roadquill1

Thursday, April 30 – What did I tell you? The horses are heading for the barn! Speed works! So there we were, high-tailing it away from the traffic jams around Salt Lake City on Thursday morning when we were delighted to see the new speed limit of…80 MPH! Now that is rocketing! Funny thing – we saw more traffic cops than we have encountered on this trip, and even better – they actually had folks stopped who were exceeding the speed limit of 80 mph (135 kmph)! – and the speedsters weren’t “Craig Breedlove”! And speaking of whom, we did stop by the beautiful white Bonneville Salt Flats of Salt Lake to see where land speed records have been set. (Latest record was set on October 23,1970 by Greg Gabelich who beat Craig Breedlove’s record of 600.601 mph with 622.407 mph – according to the sign.)

Salt Lake Flats speedway – Limit = 80 mph!

Bonneville Salt Flats off in the distance

Panorama view of Salt Lake Flats

We headed on west on Hwy 80 (speed limit dropped to 70 at the Nevada border) until Winnemucca where we found a spot for the evening at the KOA. Scenery continued to amaze us!

Nevada hill shows shades of grey

Friday, May 1 – This morning, we headed north on 95 (which became 78, then 395) all the way to Pendleton, OR. As we left Winnemucca this morning, Sandy asked if I should refuel. I scoffed at the suggestion as I was looking at over 1/2 tank of fuel. Three hours later, we hadn’t seen a gas station, and I was beginning to wonder how many miles I would have left after the tank started flashing its empty light. Meanwhile, many, many small rodents were dashing across the road as we roared by, and by the red, furry, spotted look of the tarmac, many more had been a whole lot less successful at making it to the other side. I called them “gophers”, but these seemed to be a bit smaller than those prairie dogs.

Our Garmin showed that there was a fueling station at a place called “Crane”, so I willed Truck House on by holding my breath. Just before we arrived at Crane, we saw a fellow sitting in a lawn chair out in a field. We laughed at this, but then discovered that he was holding a rifle with a scope. (Not so funny!) As we carried on, many more guys were out with rifles and scopes and obviously were out to shoot game of some sort. (Hopefully not in each others’ directions!)

Crane, Oregon has a single fuel pump and diesel cost $3.209. That is the most expensive that we have encountered on our trip. (Most diesel prices ranged from about $2.69 per gallon to $2.99 per gallon. That’s $.71 to $.79 per litre!!)  I asked the lady who ran the pump about the “guys with guns”. They are shooting “sage rats” she declared. I must have look puzzled for she went on…  “Some people call them gophers; others say ‘ground squirrels’, but they are big pests, and eat a lot of alfalfa.” (Sandy Googled “Sage Rats” a few minutes ago. It is all true! The “Big Game” was a sage rat!! Look it up!)

The rest of the trip to Pendleton was up and down with at least 5 passes to be crossed. (Maximum altitude of about 5500 ft.)

Beautiful rolling hills of SE Oregon

We will probably make it across Washington tomorrow, but aren’t completely certain. If we stop to shop anywhere, we might have one more night before making it to the lower mainland.

Love and best wishes to all!

Tony (the Quill) and Sandy (the Quilter)

p.s. I offered to stop in 2 separate quilting shops today, but Sandy “passed”. I still get the points!