So we started off day three with the bad news that I80 would remain closed for another nine plus hours, so after discussing our only two options of either stay an extra day or turn around and back track to Utah and go south through Provo then head East through Denver, we opted to reroute our trip. It would add four plus hours onto our drive and put us behind schedule but would keep us moving forward. At this point our schedule is tight as we had to pre schedule movers so trying to time and coordinate all of this is like doing a fine dance.
So we headed back west and then dropped south, it turned out to be a beautiful drive and the scenery through this part of Utah was breathtaking. We traveled through mountain passes and drove for miles paralleling the Wasatch Mountain range. There are no words to describe the beauty and photos do not do it justice.
After several hours we were on I70 heading east, at least at this point we were finally heading in the right direction. The roads were dry, the sun was shining and it really was a beautiful drive, of course I just keep telling myself to look at the positives, I’m a cup half full kind of girl and find it keeps my attitude in check.
Soon we are coming up to the Rocky Mountains and the climb up with a very heavy loaded U-Haul was beyond slow. I have to admit going up up up at 35 mph did test my patience. It made the drive long, slow and hard, and after watching Gene handle that truck I have a new respect for what he did in his career the last twenty six years, and as we reached the top it started spitting snow, we were now at 10630 feet, and the sun was starting to go down. We were feeling pretty good as we were going down hill thinking we got through the hardest part of our drive when we realized we were not finished yet, another climb up ahead of us and then down and then another climb yet again. It took us over three hours to get through the Rockies. We’d lost daylight and were now doing what I absolutely did not want to do, driving at night in the dark. But hey, slow and steady wins the race, at least that’s what I hear. Who said that anyways??
So at last we started the forty four mile grade down the mountain with constant reminders for trucks to check their brakes. Stressed and tired we finally arrived into Denver. I couldn’t have been happier to see the lights of the city ahead, and we could finally get to a hotel and get some much needed rest, however that was much easier said than done. Finding a hotel with a large enough parking lot in the city to accommodate fifty feet of truck tipped our patience over the edge. After several attempts at parking at one hotel we opted to leave and continue east to find something that would better accommodate our load, which we eventually found outside of the city and getting a good nights sleep was now our number one goal.
So today we are praying there are no more detours or delays and hoping we can make up some time on our next leg.
A new day is ahead and the roads are long straight and flat. Praying for a safe journey on what is day four and grateful knowing each day we are one step closer to being home. I’m really excited and ready to get there…. So I’m putting my patient hat on today, cloaking myself with a good attitude and heading off to complete another leg of our journey. The weather looks good, storms passed through yesterday so anticipating a good drive ahead.
Ready or not, day four here we come!!!
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