(As recorded by my Garmin GPS V)
Miles: 2,591.44
Moving Time: 42 hours 58 minutes 33 seconds
Stopped Time: 3 hours 53 minutes 27 seconds
Maximum Speed: 82.5 Miles Per Hour (East of Green River, Utah)
Average Speed: 55.34 Miles Per Hour
Maximum elevation: 11,588 feet (just west of the Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado)
Minimum elevation: 158 feet (1 mile east of my house in Fall City)
Nights In Hotels: 3 (two in Salt Lake City, UT and one in Limon, CO)
States: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana
Speeding Tickets: 0

The Route On Google Maps

All, I apologize for my online absence but I haven’t had any internet access since I got to Indy (I’m actually doing something very illegal to post this and it will be short). My Mac’s internal wireless card doesn’t like sites with multiple, unprotected access points and though I have a very nice brand new Cingular laptop, they won’t give me a login for it until April (long story). So until I get a Windows laptop, I’ll be off the air.

I do have access to Gmail via my Windows Smartphone PDA but that’s about it. If you need to reach me, do it that way. Bye!

I’m comfortably resting in the finest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in just east of Limon, Colorado. It’s a Holiday Inn Express and I’m the first person to ever sleep in this room and only the 12th guest ever (it just opened last month). I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels both nice (The Plaza, Waldorff Astoria and the W), but this takes the cake. The shower is HUGE (easily a 3 person), the beds are nice and the furniture is real wood. Free wireless internet and a very friendly front desk. Highly recommended thought there is absolutely nothing between Denver and Kansas City.

Anyway, made it over the Rockies and it turned out to be far easier than my terrifying drive through 8 Mile Canyon in Southeastern Idaho (more on that later). The drive was so easy, I even took a call from Luke (which is German for “he who whines about free webhosting” ;) just before I got to the Eisenhower Tunnel. There were a few tricky spots complicated by amazing winds and blowing snow but the roads were in pretty good condition. I’ll write more and post some pics from today’s drive once I get to Indy.

I plan on getting to Indy tomorrow so I can watch the Super Bowl in a comfortable place. 1005 miles which should be way easier than the past two days.

Technorati Tags: Colorado, Driving, mountain passes, Holiday Inn Express, Snow, travel

I was the laughing stock of Orem today when I went everywhere looking for chains that would fit my low profile, 17 inch tires. I even went to Walmart (I immediately took a cleansing shower) but people just laughed at me or said I could have some custom ones made. I inquired about getting new wheels/tires, but the expense just wasn’t worth it.

So I have a decision. Just go to Colorado anyway and hope that there aren’t any restrictions or requirements on I-70 or start heading south through Las Vegas, Arizona and New Mexico, up 35 and over to 70 in Salina Kansas. The second choice would add at least a day and a half and I would still have to go over two mountain ranges.

AAA suggested going south or replacing my wheels tires but the weather looks like it will be clearing up substantially in the next few days and I think I could get away with going that way. I’ll have to wait and see what it looks like in the morning. Snow is falling at a pretty good clip here in Salt Lake.

After looking at the weather reports and speaking with the Colorado Department of Transportation, I’ve decided to spend another night here in Orem and let the early afternoon storm pass me by. After 3 pm, no precipitation is expected in Eastern Utah and Western Colorado so it should be smooth sailing to Denver. Of course this will mean that I will have to double up on Friday’s mileage going all the way from Orem, UT to St. Louis weather permitting. Now I’m off to find chains to fit my tires and get some paper maps to augment my GPS.

Technorati Tags: Colorado, Orem, Salt Lake City, Snow, travel, Utah