….we left at 12:30pm and pulled
into Woods n Waters Kampground about 40 miles south of Indianapolis, Indiana at
8pm! Rick did most of the 430 miles, but
I drove from Knoxville, TN to London, KY!
We encountered a lot of hills, green trees and construction. More flatlands once in northern Kentucky and
Indiana! Gas prices are climbing – trip home
will not be as cheap as the trip east!
Chatted with Luke for awhile around Louisville, KY and then with Jed
after we arrived at the campground.
I had a call from Paula at Fort
Tatham right before we arrived at the campground, advising that she had just
given us a credit for tonight on our card.
Hurray! Now we will only have to ‘eat’
the cost of our reservation Monday night at the COE park. At least it was only $15.
We crossed the Ohio River north of
Louisville. The bridge is
beautiful. I can honestly say the rest
of the drive was fairly uneventful!! Guess
that’s the way we would like it for the next 2000 miles!!
5.9.16 Monday
Columbus, IN to Waukee, IA
545 miles
We put all our eggs into a
campground just west of Des Moines, largely because I couldn’t get on the
internet on the phone to check out a couple of others. So…it is very nice but we ended up paying a
pretty price of $40!! For a ‘less than
12 hour’ stay!
We cruised during the morning up
through Indianapolis (ok, missed one freeway exit, so had to take a longer way
closer to town instead of the whole bypass!), traded drivers and gassed
up. Seems like we stopped for gas a lot,
but often just to top off from the halfway mark. We gained an hour entering Illinois which
After lunch? We pass Peoria and then I drive us into Iowa. Iowa is a wider state than we thought – 300 miles!!
We have definitely moved from the
rolling tree-covered hills of the Appalachians to the flat fertile soils of the
mid-west! Also had a good tail wind at
times today which meant we moved right along!
However, the interstate is one construction site after another,
however!! UGH!
Tuesday, May 10
Waukee, IA to Sidney, NE
513 miles
Well, I think the horses are RACING to the barn, because we logged another 500+ mile day
today. Of course, it again helped that
we changed to another time zone again, so picked up another hour of driving
time. But we stopped today around 5pm
which was MUCH earlier than the last two nights!
Our hundred miles to Nebraska were
marked with bluffs and wind turbines! We
passed two large turbine farms. Rather
ironic to see the power farms sitting in the middle of the agricultural farms –
double use for the land!
We pass over the Missouri River at
Council Bluffs and enter Nebraska and the half million large town of
Omaha. BIG. We stop at a rest area just on the other side
of Omaha and I take over driving for an hour or so….or until we need gas
again!
It looked like a big storm was due
to hit Sidney right about 5pm, so we decided to go ahead an stop and get a
place snuggled in next to some ‘big boys’.
But the rain never came and we got a fiery sunset instead. The clouds were there, but the rain didn’t
fall. NOT disappointed! We saw enough pictures on the news tonight of
tornados in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and across the mid-west states….just where we
had come from! Agh!
We are camped at Cabela’s RV Park, a
70 site lot sitting right next to the huge Cabela’s store in Sidney, NE. We are 55 miles from the Wyoming border. Our goal tomorrow? Salt Lake basin! Baker City by Thursday evening!
5.11.16
Wednesday
Sidney,
NE to Brigham City, UT
553
miles
Our longest day of driving yet and
we didn’t even get the advantage of an added hour! But a good day, albeit long. We pulled out of Sidney just before 8 in
clear blue skies with the temps in the 40’s.
It got down into the 30’s last night and we were grateful to have pulled
back out the heater since the lightweight sleeping bag is on the bed.
We are greeted
with a good head wind that is our ‘friend’ for the next 250 miles!! It meant we stopped for gas in every major
Wyoming town (Cheyenne, Laramie, Rawlins, Rock Springs, and Evanston!) I drove the stretches from Laramie to Rawlins
and Rock Springs to Evanston.
Thankfully, as we turned southwest at Rawlins, the wind abated abit and
the poor Honda didn’t have to work quite so hard!
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| Rock formations bet Cheyenne and Laramie |
We stopped in Rawlins at 1pm to grab
a bite to eat at Denny’s. A good break. Even better that Rick found a Spenser Audio Book to purchase. We'll listen and then donate to library.
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| Some beautiful Wyoming clouds |
We passed huge windfarms – harnessing
for power that terrific wind that constantly blows! Dropping down into the Green River area
between Rock Springs and Evanston is like entering red rock canyon country with
unique formations and rock sculptures.
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| Wind farms |
But by far the most beautiful
portion of the trip was from Evanston down to Brigham City. The hills were lush green, it was mostly
downhill, and the Wasatch Mountains were gorgeous reflecting the afternoon
sun.
I called ahead to the Golden Spike
RV Park from the canyon and we secured a spot for the night. Probably good I called as we would still be
driving otherwise. She was filling
up!
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| Tiny town in the green hills of Utah |
Another cool night with lows in the
30’s, but due to heat up tomorrow!
THURSDAY, 5.12.16
Brigham City to Baker City and HOME!!!
Ah, there’s no place like home! No smell like when you walk into your cool,
clean house and know you are back at HOME!
But first, we had the shortest of our five days to travel!
We took the opportunity with full
hook-ups to clean the sinks, tubs, and toilet as we won’t have water when we
park. Rick emptied all the holding
tanks. By 8 we were ready to roll and
the office was open so I could pay our bill for the night. Brigham City is far enough north of the Salt
Lake center that traffic isn’t bad in the
Rick drove to the Sweetzer Pass rest
area, and I took the wheel for the next 100 miles to Jerome where we gassed up. We noted that the distant hills didn’t seem
to have as much snow as usual for this time of year. On through southern Idaho, listening to the
end of our audio Spencer book. That
purchase sure helped the miles pass by the last two days!
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| Sweetzer Pass area |
We welcomed the Oregon sign at the
Snake River crossing! The last state of
our ten state journey home! And then a
quick stop at Walmart for a Subway sandwich and a few groceries to restock the
fridge at home. Perhaps it was the
Walmart stop we were going to make last Sunday and never did?
Hills down near Ontario looked dry
for May, but greened up as we neared Baker City. As always, the sight of the Elkhorn Mountains
as you crest Pleasant Valley hill is the most welcome of views!
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| Most welcome of sights! |
Quick hugs with Luke before he was
off to tennis practice. He returned
later with a pizza and we enjoyed an evening together. Zach E came over with thank you gifts for
Rick and I, as he stayed in the house for three weeks while we were gone. By 9:30 we were fading, having unloaded most
of the trailer plus the cumulative effects of five days of straight
driving.
TRIP WRAP UP AND SUMMARY.....Just for the record!
Mileage Facts -
TOTAL MILES: 8320
TOTAL TRAILER MILES: 6008
TRIP HOME MILES (all trailer): 2454
TOTAL NIGHTS IN TRAILER: 75
Expenses Roundup -
TOTAL GAS/TRUCK: $1384
TOTAL HOUSING/RV PARKS: $981
TOTAL FOOD: $1489
TOTAL MISC.: $841
TOTAL TRIP COST: $4695
AVERAGE COST PER DAY FOR TRIP: $63
Route Maps -
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