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September 12, 2010, a Sunday
near North Rim, Arizona, to Lehi (Cabela's), Utah, USA
— Moved to the big city
We got up around our normal time. I started to drain the Toddy Cold Brew System before starting my morning routine so that I'd have some coffee concentrate available for breakfast. I backed up a hard drive while having breakfast. We prepped the RV to move and got underway around 9:10 with J in the Jeep and me following in the RV because J doesn't like to drive in someone else's dust.
We went to the North Rim Country Store around 9:50 to get a few gallons of gas in the RV at $3.199/gal so we could make it to cheaper gas up the road. We hooked up the Jeep to tow and J checked email on her iPhone. We got underway around 10:10.
We stopped at the Chevron in Jacob Lake around 10:40 to get some more gas. I was surprised that it was $3.229/gal, but maybe they have a monopoly on people who don't know any better (like us) because they're at a major intersection. We got underway around 10:50 and took US-89A west.
Gas in Fredonia was only $3.059/gal. We entered Utah at 12:30 (11:30 MST).
We went to the McDonald's in Kanab around 12:35 to have lunch and take advantage of their free Wi-Fi. I got an acceptable signal in the RV and started to upload my images to my stock agent for his review. The connection wasn't very good for J, so she took her laptop into the restaurant. I had a Big Mac meal and J had a Cheeseburger and fries. I returned to the RV around 1:15 after I finished eating to monitor the uploads that weren't going too smoothly. J returned to the RV when she finished a block of work and we got underway around 3:00.
We stopped at the Sinclair (gas station) on the north side of Kanab to get about 25 gallons (about 95l or about half a tank) of gas in the RV at $2.979/gal to get us to even cheaper gas. We got underway around 3:10 and stayed on US-89.
I listened to an episode of Car Talk. There was a strong tailwind as we were heading north out of Panguitch. :) We got on I-70 heading east around 5:35.
We went to the Super 8 in Richfield around 5:55 to use their free Wi-Fi while having dinner. I connected to their Wi-Fi network and continued to upload images to my stock agent. The transfers were going much faster than they had been at McDonald's in Kanab. J couldn't get a decent connection and wanted to move to the nearby Holiday Inn Express. A tractor trailer had pulled into the lot where we were parked such that we could no longer pull forward to get out, so I had to first unhook the Jeep. We went to the Holiday Inn Express parking lot, and I couldn't connect to any of their Wi-Fi networks. J couldn't connect either and went online using her USB760 stick. She finished making dinner and I sucked down the leftover Porcupine Meatballs and a fresh garden salad, then I drove the RV back to the Super 8 parking lot, got reconnected to their open Wi-Fi network, resumed uploading images to my stock agent, then hooked up the Jeep to tow. My uploads finished while I was hooking up the Jeep, and we left around 6:45.
We went to the Flying J (truck stop) across the street to get about 20 gallons (about 75l) of gas in the RV at $2.839/gal to get us up to the Salt Lake City area and even cheaper gas. We got underway at 6:55.
We got back on I-70 east then took US-50 over to I-15 north. There was a test section of I-15 posted at 80 mph (129 kph), and we continued at our leisurely, and fuel-miserly, 60 mph (97 kph).
We reached the Cabela's in Lehi, between Provo and Salt Lake City, around 9:30. J had called earlier to make sure we could spend the night, and the person said we could. (The next morning, we saw signs in the parking lot that said "No Overnight Parking" — go figure.) We went online through a really fast Verizon Broadband Access signal and thoroughly enjoyed having a great, and unrushed, internet connection. I looked at thermal tops and bottoms at Cabela's, and my old favorite Polartech Power Dry items are being phased out and are being replaced by ECWCS Polartech Power Dry items that are more expensive. Also, none of their thermals are available in Military Brown (they're only available in Black), and I loved the Military Brown for the tops! I also looked into Garmin eTrex GPS's to replace our Venture HC, and the Summit HC has an electronic compass (it'll orient the map in the direction that you're holding the unit instead of the direction in which the GPS is moving) and 14 hours of run time and the Vista HCx has an electronic compass, can provide turn-by-turn directions on roads, and has 25 hours of run time — hmmm.
