Day 1, July 4, 2009

So our first day was a doozy (is that how that is spelled).  We knew we had to make it from Perkins to Salt Lake City.  We knew it was possible, but were wondering how probable it was, especially with a 1 year old and a 4 year old.  So we got up at 4:00 AM and Megan took the reins for the first leg to Salina, Kansas.  Jacob tried to get some "shuteye" so he could take over later but it started raining really heavily right out of the gates.  So hard Megan couldn't see the lines on the road and Jacob couldn't hear her shouting for him to help her see.

But we made it to Salina only slightly behind schedule and Jacob took over.  It got a little "iffy" here because we weren't for sure where we would be in Colorado by lunch time, so we kind of played it by ear.  Mason enjoyed looking at all the giant windmills, and for awhile we had a nice drive through the rolling hills of ranch land.  We had to stop in Wakeeney, Kansas for bathrooms and we took the time to drive over to a park where Mason got to pose with an old F-14 Tomcat.

Mason in the thrust nozzle of the F-14

We hit the road again an headed for Colorado.  It finally arrived, but we thought Denver never would.  FINALLY, we saw Denver but it was too dreary to see many of the mountains, so we were disappointed.  We had trouble finding a decent place to stop to eat, so we wound up (we think) in Fort Collins, which is over half way betwen Denver and Wyoming.

After a well earned break at a busy McDonalds, Megan took back over the driving and we quickly made it to Wyoming.  We turned West just this side of Cheyenne.  That area was beautiful, and though it made the driving more difficult, the intermitent rain (and even the hail) seemed to add to the beauty.  The dark blue sky made the green hills and rocks more vibrant.

The mountains and grasslands were amazing in the midst of the storms

Elk Mountain as seen through the hail covered windshield, Elk Mountain was our first view of actual snow on the trip.

We drove steadily and stopped once for bathrooms, where we saw a Pistol Pete shirt.  The color was slightly off, but it could pass for Oklahoma State.  We drove on to either Rock Springs or Green River, where we switched for the last leg of the journey.

As we drove, the sun went down and we had more amazing views of distant mountains, the moon, deserts, and one of many aspects of the American West.  All of God's creation is awe inspiring, but it was definitely a wonderful experience to see so much beautiful land on what we thought would be a boring day filled with driving.

No justice, this drive was amazing with the distant clouds and mountains.

We got to Evanston, and let us tell you, they do Independance Day RIGHT!  We got Mason awake in time to see some fireworks as we drove through town.  The entire city was out and about, setting off fireworks.  A surreal haze filled the streets and the interstate from all the smoke, and blooms of chemically charged firey brilliance burst over the sunroof of the Camry, right over the interstate!  It was a nice way to "end" the evening since we hadn't been able to celebrate the Fourth with our family.  However, we still had a bit of driving to do.

I think the mountains between Evanston, Wyoming, and Salt Lake City would have been beautiful, but it was really dark.  We hit some steep slopes and a lot of curves, but luckily it was multilane and traffic was down.  After what seemed like a long time, we popped out to see a giant bowl filled with lights.  Salt Lake City.  We drove all the way across it and grabbed a hotel room near the airport.  That way we wouldn't have to drive across town to start the next morning.

Thus ended our first day.  We had been on the road for over 20 hours, but luckily we gained one so we got to bed at a late, but not too late hour.