The Journey

Day 1 - 30 hours to go


7:30 am central, Megan, Sammie (the kitty) and I head out on the road.  Megan's parents left about a half hour before us so we were playing a little catch up.  3 hours into the trip, Megan and I stop to gas up and happen to run into her parents for the first time in the day.  They were pulling out of the gas station as we were pulling in.  This was not communicated, and really freaked me out as we passed in our respective cars.  We caught them on the highway shortly after, and caravaned through Iowa (for 10 min) and onto Newburg, NE where we stopped at a rest area for a picnic lunch.  We brought the cat out with us, but she seemed very suspicious of the world, cowering under the picnic table near our legs.  We gave her a little food, but the bowl was too out in the open for her liking, and she refused to travel that extra foot out from under the table.  We moved the bowl closer for her, and she ate her lunch looking around nervously, still suspicious of her surroundings.  She had spent that first leg of the trip laying on the floor in the back seat, often times half laying in her litter box.  As we got back in the car, I brought her up on my lap on the passenger side, where she sat for a little, but eventually opting for the floor space below me, doing her best to take away my leg room.  She seemed to handle the car well, sleeping the majority of our time in the car.

We drove to Cheyenne, WY and stopped at a Red Lobster for dinner.  Then hoped back in the car for another 2 and a half hours before we stopped Rawlins, WY for bed.

Day 2 -  16 hours to go


Another early morning.  Another early start.  After a continental breakfast, we were on the road at 7 am, this time mountain time, and on our way through the rest of Wyoming.  We crossed the continental divide right away on our travels, and we were all very antsy to get out into the mountains.  Nebraska just didn't do much to excite any of us.  We started to gain elevation while passing through Utah, and the Trailblazer hauling the Uhaul started to struggle to keep the pace we started the trip at.  Our lightweight civic (with no tow) decided to zip ahead to our next stop, Ogden, UT, and find a spot to stop for lunch.  We had our final highway change just before Salt Lake City, turning onto 84 and driving through the heart of the famous ski mountains of the Salt Lake area.  The drive was gorgeous!  Winding through rocky peaks and along cool blue streams!  It was all we could talk about while enjoying our Panda Express (and the news about Favre).

We continued on, past the lake, through Idaho, and onto our arrival in Oregon.  We were welcomed into the state by huge rolling hills running along the Snake River, and traveled north, into the Pacific time zone, to Barley Brown's Brewpub, located in the less than 10,000 resident Baker's City, and home of the best American-style wheat beer for 2010 (official).  After dinner, it was back in the car for one more 90 mile push to Pendleton, OR for the night.  On our drive, our vehicles climbed Blue Mountain, then had a 25 minute descent, winding back and forth, with the the lights of Pendleton down below.  It was a great way to end the day!