So here we are!  Our first update of 2016 summer vacation.  Our starting point is the first place we stopped to get gas – Pilot Travel Center in Hesperia, California.  They are always cheaper than anyplace closer to home.  John makes sure we have enough gas to get us over the Cajon Pass.

Winnie wasn’t done with her service treatment until about 5 pm the day before we started.  Everything had to be completed and ready to go in one evening.

Day 1 started off early – on the road by 6 am.  We didn’t get into bed the “night” before until 12:30 am.  It was an early morning!   After 12 hours, Winnie had had enough and decided to blow a few tires.  Somehow when the first tire blew, it damaged the valve stem of the neighboring tire.  You can’t see it well in the picture, but it also destroyed the mud flap.  AAA showed up and had to tow us to the nearest town – about 20 miles away.  We at least had a pretty view while we waited.  We were able to put the spare on at the tire shop and fill the other tire with air.  It allowed us to make it to the next town for a little sleep.  We finally arrived at our first night’s stop about 10 pm.  LONG DAY!

Day 2 saw our bank account decrease by $1292.87  It’s just money right?!?  We decided to replace all 6 tires.   We were back on the road after breakfast at IHOP – our favorite!

Days 3, 4 and 6 were spent at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  We were finally able to find some sort of proof of marriage for an ancestor from 1805!

Day 5 was a site-seeing adventure!  We drove out to see the Spiral Jetty, the Rocket Garden, and the Golden Spike National Historic Site.  John and the dog are at the beginning of the jetty in the picture to give you an idea of the size.  The purply brown area above the jetty is the Great Salt Lake.  It was very low for our visit.  The missle in the front of the garden to the right of the stairs is the Standard Missle produced by General Dynamics while John worked at the same location.  Seems like a lifetime ago!

All were worth the drive.  BUT our poor tow car (John’s everyday car) had a fog light (driver’s side) broken.  Guess the 10 miles on gravel road did it.  It’s kinda funny – Barb’s brother replaced the passenger side fog light about 6 months ago.  It broke a few years ago and was bothering him that it was broken!