Spanish Fork to Butte, Montana

It was a cold and windy drive.  About half the day was a fairly stiff head wind.  Then it switched around to a tail wind.  The wind in both directions was really cold.  It snowed off and on.  It wasn't a lot of snow, and it didn't stick much.  The entire drive was, again, on I15.

Today in Tucson it was 85F and partly cloudy.

Eighteen miles south of Pocatello there is much construction going on.  They've got some very huge cranes.  I think it's bridge replacement.  They're going to be there for awhile.

The clouds in Montana were interesting.  They looked like virga and fog.  Here is the one photo that turned out half way decent.  The cloud, or fog, or what ever it is, touches the ground.  We've been here about an hour, and it's snowing sideways.

Internet is a little slow tonight.  We're at a Hampton Inn and Suites that we always stay at.

Tomorrow is the last day, Butte to Spokane, which is a short day.  

Bullhead City to Spanish Fork, Utah

Today was a long day, most of it was very windy.  Fortunately it was not a head wind.  The entire drive is on I15.  Traffic getting out of Las Vegas was backed up as it always is.  We did see an accident in which a red car had been pushed up on top of the jersey barrier and was totaled.  Hopefully the people in the car survived.  Traffic behind the accident was backed up for at least five miles.  What a start to the day.

The route took us through the always lovely Virgin River Gorge.  I was driving, so no photos of that.  If you'd like, refer back to this post for photos. 

We are once again at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Spanish Fork.  It's a nice, if somewhat over priced place to stay.  They're doing this with the roll of toilet paper now, which is adorable.

Tomorrow we are up and out for Butte, Montana where it is cold and snowing.  Not looking forward to it.  It's also a long travel day.

Today 47 has issued directions to Hegseth to get a nuclear reactor orbiting the moon before the end of his term.  Right then.  Yep, the directive involves other agencies, but it was directed to the Pentagon, in the form of Hegseth.

This was dinner.  We didn't hate either one, but we didn't like them much, either.

Also when leaving Las Vegas, forego the Flying J at 93 and 40.  Getting out of there and back on the freeway is a confusing bear.  Ten miles south of the Flying J there is a Terribles (that's the name!) gas station that is easy on, easy off.  

Tucson to Bullhead City

Today was Tucson to Bullhead City.  The weather today has just been delightful, in the mid-70s.  The last two days in Tucson had high winds and it was not delightful.  

We're looking for a new route between Bullhead City and Tucson.  We would like to not go through Kingman.  They have significant traffic and frequent accidents.  So today we went I10 to US95 in California and up that way.  As a new route, this is not the one.  Once you get off I10, it's all two lane roads and zero passing lanes.  It's also a truck route.  I drove most of the two lane roads and it's exhausting.  So, please make a note of this, and don't do it again.

This is Picacho Peak.  It's north of Tucson.  It's kind of weird how it just sticks up out of the ground, with no surrounding mountains.

This is how much of the drive looked.  There are some really desolate parts of the state. 

Safeway had the frozen Indian dinners again, so we got those.  I'd like to not eat at Subway on this trip.  Their quality has really declined, and everything is too salty.   Some of the Indian dinners are high in sodium, but these two are not bad.

So, we're back at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites, it's still a nice hotel.  They have raised their prices some.

Update to post:  The chicken curry is good, but it's hot.  If you're a hot food wimp, like I am, it's hot.  I like the chicken Tikka Masala better.

The Healing

We ride at dawn tomorrow.  Actually we're driving, and it probably won't be dawn, either.  Our first stop is Bullhead City, and yes, it's actually called that.

Who saw this before it was deleted?  47 put it up after his pissing contest with the Pope.  

 The back lash was swift and furious.  This guy has totally lost his mind.

Orban is Defeated

Oh happy day.  Orban has conceded defeat to Péter Magyar.  Hopefully Orban and Putin will not launch into a "the election was stolen" a la 47, and they'll just go away.

I believe my father's mother was Hungarian.  She came to the US alone at age 17.  I don't know if she had people here to help her, or what happened after she arrived.  Eventually she married and had eight children.  My grandfather died before I was born.  I'm pretty happy about the defeat of Orban.  This will be good for Ukraine, and bad for Putin and 47.

Witkoff, Kushner and the VP spent 12 or so hours "negotiating" with Iran yesterday.  Iran said no to every proposal offered by the US side.  As you no doubt recall, the JCPOA took two years to negotiate.  The people from the US went home after one session.  Today 47 is threatening to blockade the Strait.  I'm reading that the helium will be gone in six months in the US, if you need an MRI, get it now.

We're leaving Tuesday morning.  The car is impossibly full.  At this point, I'm not sure it's all going to fit, which is fairly depressing.  We'll see. 

Here is a lovely trichocerus.   It's sort of an unusual color.

That's it!  

Kindles

 Here is a first world problem for all of you Kindle owners.

Amazon is discontinuing support for Kindle devices released in 2012 or earlier, effectively "soft-bricking" them by blocking access to the Kindle store and new content downloads after May 20, 2026. While existing locally stored books will remain, devices cannot download new content, rendering14-18 year-old, working units into, in effect, paperweights.

For more information, google "Amazon bricking Kindles."  I can not tell you how much this pisses me off.  

Cactus from yesterday.

Things are still terrible in the Middle East, with no signs of improvement.

47 is dismantling the Forest Service.  Decades of knowledge and research will be dumpstered, fire seasons will be worse, post fire landslides will be worse.   They're planning to sell off vast swaths of land for logging.  Good bye little woodland creatures.

That's it!  Gotta start packing in earnest.