Flying J & M - Dec. 1, 2010

We started from Pocatello in freezing rain. The terrain becomes flatter with sagebrush and tall juniper trees. Lots of magpies, crows and a hawk to guide our way. Slower going at 8:20 a.m. and not much traffic on our side making us think the roads might be closed behind us. At 10:00 a.m. we had a pit stop at a Flying J travel centre. This company sets up it's gas and amenities in a way that is very favorable for pulling in with a longer rig. A friendly clerk joked with Michael about his hand writing and said, "Make sure to stop on the way back."

If we had waited one more day, we might not have made it this far as Idaho & Utah were due for more stormy weather. The road crews are clearing the shoulders and we are impressed by the all attention the roads get. Lots of wet snow and fog and our first view of the Great Salt Lake on the horizon.

We see the sun at Ogden,Utah get the sunglasses out and by Provo, it is +3 degrees which makes up for the long, slow construction through the suburbs.

At Scipio, we take a break and buy some vegetables to supplement the Tofurkey sandwiches and black bean burritos I packed for the journey. This is sheep country and we see several large herds of sheep in this area. Coffee, snacks and a walk around the Flying J lot. Vida is fascinated by the things truckers leave behind after they leave - motor parts, Marlborough and Copenhagen packages, energy drinks and other assorted trash. We were able to move our freezable goods from the truck to the trailer.

By mile 112 at 2:30 p.m., all the snow is gone and it's +11 degrees and getting warmer. We are also gaining a bit of extra daylight time. We stop for gas at St. George and didn't take the mechanic up on his hard pitch for unnecessary new struts for our shocks. We did learn the it almost never snows in this breath-takingly beautiful area...but does frequently blizzard just 30 miles to the north.

By 5:25 p.m., we rapidly dropped elevation and were spat out of the canyons on the far side of the incredible Zion National Park. A first taste of the zoom-zoom roads to come in Baja! By 5:35 p.m. we were in the palm-treed vista of Mesquite.