Road Trip to Mississippi: Day Three

Day Three: Murray, UT to Golden, CO

Since we had a long day ahead of us, Matt and I woke up at 6 and were on the road by 7. There was about 580 miles to put behind us! We both loved Northern Utah, but we loved Southern Utah even more. From I-84 and I-70, the highway travels through some gorgeous mountains. The red rocks and Price Canyon were definitely pretty! While it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, the scenery definitely makes up for that.

I'm getting a lot of knitting done in the car, since there isn't much else to do, but the beautiful mountains certainly made me not as productive. Tomorrow's trip through Southern Colorado, New Mexico, and East Texas will probably see me finishing off the scarf and starting another one.

Watching out for Red-winged Blackbirds is also still entertaining me, but their habitat is getting harder and harder to find. It's getting drier, so ponds are fewer and farther between.

Vail is a GORGEOUS ski resort town. For those of you who have been to Leavenworth, imagine that, but about three or four times the size, and constructed to look like highly-expensive buildings (which they are). And if you love skiing, you literally drive off the freeway, park you car, walk a block into the town, and voila, you are at the ski lift! Even if you don't ski, there is plenty of shops to hang out in, so I highly recommend anyone visiting this town.

An interesting aspect of this drive was the altitude. Even though Salt Lake City looks flat, it's at about 4000 feet about sea level. As you drive to Denver, that gets even higher. Since there's less oxygen in the air, car engines have to work harder. Even though the Jeep is an SUV and has a V-6, it struggles when it's going up... and up.... and up. The highest pass we drove over was actually Vail Pass, which is at 10,666 feet above sea level. Dude, that's how high I hiked up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainer, and here I was driving that high. It was sad, though, the Jeep got passed by a Prius going up the pass... sigh. Although if you think about it, the Prius cheats, since it can switch just to battery and thus would not be affected by the lower oxygen levels anymore.

I am learning to tolerate trucker's coffee. Call me a coffee snob, but coffee you buy at gas stations is so weak it's just coffee-flavored water, and it's disgusting. I don't even like Maxwell House or Folgers- it's all gross. But I'm drinking it anyway, because I know if I don't a headache will be soon to follow, then possibly a migraine. And that would make everything miserable. Fortunately, my sunt and uncle donated some powdered CoffeeMate Almond Creme (or something like that) to the cause so I guess I'll just dump about a cup of that in the coffee and that should do the trick. I have seen some Starbucks' out here, so there's hope!

And guys, never underestimate the awesomeness of homecooked meals. I know going out to eat is always exciting and you can get just about everything, but I've been eating out for almost a week straight and after awhile it just gets old. Menus all start looking the same. I cannot wait until my dishes get delivered to our house in Columbus and I can make my food, control what's in it, and never have to go into a restaurant (this excludes coffee and ice cream shops) again for a long, long time.

Tomorrow's travels: Golden, CO to Amarillo, TX via New Mexico (two of these states I've never been too! Four Corners doesn't really count for New Mexico)