Moved

I made the journey in 1 piece. We packed the truck Thursday and I started off at around 10am on Friday. The first part of the trip was spent getting used to the truck. I discovered that the brakes would overheat easily navigating the western part of Maryland so that didn't make me so comfortable thinking about the mountain ranges in the west. Ohio was mostly 1 big rain storm. Indiana was ok until I got to Indianapolis. My mapquest had me go the wrong way on their little beltway in search of route 74 which would take me north through Illinois and connect to Int 80. While driving around this beltway thinking I may be a bit lost I decided to pull into a new car dealership and look at the map. While looking at the map I noticed out of my side mirrors that 2 guys appearing to be salesman were behind the truck looking at me yet they weren't moving AND they seemed to be smiling as if they knew I was lost. Then I thought I saw one of them move. At some point I got out of the truck to ask a passer-by and realized the 2 guys were painted on the side of a moving truck. This is when I knew it wouldn't be long before I needed rest. I eventually found Int 74 and decided to pull into a rest area and climb into the back of Hotel Subaru. This 1st nap didn't take so within an hour I was driving again. This went on through the night 2 more times. Saturday had me making Iowa, Nebraska and the beginning of Wyoming. At some point in Nebraska I began to realize just what I had done with my decision to move again. I had been so busy getting to that point that it didn't sink in quite as deep as I felt around the middle of Nebraska. Your pulling everything you own and leaving people you love. I felt alone for a lot of miles but towards the end of Nebraska the road smoothed and so did the music on the radio. It was almost surreal watching the sun go down and losing that questioning feeling I had been struggling with. This is when the new hurdle started. I stopped in Wyoming and filled up for the millionth time.(avg of 6 mpg) and decided to try for a nap. This nap also didn't take so I headed into the night. Made Cheyenne and started up the mountain range just outside the city when the snow hit. I was about 1/2 way up the mtn when I spotted a truck parking area with no services. (I had to #2 behind a snow fence at some point during the foggy night...no choice but what a rejoice) When I pulled in it was about 1/2 full. Maybe 25 trucks. I climbed in the back of my car and proceeded to have happy hour which consisted of 1 Sierra Pale ale. I quickly fell asleep with 2 blankets and 5 pillows covering me. Now I was car camping in the middle of winter. When I woke up in the middle of the night I realized snow was no longer the problem as fog and ice and taken the top spot and the parking lot was full. I decided to stay in the Subaru until morning at which point the fog was still thick. After some calls to Pam(master of the highway cams) we decided as bad as it looked it was only gonna get worse so around 9am I headed out of the comfort of Hotel Subaru. Once I told my parking space neighbor of my plans she decided to follow me up the mtn in a minivan. Up and over and blue skies that didn't last. It snowed most of the way through Wyoming and there were a handful of serious looking Tractor Trailer crashes that happened hours before I passed as cranes were already there. Around the middle of Wyoming there was a tunnel through the mtn that couldn't have been more than 200 yards long. It had a sign flashing, 'ICE in Tunnel..Slow Down') so I slowed to around 40mph but when I hit that tunnel I realized it wasn't slow enough. I hit the brakes and felt the truck slide. Aside from a butt puckerage that hasn't subsided 100 percent nothing happened. Thankfully, nobody was stopped in the tunnel. Utah was a breath of fresh air. No issues and as the pics show Pam and Tom took care of me well. After some nice homemade pizza, beers and shots of liquor 43 I headed off to bed. After many hugs goodbye they saw me off to bright blue skies which lasted the entire trip through Nevada. After getting a room at the Peppermill I met Albert and Amy for some slot machine action and when they left I hit the roulette table until midnight again after shots of this that and the other. Tuesday after I completed all my rental paperwork Albert came down and helped me unload this truck. He's still strong as an Ox but we did have to call J-Mo for assistance with the TV and bed. So, I'm here and that's about all I really know. ps....Thanks to Joe Hager for his expert packing job. Nothing broke!