Longest day

It might not have been our longest day but it felt like it. Wyoming is a beautiful landscape, but let's just say they don't post signs when there's no gas for 80 miles. Let's also say for the record that a quarter tank in the middle of sprawling fields should scream "Get gas!" but I am an optimist (at times) and decided to not say anything as Matthew had just had a rough time registering for classes on the phone. It's not easy with the touch screen and the lack of steady connection. He did know about how much there was and I did say they should post this, but not everyone is not so silly as I to think signs are always posted when one should just be prudent. Tant pis pour nous.

About two-thirds of the way on the 52 mile stretch, the light and alarm went off. I always think of the Seinfeld episode where they drive below empty to see just how empty empty is. Empty, it turns out, is not that empty! 32 miles to the next town and we made it. The sun was blazing, but I was ready to volunteer myself for a 5 mile run if needed. Thankfully, it didn't come to that, or to hitch-hiking, but it did give me a big adrenaline rush and I was shaking the rest of the day.

Aside from that little hiccup, we drove on through Casper, then pushed on for Salt Lake City. Not exactly a disaster, but the campground on the lake was closed, so we tried finding something else, with little luck. Eventually, I spotted a sign for a campsite, which looks a lot like the beehive shaped thing indicating certain Utah highways. Did I mention it was 10:30 already?

So, the campsite. Not a KOA, but not much better. We pulled into Lagoon, an amusement park, with what seemed to be a full zoo next to the campground. There were campsites available, so we pulled in and set up, quite relieved to be able to get to bed. There were some animal sounds in the morning and a group "Addicted to Jesus," which Matthew thought might be some kind of counseling system using Jesus to help addicts, but I think they were just addicts themselves, which is a bit happier, I think.

So we left this morning, driving away from the camels and the emus and the Backdraft, the only ride you need closed toe shoes for...

Salt Lake didn't entice us further, but we did finally stop for gas at a Sinclair, which, for those who haven't seen this gas franchise, has a dinosaur for a mascot. It seems more appropriate than a tiger. We tried a pistachio milkshake, simply based on the ad featuring a child covered in ice cream claiming it was not ice milk. Yummy!

Not having seen much of the salt flats, we were again wowed when 80 led us through what looked like very white sand plains or snowy fields. Well, boy oh boy! Salt! Far as the eye could see. We did have a walk around on it, and it was really bright, which is kind of like saying ice cream is cold.

I am navigating through Reno at the moment, but will post some photos later. Crossing into California tonight, so we are very nearly almost there.