I left Michigan around 3 pm Wednesday, I’m never fully ready when I say I’m going to be…. leaving everyone I care about including Kopi & Fatty, doing my best to make sure Stacy doesn’t have issues with the house, her truck, Aaron’s vehicle…. just takes more time than I plan for every year. Trying to get an 18 year old van ready for a 30+ thousand mile trip throws some curve balls at you as well! To top it off I had to turn around to go back & get my insulating blankets which are key to me staying warm at night in the van…pictures to come of my cocoon.
Interesting fact, as soon as I crossed the Michigan state line, gas prices were consistently below $2 a gallon and I saw one station at $1.79 in Indiana! Never did I think we would see those prices again! The roads improved immensely as well….. just a curious observation considering Michigan has the 6th highest state tax on gasoline….where does our money go????
The Iowa 80 or I-80 truck stop is just amazing and if you have a chance to stop you should do so! Exit 284 in Walcott, Iowa. It was always one of our kid’s favorite places to stop and stretch our legs on our trips to and from Colorado. I don’t drive a “Big Rig” (my best Nicolas Cage in Gone in 60 Seconds) but I-80 must have every single thing you could ever want/need for a semi truck and trailer! I’m mean EVERYTHING! I don’t know how their prices are or anything like that but man do they have the stuff! Plenty of choices to eat & more “souvenirs” than you can shake a stick at, in one place. You won’t be disappointed you stopped.
I drove 1459 miles in 26 hours which included 3.5 hours of sleep, & “few” of 5 hour energy’s, haha! I would have been in Denver 2 hours earlier but I ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska! One of the “issues” with the van is a gas gauge that every once in a while likes to lie…. It’s never lied this badly before though! I was also catching up with a good friend on the phone & lost track of the miles. Sooooo, I did something I NEVER do & actually called for assistance…..TO FIVE TOW SHOPS & GARAGES & none of them could help me….guess that’s why I never call for help. LOL So I bundled up for the 6-mile walk back to the gas station. About a half mile into my trek THANKFULLY deputy Rachel took pity on my sorry butt walking down the road & not only gave me a ride to sheriffs station garage to get gas she gave me a ride back! Thank you, Rachel, from the Lexington, Nebraska!
At the end of the day all is well, I made it to the Denver Mart, set up the booth, stopped at Chick-fil-A for an awesome meal ( I don’t sconsider Chick-fil-A fast food btw) & headed to my sister’s for some much needed sleep! God is GOOD! Time to get ready for the show!!
I guess if the adventure keep going like this these posts will be a little longer than a paragraph! LOL!
States traveled in this leg of the trip: Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraske & Colorado.
145.9 gallons of gas…hence the need for a diesel van! Still 3 times cheaper than flying!
