Friday
Way back at the start of this trip, I accidentally filled up with Number 1
diesel. Since then I've managed to put Number 2 diesel in it like I'm
supposed to. In Durango, we discovered Biodiesel. We stopped at a station
to fill up the Jeep, and the diesel they sell there is Biodiesel. Blue Sun
Biodiesel. What a great sounding idea. It's made from vegetable oilseed
crops. It works in existing engines. There is no drop off in engine
performance. It is biodegradable and less toxic. It produces about 80%
less pollutants from combustion. That's what the literature on it says.
We only found it in that one station. We'd have tried a tank of it, but it
was a small station we couldn't have gotten the Bounder in and out of.
We'll keep an eye out for it.
Did I mention the service intervals on the diesel? We took it in for an oil
change before we left on this trip. It takes a lot of oil, they measure it
in gallons instead of quarts, but it turns out we only have to do that once
a year. I asked about a tune-up. How do I know when it's time for a tune
up? The service writer told us to drive it for a hundred thousand miles,
then get back to him. I like that.
We were farther west in the time zone yesterday. It was hard to wait for it
to get dark before falling asleep. We didn't make it.
The badlands of Utah. One hundred fifteen uninhabited miles. Cones,
spires, castles, turrets, parapets, canyons, gorges... and flowers. It is
hot and dry here, but we can see fields of late spring flowers from the
road. Nice.
Stopped at the same rest stop we always stop at to admire the view. There
was one other car there. From somewhere else. It was filled with a family.
They got out. We don't think they are veteran travelers. Mom, Dad, and two
early teenage girls. One daughter headed for the rest room at the other end
of the view area. It wasn't really a restroom. It's an outhouse. She went
in. She came back out. Distressed. "Mom" she shouted, "It's round! It
looks just like a can!" They all went to see.
Most of the freeways we drive on are asphalt, but it seems to us that states
tend to take out asphalt freeways and replace them with concrete freeways.
Why do you suppose they do that? Maybe concrete freeways last longer, and
so, cost less in the long run. We drove on some concrete freeways in Utah.
Lots of Interstate 15 in Utah is concrete. Concrete freeways suck. I think
this Freightliner chassis provides a pretty good ride, but it sure shakes
and rattles on an old concrete freeway.
Stopped at a rest stop, and was watching a Western Kingbird with the
binoculars. It was more yellow underneath than some. I was struck by how
yellow it was. Then it quit fluttering around and landed, facing away from
me. It was gray. The entire top of his body was gray, while facing away.
So much for the mystery bird yesterday. It was a rear-view of a western
kingbird.
Here we are in Mesquite Nevada. Ninety-five degrees. Not that hot. Hot
and dry. It feels good.
We checked out a motorhome park attached to a casino in the center of town.
You know how, sometimes you look at an RV Park and think it's going to suck,
but after you've been there a while it grows on you and after that you end
up loving it? Not going to happen here. We moved on to a nice park on the
outskirts of town. Not a birdy place at all. Saw a house sparrow. Saw a
grackle. That's it.
We waited for it to cool off to 85 outside, then sat in lawn chairs and
watched the stars brighten. We can see the big dipper every night. The
North Star sure is high in the sky this time of year. We're used to seeing
it low on the horizon from southern Texas in January.
A three hundred fifty mile day. Not very far to go tomorrow to Las Vegas.
