The day started out so well, then . . .

Downtown Huntington, OR

    Huntington was still asleep when I left this morning at 6 o'clock, and I was congratulating myself on the early start until I drove the five miles into Idaho and the Mountain Time Zone. I forgot that I am going to lose time the farther east I go.
     But the sun was out, traffic was light (except for Boise) and even though I missed the exit and a planned visit to Twin Falls, I found a place in Burley, ID, for a late breakfast special ($8.50) of steak and eggs.

Sunny driving in Utah. Note the kayak bow lines.

    Spent the morning hauling through Idaho, got to Utah and took a left at Ogden. Stopped at the rest stop in Echo Canyon and climbed up a paved path for some photos. The placard at the rest stop is heavy on the role the place played in Mormon history -- 70,000 passed through there in the mid 1800s -- but the pass was important to Native Americans, served the Pony Express and played a role in the Donner Party debacle.
   Soon I arrived in Wyoming -- the land Spring forgot. Interstate 80 climbs up to a high plateau, and that's where it got nasty. The fog came first, then some rain and next some fine snow. Then heavy snow mixed with rain, making a lovely slush for the semis to throw up onto the windshield.

Then came Wyoming.

     My plan had been to get to Exit 235 where a drive through the Medicine Bow National Forest begins. It's a featured drive in a guidebook Kathy gave me for Christmas. However, the description in the book says the road is closed in winter, which apparently in these parts does not limit itself to two or three months around the first of the year. I made it to Exit 68 and Little America.The website bills the super-sized truck stop as an oasis and that's what it was for me. Took a room, a shower (I was afraid to go into the sink-shower combination in Huntington) and a needed break after 10 hours of driving.
    I asked the desk clerk about the weather east of here and he told me the highway is closed between Laramie and Cheyenne. That doesn't bode well for the Medicine Bow Forest trip, or for getting to the Kansas City Airport by Sunday afternoon to pick up Jerry.
    Watching the weather channel and not liking what I'm hearing. Nebraska comes soon after Cheyenne and the southeastern part of that state is part of a tornado watch. Also checking the conditions on the Buffalo River and see that there is some high water but it is downstream of our planned trip. I like this though: Temperature in Ponca, near where we start, is 71 degrees.
   Hoping for the best.

Echo Canyon