Monday, Apil 25/2011

Headed Out

Leaving the Forest

redneck exhaust (white truck)

Going over that

Utah US 28 

Along Wy 728

Our spot for the night

It rained off and on throughout the night and this morning there are puddles on the road.  It should be a good day to travel - not too hot, a bit chilly but, it is clear.
As I was sitting here having my coffee ( Hogan had assumed his "lookout" position on the dash) I heard  this rather menacing growl from him.  It was one of those growls that say "come a little closer and there is going to be trouble"!!  I look out the window and see 5 mountain goats coming straight down the hill in front of the bus.  They were all in a single line and traveling at a speed that had total disregard for the steepness.  They were amazing to watch!!  I guess they were coming down to the creek to drink or perhaps the sweet green Spring grass was the lure.  For whatever reason, they were a nice treat to watch - if only for a short time.
Once the bus was ready, with all doors and drawers closed and locked down, we were off.  Who knows where we will end up tonight.
We finally ended up in Wyoming.  We had a good day today, traveling through the rest of Utah and into Wyoming.  It was mostly interstate roads today and we were able to eat up the miles.  We did not stop at Cabela's because we discovered one in Billings, Montana so will stop there instead.
The scenery we traveled through was incredible and we had all sorts of weather.  From rain, to snow, to wind - even had a little ground drifting snow!!  I almost felt as if we were "home".  I tried taking pics of all the phases we went through today so hopefully some of them are good enough to post.
Once we hit Wyoming, it was off the interstate highways and onto the smaller back roads.  This is were a lot of the interesting sights to be seen are.
Our final road of the day was highway 28.  It was the most interesting piece of road today.  A two lane highway which crossed over the tail end of the Rocky Mountains and the Shoshone National Forest.  We hit elevations of 8000 feet and saw tons of snow.  Again, I hope some of these pics turned out.
In the lower elevations, we saw hundreds of antelope and three totally awesome signs warning us of the wildlife.  They were the best signs I have ever seen in my life.  Simple, colorful and certainly get the message across.
Since it was getting late and time to pull this rig over, we opted for a pullout parking lot for skiers.  It was off the highway a bit and the ground was solid (probably still frozen!!).  There was lots of patches of snow around us and since we were still somewhere in the 7900 foot elevation range, we knew it would   be chilly tonight.
Lasagna for supper,  hockey on the TV and both heaters going - what a life!!  I could not wait to get to bed because the heat from the motor keeps the bed warm for hours.  Although most travel nights I do not appreciate this little bonus from the engine but, tonight is a whole different story!!