We made it home without incident but again, the hills getting from the White Mountains to the Phoenix area go both ways. The road goes over several big ridges or mountain passes and there is lots of climbing no matter which direction you are going. These were the worst hills we encountered on the whole trip including the Ozarks and the Appalachians. Next trip up there might involve driving the tow car most of the 3-hour trip.
This time we are just passing through and it was a convenient place to stop because it matched our schedule. We will not be doing any sightseeing this time. We did find out that this is a very busy time but even we don’t consider it bad. We will be on our way early tomorrow so we can get to Carol’s brother’s home in the afternoon. This place is high on our list for a visit next year.
We are in Springville to attend our club rally and it gets pretty busy and I have to take pictures and post news for the club on their web site so no time to do it here. Take a look at gmcws.org and look for rally reports to see what we have been up to. We will be here until Sunday, September 30th, when we will leave for Carol’s brother Scott’s home in Lakeside, AZ in the White Mountains of Arizona.
The next few days will be pretty hectic for me because I am the president of the club and am involved in almost every aspect of the rallies. Besides that, a key person in running these rallies had some mechanical difficulties on the way from California and had to turn around so she will not make it. Bummer.
We drove to the ski areas and found what we were looking for at the Park City Resort – in the winter a ski area but in the summer they have zip lines, and other downhill attractions. Our objective was the ‘Alpine Coaster’ which is basically a sled that hold one or two people and rides on a track that is very much like a roller coaster. The ride is long – more than a mile – and fast – as fast as I want to go. We took separate sleds and Carol didn’t even touch the brake on the way down – I used it a little. I could tell when I popped out of the woods that she had gone a lot faster than I did because I couldn’t see her in front of me. She’s a devil that one. It turns out that the ride averages about 30 MPH so I am a big chicken. Next time… no brakes.
If you want to see what it is like check out this youtube video.
As you can see from the pictures there are some really nice scenic spots. The problem is that they are few and far between. The route was chosen with an eye out for hills and so far we have succeeded, this was a really easy route. At this point we are on the same route as the Mormon and Oregon Trails that the pioneers used to get to Utah and California. There were lots of antelopes around but no warning signs – I wonder if antelopes are smarter than deer. There were occasional deer warning signs.
The big v-shaped cut into the rock in the last photo is called Devil’s Gate and it was a key trail marker for both the Mormon and Oregon Trails. Just past Devil’s Gate on the trails, at the place I took the photos from, is the place where a large group of Mormon cart pulling pioneers were caught in an early winter storm in October of 1856 and many of them died from exposure. These people were unable to afford Conestoga wagons and oxen to pull them so they pulled their belongings in two-wheeled carts and walked all the way to Utah . There is a museum there and lots of Mormons who love to talk about the place and how sacred it is to them. We were looking for some history and got a little more than we bargained for but still a nice place.
We are spending an extra rest day before heading onto Utah and the GMC Western States rally. We read that there was a natural bridge just west of here over the North Platte River so we went for a look. It was nice and very different than most of the other terrain around here – pretty desolate (sorry but true).
After passing through the Sand Hills area we arrived at the extreme Northeast corner of Nebraska and the bluffs – eroded sand hills that look like and probably are a form of sandstone. Crossing into Wyoming the topology became somewhat less interesting but there were some odds and ends of the sandstone formations.
We ran on real gas all the way across Nebraska but, unfortunately, the party is over. Wyoming is back to using ethanol in the gas. We are spending tonight and tomorrow night in a KOA in Douglas, Wyoming. We are not in a hurry to get to the rally site so just cruising and need another rest – this kind of life is tough. Tomorrow we will do some grocery shopping, visit the Pioneer Museum, and there is a stone arch around here that we will visit.
I have crossed Iowa quite a few times in a car on I-80 and I can tell you that it is not fun – pretty boring. In the GMC, we always like to stay off of the interstate highways because they are boring and can be stressful with the high speeds and the trucks. We like to travel slowly and ‘smell the roses’ . I can tell you that crossing it on US-20, a pre-interstate highway that runs along the northern border of the state, is not boring. I have gone through areas of California, Nevada, Texas, Arizona, and many others that are boring but this road is not. It is mostly straight but there are lots of ups and downs, lots of trees, lots of corn but it is growing on hills that are sometimes even terraced. I would recommend it.
Here are some other photos we took during our second day – we needed a rest – in the South Sioux City, Nebraska city park.
This is GMC content but should interest anyone who cares what gasoline and food costs. Alcohol is being added to gasoline these days in the name of the environment and because it increases the octane rating of the gas but it is actually for the farmers and others who profit when corn and grain prices rise. It would seem to be a good environmental policy to use corn to make alcohol to be added to gasoline but it is not really. Not only does it seem to cost as much oil as it is saving but it results is lower mileage. 10% added ethanol reduces fuel mileage by about 10% so where is the savings? Also, the alcohol in the gas is bad for the vehicle. Metal and rubber are affected by alcohol and the water it encourages to form in your tank.
So, with that background I can tell you that gas stations and chains will elect to add alcohol to some types of gasoline and not to other types. Because of what alcohol-laced gas does to all vehicles and especially to those with carburetors like the standard GMC I prefer gas without alcohol.
Now for the point… Casey’s General Store is a chain of gas stations that is all over Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. They sell gas with and without alcohol. The gas without alcohol is called ‘regular unleaded’, is 87 octane and costs 10 cents more per gallon than ‘super-unleaded’ which is 89 octane and does contain alcohol. I have used that for the last two tanks and the coach is running great and seems to have a lot more power. I never stopped at a station in Indiana or Illinois so I don’t know if this is true there or not but it was true all across Iowa and at the first Casey’s we saw in Nebraska. I hope it stays that way across the whole state.
