Day 2 - Log for March 28, 2005 - Going to Colorado & Getting Camper

Getting There

Going over the river (we think it is the Mississippi)

We had breakfast at the hotel’s next door neighbor: Ethan’s Place. We both had omelets - I asked for no hash browns and Sasha got a spicy omelet with hash browns. They got our order slightly mixed up with him getting my order with hash browns. He had started to put the salt and pepper on the omelet when I looked at mine and was like,”hey this is not ham?” He looked at his (which turned out to be mine) and we switched. Sasha said I should just order food like it is on the menu but I think that I should order it the way I want it, with or without whatever I want. Anyway, my breakfast was a little spicier than I normally have but it was a good breakfast for $13 (for us both) with tax and tip.

We got on the road at 10 am their time (our time 11 am). Sunny skies, with lots of wind, which has decreased our mileage by .1 (14.9 mpg average) but I still think it is better than most trucks. Elevation 520 feet ASL, internet connection at 3 bars and holding steady.

Yahoo, we are now in Missouri, took a couple of pictures of the Mississippi river as we crossed it. The road here is bumpy, elevation 470 f ASF. Sunny conditions windy, 60 F at 11 am. It looks greener here in MO. Internet connection is between two to five bars.

We are going to be going over the Missouri river and we will take pics of that. Just went over the River, most of the pics were of this casino American Casino which is on a river bed jutting out into the river - weird to see almost looks like a river boat but is a casino built on stilts : 11:15 am 500 feet ASL 63 F. sunny and nice. Road bouncy.

Road is finally smoother than before. Or not, stopping at Flying J to get diesel. Got the diesel, Sasha stated that all the truckers were asking him questions about the truck, stuff like, 19” wheels (unusual for this truck) larger flares (things around the tire wheels) how is the 2005 running, etc. We are the “Talk of the Truck Stop.” I must say, these Flying Js are quite good, you have everything you could want (except fruit and veggies, I guess) that you can buy in their store, including books and CDs and DVDs. Got some dried fruit, sandwiches and drinks for the next leg of the road.

Fuel: 33.29 gallons, price 2.079 per gallon, amount: 69.21

Back on the road at 12:30 pm. sunny and 61 F. 850 Feet ASL elevation yet flat country with lots of farms and lots of trucks on the road.

Found a hotel and car rental place in Brighton, CO. Still bumpy road.

Just saw a B-1 flying overhead @ or near Aullville, MO. Boy, this state is long.

Just saw a Gap outlet; we must be close to Kansas City, more billboards showing. Three bars.

Hit some traffic just outside of Kansas City, there was an accident, someone managed to flip their car into a gully.

Horrible roads very bouncy. Through Kansas City.

Now in Kansas, KS sunny road bouncy, 72 F, 802 ft ASL. 3:18 pm. three Bars.

Just crossed over the Kansas river, at 3:47, very sunny, 74 F, 900 ft ASL. Those large columns in the background look like it might be granaries, but we are not sure. This was outside of Topeka, Kansas.

Went through Topeka KS, at 4:10 pm, sunny 75 F, 962 ft ASL elevation, bouncy roads, two bars.

Just went past several oil wells, we are near exit 316, cloudy skies, elevation 1317 ft ASL. Three bars.

6:52 pm we are near exit 189 and there is a beautiful sunset. At elevation 1865 my ears are popping. We are going to try to take a picture of this.

Stopped in Hays to get gas and food. 2142 feet, ASL dark and 7:30 pm. Lost internet connection.

7:58 pm back on the road - got Arby’s wraps for dinner, probably another 5 hours to hotel. 2081 ft elevation, 61 F no stars out, probably cloudy.

We are now in Colorado, it is now 9:00 (Mountain Time) 11:00 our time. Elevation is 3926 ft ASL, 52 F no stars so it is probably cloudy, and we keep going back and forth with this car, we pass him, and he passes us, very annoying. The road is bumpy and we have no internet connection. Sasha’s cell phone does not work, no bars, mine has a few and the service is Unicel.

We went to Limon in Colorado, and I played around with the internet until I got it up and running, 3 bars. We went to top off the tank and Sasha wanted to wash the car so that is what we are doing at 10:30 at night. The temp is around 60 F, no stars so cloudy skies and an elevation of unknown (5489 ft ASL) as the GPS is acquiring info right now. I will be driving in a bit to give Sasha a break. We are approximately 75 miles away from our destination tonight.

Arrived at Brighton CO at 12:30 am at the Super 8, dark and 50 F. Got a room reserved and brought everything in from the car (we will be dropping the truck off in the morning at Five Star RV Center and having them put the camper on. Sasha does not want us to have anything in the truck while they are doing that, which makes sense, but we were so tired from the road.) Asked for an 8 am wake-up call, we will pick up our rental car, drive down to Five Star and then come back to the hotel so that Sasha can snooze for a little longer.