2487 We made it!!

In Portland!! Getting keys from Andrew at Intel! Thanks for
traveling with us!!

2339 and 77 degrees!

About 2 hours from Portland. The pall has lifted all around. Sunshine,
warming up, mountain driving behind us. We are ready to be there!

Photos are of the Columbia River. Beautiful! Lots of windsurfers and
more giant windmills all around.

Sarah

2241. Do you see what I see??

That's right!! Nothing!! Because we are now battling fog, a 6 mile
downhill at 6% grade, and 49 degrees!! A true test of love!! Kate is
captaining the ship valiantly!! ETA about 4 more hours!

2087 - OREGON (in the rain)

I tried to get a shot of the welcome sign... It's that brown blob.

2072.6 - Almost to Oregon!

It's been raining since we hit Boise. However, we will take the rain
over the wind any day.

I am still working on the alien translation of the "human
verification" words. Will update you once I (we) have made the key.

56 degrees. No sunbathing today. And I think Idaho is permanently off
my list. Skiing or not.

1904.8. Hitch hikers in Idaho

Here's a picture of some of the many hitch hikers we picked up
yesterday in our wind storm across the plains of southern Idaho.

The winds have died down but it's 53 degrees this morning! Brrrrr
(says this Texas girl)!

Final leg into Portland today. The anticipation is building!!

Keep the comments coming! You have no idea how many jillions of times
we check the blog!

xox
Sarah

JEANNINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY I CAN BELIEVE IN AMERICA!

TV time in Twin Falls

Kate and Ace watching "Dance"! They both love it!

Just shy of 2000

Twin Falls Idaho. Barely made it to our hotel in one piece. Mom was a
champ driving through the Idaho tumbleweeds and wind storm! Seriously.
They are expecting gusts up to 60mph tonight. Ugh.

The good news is that we have decent beer and a flat screen tv (our
hotels are getting progressively more awesome for the same rate - go
AAA) to watch SYTYCD.

PLEASE keep your fingers crossed that the wind does it's thing tonight
and leaves us alone tomorrow. The Orbea can't take much more.

1824 - who's the ho?

I think we all know...

Well it has been a less than smooth ride since SLC. Fire, wind,
tumbleweeds and spotty cell phone service.

Headed to Twin Falls for the night. Sleeping in and long lunches
caught up with us.

1696 - Back on the Road

We are continuing with our leisurely day, and only just got back on
the road for Boise-ish. Probably will only make it to Mountain Home
tonight since we need to be good and settled for Dance. Lunch at
Squatters was great. We had the Golden Ale (I even got the t shirt -
cute!) and the amber. I drank more hoping that it equals an afternoon
car nap. Mom sleeps way better in the hotels than I do... Maybe I'm
just too excited.

SLC has been awesome though. We both decided we could live here and I
could even work for Chevron! Now, to just convince the men in our
lives to pick up and move... (Also makes me want to watch SLC Punk
again. Haven't seen that in years!)

Hopefully next time I come back here will be to take skiing lessons
with some super hot Mormon instructor and stay at Joy's Park City abode.

Next stop, Idaho!

The search continues

So here we are in Salt Lake City at the Mormon cathedral temple place.
Better than cinderellas castle. However, I yelled and yelled but no
Doug. There were several weddings going on, but no sightings.

Off to Squatters Brew Pub for local beer and lunch before setting off
for Idaho.

Get all your I da ho' jokes ready!

Sarah

Provo. No Doug.

At starbucks in Provo. All Mormons are blonde. Laura was right! But
some drink caffeine. Gorgeous weather. Drove near BYU. Off to Salt
Lake to continue the search!

I'm a little scared

Here's Kate driving through the Wasatch Pass. Lots of ups and downs
and winding skinny roads. Beautiful drive, but...

1496.4. On the blue highway toward Salt Lake

Leisurely morning with free breakfast. Loaded up. Little bit of rain.
Stunning DESERT scenery.

Now on our way to Mormon land in search of my high school boyfriend,
Doug (not really as I know he lives in las Vegas with his many
children). However, he was my family's portal into Mormonism. And he
went to BYU. So we will look for traces of him.

Green Ruver ,Utah wasn't Hays, Kansas-- but it served us just fine.
And we did get to see Dance. Go Jeannine!!

Sarah

Spelling Lesson

Per my earlier post... I'm an idiot. Kate hammered home the point
using demonstrative Utah-based evidence at dinner tonight. Lesson
learned...until the next time I have to spell either...

Dinner in Green River, Utah

Mmmmmmmm! The only choice in town. Seriously. Not even a McDonslds.
Best part is they had local beer! We were the only ones drinking.
Mormons, I guess.

Sarah

Green River, Utah - Tamarisk Restaurant

Uintah brewing company. Not super, but can you hold it against the
Mormons?

Long day. Bad Douglas!

No one could hold it anymore once we got to the hotel.

1418.6. UTAH

104 degrees. Dessert.

The Colorado River in Colorado

Who'd a thunk it?!

You just THOUGHT Kate made these look good!

She's got nuthin' on me!

1327.3. Jesus -- er, Kate-- take the wheel!

Kate and her puppy are driving. Through the hard part of Colorado.
It's been beautiful! Decided it would be fun to raft the White River
sometime.

Getting great gas mileage, especially on the downhills!

Anyone got some good Colorado songs we could sing? Anything but John
Denver?

We LOVE all the comments! But Rob, are you able to bill out your time
posting to us?! :-)

Sarah

1274 - Flip a Hummer

We finally saw our first Hummer! And while we unsuccessfully flipped
him off the road (they must have self leveling devices), I was able to
flip him off.

