Cross Country Day 1

I'm not sure if I'm really ready for today to begin and yet at the same time I've been ready for months. It's bittersweet knowing that I get to spend a solid week with a genuine best friend and yet at the end of this we'll no longer even be in the same time zone.

I'm afraid of how much I'll miss my kids but since I know I've left them before (with Cliff by my side) I'm sure I'll survive again. I do expect it to be different without Cliff with me though and I've never really left him for this long without easy electronic communication either. Damn me and my lack of data plans....

The day started out almost as early as we planned but there was a small delay after the cat got miserably car sick driving to my house. We loaded up on trash bags and paper towels and crossed our fingers that it wouldn't be a non-stop issue. It's much easier at a house then it is on the side of the road.

The plan was to stop in Reno to visits her family, but the timing was off so it didn't work out. We drove on until we reached Lovelock. The town has it's own catch phrase- Don't let love pass you by- on signs all over the town. Weird.

Standing at the top level of the rest stop.
I wish the sparkle was visible in this picture. 

I didn't see (or wasn't paying attention) a 'welcome to Nevada' sign but when we noticed the Utah sign we just about parked on the freeway (very empty freeway) to take a picture. Hilarious.

All of Nevada was desert and rocks and Utah was no different. When I looked on the map the salt lake flats seemed huge. We stopped at the first rest stop (the better view was on the other side of the freeway) to take pictures before we got sick of the endless white. It was a very simple stop with a 2 story shade structure (nice for pictures of the other side of the road), a foot wash (for what?!), and a broken pet corral (the thought was nice).

Turns out if you stay on I-80 there really isn't that much of the salt flats to see. It was beautiful to see the land sparkle in the sunlight and as we drove down the road you could see random frames still stuck in the ground on the side of the road from where photographers  went for the trendy shots. My favorite part, besides the sparkle, was the warning signs posted every so many miles: "Drowsy Drivers. Next Exit 15 Miles. No Fatigued Driving". It's hard to imagine with such wide open spaces that the death rate is high enough to warrant such a sign.

 When we reached Salt Lake City, Juliana suggested that we go check out the Mormon Temple (yes, we know we never could of gone inside). Neither of us were real set on it and we almost kept driving but I had a headache so we chose to stop, find the temple, and fill up on gas.

Utah is so bleak and desert like to me. Some people may like the look of the rocks but I'm a tree and water girl. I was not a fan. For as ugly as the state was, the Salt Lake City town center was beautiful! Trees, flowers, amazing architecture. I loved it. The whole town was like a giant Mormon square though. Mormon convention centers, Mormon church libraries a block long, Mormon history Museum; and all of the buildings were insanely huge. At the center of all of it was their temple (stunning) surrounded by what appeared to be beautiful gardens and then a large concrete wall. We would of loved to stop and walk around for 15 minutes, but with pets in the car in the unforgiving Utah heat it wasn't an option. We circled the temple and then headed for the gas station.

Turns out the one thing I needed (tylenol) is not sold in Utah. In fact, when I asked if there was another store nearby I could try the two people in the station went on a mini tangent about how terrible Tylenol is, how there is a recall on it because it has so much rat poison in it so all of Utah has removed it from the shelves, and how in my pregnant state I shouldn't be taking it. Advil is safer. Hmmm. Okay crazies, I'll try again in another state.

See the reflection of those pretty blue lights?

Heading up the mountains of Utah was too much for the loaded car to bear and it struggled to make speed. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry when an oversized truckers kept passing us easily. When we finally made it down hill there was a little too much celebration in achieving normal California speeds and within only a couple miles of our triumph local highway patrol pulled us over. Somehow when mentioning that it would really suck to get a ticket on the first day of our trip across the country the officer decided to let her go with a written warning. Yes, a paper warning. I didn't even know they did those!

On our last stretch to Wyoming, we passed the cutest little town (it looked like a small Tahoe ski or mining town). The hotel was comfortable enough but after sitting all day we wanted to move a little so we walked across the street for a beer. Turns out Rock Springs closes early and we had to walk back to the other side of the freeway to find an open liquor store (po-dunk gas station). As a bonus, they had milk (pregnant lady loves herself some milk!) and wifi! Who knew? A gas station with wifi.

Are you paying attention Sacramento? If this little town can have it why can't we????

After all that walking Juliana didn't even want a beer anymore, but I enjoyed my milk and the sights of a far off lightning storm as we walked back to the hotel and got a few hours of sleep before heading out in the morning.