1 Bus to Salt Lake City UT (delivered)

... spending the night at Idaho Falls ID

Breakfast ... was supposed to be ready at 5:30 and it still wasn't at 6 AM so we took our first trip of stuff to the bus and got it started. At 10 degrees it can warm up for a bit before we head out.

Breakfast was sausage and omelette's and juice. Juice here did not have enough water in it instead of being too weak.

We head out before sunrise at 6:30 local. It is overcast today so driving into the sun won't be an issue. When the sun started breaking through the clouds it made for some beautiful views. Shining just on the snow covered hills and not the surrounding area ...

1st stop was at the rest area in Wendover. There is a little lookout platform but I had pulled too far ahead so the truck next to me was blocking my good picture.

BB got some good pictures this AM closer to SLC. The water was perfectly still in the few places it was not froze over. There must not be that much salt in the water that it is freezing already.

2nd stop is the Flying J in Lake Point. I stick the tank for the first time. I thought by adding more fuel in Fernley I should be right were I was last trip. Nope, this time I added 10 gallons here instead of 5 gallons so that makes 10 more gallons for the this trip than last.

There were a whole bunch of semi tractors lined up along the edge of the parking lot, it looked like someone had put together a little 'back to the 50's' style show.

From here it was the same as two days ago, we knew the routine.

3rd stop at the bus wash was even the same. 5 trucks ahead of me and one was a cargo van. But today it took a little longer. About the only thing that was different was the price. Today they charged $12 less than two days ago. I don't ask.

Then across the street to this Flying J to meet BB and transfer our stuff.

Still in SLC a few miles south, we get to the drop. The same person as Wednesday signs my paperwork ... he says I can come inside until he has a ride for me to the airport. Nope, I have my own ride.

We talked about how to get home a few times this AM on the bus. Once I am dropped we talk again. At first we lean to just staying in SLC overnight. The three hours down the road we get tonight, or do not get tonight will not add another hotel or day to the rental car.

We look in detail at which passes will get hit tonight if we go the north route. We decide to head north out of SLC.

4th stop - BB had grabbed a piece of pizza at the 2nd Flying J while she was waiting for me. I decided to stop as soon as we passed downtown SLC. There are a few places as this exit, the closest is a Firehouse Sub. The 1st bad thing is the cement for 10 feet is solid ice in front of the door. When we walk in the place is full ... full of people sitting at tables with their 'to go' order number in their hand. This could be an hour ???

We walk next door in the same strip mall to a Taco Time. Lots of help and no waiting. In and out in under five minutes. Chicken quesadilla again. Easy food to eat and drive, as long as the pieces are cut.

5th stop - A few miles down the road in Ogden, BB has second thoughts about heading north. So I pull off the freeway right away ... hey, we've stayed here ... sometime. We are just a mile from I-84 that heads to I-80 and WY in case we want to change directions. We even talked about heading back to CA one more time. There is snow or avalanche warning every route we want to go.

We do not sit there long before we continue on our way north.

6th stop is the rest area / welcome center in ID. Malad City, ID.

7th and final stops are in Idaho Falls. First at the Flying J for fuel. Then the Culvers for food, and last the Comfort Inn for the night. Culvers was the closest to our hotel and it was 10 miles away. I would have rather had something we do not get at home, but that would have added even more miles.

This hotel has a large truck parking area, we didn't remember that from last time we stayed here. Last time we were here there was even more snow than today.

I-80 in WY is still closed and is expected to be open in '16-18 hours.' One of the drivers is posting on Face Book that he has been in Laramie since Thursday. I don't remember if he had had to shut down before getting there and was able to go again that far or he got that far before they closed things. We have been watching the highway web cams, the semi's are lined up for miles on the shoulders of the road where they can.

The computer doesn't even suggest the route we are taking, it wants us to take the back roads closer to Yellowstone. Nope. It is supposed to storm tonight and the freeways will be bad enough.

We had thought the pickup in Miles City was gone but we were wrong. So we MAY take that back to MN. Tomorrow we will decide if we want to get all the way to Miles City or hold up in Billings. If the trip is no longer available, it is three hours shorter to take I-90 back to IA instead of taking I-94 back to IA.

Nothing changed on the load board today so no new numbers.