We went to the North Rim Country Store around 9:50 to get a few gallons of gas in the RV at $3.199/gal so we could make it to cheaper gas up the road. We hooked up the Jeep to tow and J checked email on her iPhone. We got underway around 10:10.
We stopped at the Chevron in Jacob Lake around 10:40 to get some more gas. I was surprised that it was $3.229/gal, but maybe they have a monopoly on people who don't know any better (like us) because they're at a major intersection. We got underway around 10:50 and took US-89A west.
Gas in Fredonia was only $3.059/gal. We entered Utah at 12:30 (11:30 MST).
We went to the McDonald's in Kanab around 12:35 to have lunch and take advantage of their free Wi-Fi. I got an acceptable signal in the RV and started to upload my images to my stock agent for his review. The connection wasn't very good for J, so she took her laptop into the restaurant. I had a Big Mac meal and J had a Cheeseburger and fries. I returned to the RV around 1:15 after I finished eating to monitor the uploads that weren't going too smoothly. J returned to the RV when she finished a block of work and we got underway around 3:00.
We stopped at the Sinclair (gas station) on the north side of Kanab to get about 25 gallons (about 95l or about half a tank) of gas in the RV at $2.979/gal to get us to even cheaper gas. We got underway around 3:10 and stayed on US-89.
I listened to an episode of Car Talk. There was a strong tailwind as we were heading north out of Panguitch. :) We got on I-70 heading east around 5:35.
We went to the Super 8 in Richfield around 5:55 to use their free Wi-Fi while having dinner. I connected to their Wi-Fi network and continued to upload images to my stock agent. The transfers were going much faster than they had been at McDonald's in Kanab. J couldn't get a decent connection and wanted to move to the nearby Holiday Inn Express. A tractor trailer had pulled into the lot where we were parked such that we could no longer pull forward to get out, so I had to first unhook the Jeep. We went to the Holiday Inn Express parking lot, and I couldn't connect to any of their Wi-Fi networks. J couldn't connect either and went online using her USB760 stick. She finished making dinner and I sucked down the leftover Porcupine Meatballs and a fresh garden salad, then I drove the RV back to the Super 8 parking lot, got reconnected to their open Wi-Fi network, resumed uploading images to my stock agent, then hooked up the Jeep to tow. My uploads finished while I was hooking up the Jeep, and we left around 6:45.
We went to the Flying J (truck stop) across the street to get about 20 gallons (about 75l) of gas in the RV at $2.839/gal to get us up to the Salt Lake City area and even cheaper gas. We got underway at 6:55.
We got back on I-70 east then took US-50 over to I-15 north. There was a test section of I-15 posted at 80 mph (129 kph), and we continued at our leisurely, and fuel-miserly, 60 mph (97 kph).
We reached the Cabela's in Lehi, between Provo and Salt Lake City, around 9:30. J had called earlier to make sure we could spend the night, and the person said we could. (The next morning, we saw signs in the parking lot that said "No Overnight Parking" — go figure.) We went online through a really fast Verizon Broadband Access signal and thoroughly enjoyed having a great, and unrushed, internet connection. I looked at thermal tops and bottoms at Cabela's, and my old favorite Polartech Power Dry items are being phased out and are being replaced by ECWCS Polartech Power Dry items that are more expensive. Also, none of their thermals are available in Military Brown (they're only available in Black), and I loved the Military Brown for the tops! I also looked into Garmin eTrex GPS's to replace our Venture HC, and the Summit HC has an electronic compass (it'll orient the map in the direction that you're holding the unit instead of the direction in which the GPS is moving) and 14 hours of run time and the Vista HCx has an electronic compass, can provide turn-by-turn directions on roads, and has 25 hours of run time — hmmm.