My glasses

I've gotten several inquiris about my sunglasses. They are the newest
from Solar Shield. You can find them at your local walgreens. They
conveniently fit over your regular Rx glasses and are polarized!
Perfect for sunny Colorado.

1246 - change of address

We've decided to move to Vail. But since we are not so great at
driving in the snow you'll all have to bring food and supplies when
you visit in the winter.

1204 - the view from lunch

After our second >6% decline for multiple miles, we decided to stop
for a frosty and breather. (Joy, I got you a free frosty coupon from
one of those receipt surveys!)

Thank you all for your help to figure out what time we need to call it
a night. 7pm. Channel 13.

The matrix is still chugging along. Trying to appreciate the views and
not be too stressed out driving.

1149 - forty five degrees!!!!

We successfully made it through Denver and are now coaxing the matrix
through mere hills. It's really pretty out here, and we'll have plenty
of time to enjoy it going 50mph.

The self portrait shows our incline! Wowza!

1094.5 - does anyone have some gum?

Ears are starting to pop! Ok, not really. We still haven't spotted any
mountains yet, but we are within an hour of Denver.

It's actually been pretty easy driving so far today. I think we'll
make it to green river in plenty of time for SYTYCD. We have not
gotten an answer we trust about what time the show actually comes on
(it's a live show with call in votes after all). But, we do know who
we will be voting for: Jeannine. She's awesome and she was Phillips
partner (big heart). We hate Evan and are not huge fans of Kayla either!

Ok. At a rest stop. More once we hit mountains.

959.2 - Colorado is so buck!

We are in Colorado AND mountain time now; so according to our progress
against the clock we are speeding bullets. Glad to be through Kansas!

Mom is driving now, and I am not going to blink until I see some
mountains.

898.2. Question

Need some help. When does the time zone change from Central to
Mountain, and then to Pacific?

More importantly (and the true concern): what time does "So You Think
You Can Dance" come on tonight in Green River Utah (our destination
for tonight)?

Any and all assistance is appreciated!

860.4. Doing 70 on I-70

There has been concern that there is no proof that I'm actually on
this trip with Kate. Rest assured, she did not gag me and duct tape me
and leave me on the side of the road. I'm here!!

822.1 -Stolen bagel on the prarie

Good morning!! We hit the road at 6:45 after the best motel sleep
I've ever experienced! Kansas redeemed itself. And it only cost $60!
And I got to make a waffled in one of those flip-over motel waffle
makers! Then I stole the bagel for later. Naturally, Kate was up
early, had the car loaded, and had made coffee before I opened my
eyes. And she ate healthy shredded wheat and yogurt. Sometimes I hate
her! Jk jk!

Rain is threatening. I'm guessing it'll hold off until I'm driving in
the mountains.

The morning game is Count the Silos. Look at the picture. There aren't
even any cars on the road to play the license plate game!

Keep those comments and emails coming! iPhones rock!!

Sarah

Hays, KS

We made it to our stopping point for the night in hays, ks. And let me
tell you, from what we have seen in Kansas so far, hays is a cultural,
industrial, metropolitan Mecca of a city.

As you can see, we are stocked with America's Heartland beer (Bud
Select) and a made over motel room that actually has a fridge to keep
our beer cold!

Looking forward to the mountains tomorrow!

Mile 700- a redeeming find in Kansas

Don Quixote's breath would be taken away! There must be 1000
windmills on this farm. Very very cool. But I still don't need to come
to Kansas ever again.

630 miles - Douglas is already bored with Kansas

We've decided Kansas is a stupid state. We drove thru Wichita during
"rush" hour and counted 27 cars. We had to get gas (because they don't
sell gas on the toll road) in Wichita but had to drive over a mile
away from the interstate to find a gas station. Everywhere is the
middle of nowhere in Kansas. What was Dorothy thinking?

583.5 - $1.25

It's going to cost us $1.25 to get gas and pee. What is WRONG with
these people?

557.4 - I HATE KANSAS!

We finally made it into Kansas after following the slowest driver
through construction necked down to one lane on I 35.

And now Kansas wants to *charge* us to drive on their interstates??
Are you kidding me???!!! This could get ugly.

Last free exit. Bullshit.

531.5 - 105 degrees

You caint see it so good from ther picture, but that's a right good
Oklahoma field twister right ther.

We think we kin out runnit.

437 - Christian Rock

It's 102 degrees here in Oklahoma City. And so far I have only been in
the sun seat. We are beginning to respect how far this drive is, and
it's only day one... *sigh*

Meanwhile, it's become evident that OK only has tejano radio stations
with two, at most, other options. The game is, 'is this rock? or
Christian rock?' you'd be amazed at how many songs could be about
Jesus or just as easily about a girl, we'll call her Jessica. The
hallelujahs usually give it away, but some of them really have me
wondering.

I'd attach a picture, but there's nothing to see in Oklahoma...

TULSA. Drink.

317.3. Crossed into Okkahoma! Goodbye Texas!

288.8 - Big D and Denton!

Our first major city! Shout out to UNT! Got gas and a fountain drink
at Will's 24 hour Whataburger. Kate is now driving. Next stop,
Oklahoma City!

112.8 - turkey jerky

Just made our first stop in centerville, tx for some turkey jerky and
caffeine. Not sick of eachother yet. Bike is secure. Sun is still in
my face.

11.9 - And we're off!

This will be my first post from the car. Just wanted to share some
pictures from our departure out of the driveway.

Douglas, shown in the back window, has already tried to knock over my
water in the front seat. New rule, no dogs in the front seat.

KOLACHES!!!

The "pre" stop of the day was at shipleys donuts - houstons finest!

For those of you unfamiliar with the goodness of kolaches, I've
included a picture. These are some of the largest around! Onto i45!