Richfield,UT

That is where I ended my day and J took over. I don't think I have been so glad to have my day done with. I started out this morning in Denver,CO. Woke up, got my caffeine and was off. Heading west on I-70 I told J to check the map for me because I was pretty sure that I could not go through Eisnehower Tunnel because we have a hazmat load. I knew there was a detour there for hazmat and oversized vehicles. Sure enough, after checking the map, J tells me I will have to go over Loveland Pass. When he said that, I remembered that was what the sign said. I wasn't happy about that because I had a feeling Loveland Pass was a tiny two lane road and I don't like those under the best of circumstances, let alone in the middle of the night when it is a road I haven't been over before. J heads to bed but tells me to wake him up if I need him. I made it over without waking him up, but holy cow my nerves were frayed by the time I made it back to I-70. Loveland Pass is definitely a two lane road, no shoulder, no guard rails, vertical drop offs AND there was already snow up there. I went up in 6th gear using the whole road for the switchbacks because I HAD to if I didn't want the trailer to drop off of the cliff. Coming down was also in 6th gear with the engine break on. Speed limit was 30 freaking mph with turns posted at 20 or 25 mph. NEVER again will I take that road in a semi. If we have a hazmat, we will take I-40 and eat the 100 miles out of route! It isn't worth the headache. I even just pulled up that road on Google maps and looked at the satellite view. BAD idea! At least I did it at night. I probably would have really freaked if I could have seen exactly how far down it was during the daylight!

We did stop in Green River,UT and had lunch at the restaurant there at the West Winds Truck Stop. They have pretty decent food. I love their chicken fried steak. Anyway, I only got about 480 miles today because I had all the mountains, in Colorado and Utah, and those are time consuming when you are constantly going to 7th gear. So we stopped in Richfield,UT and I called it a day and J took over. He only has about 440 miles to drive tonight. We are stopping in Barstow,CA for the night. We deliver in Santa Maria,CA about 250 miles from there tomorrow. But we deliver between 0800-1000 local and that is between 1000-1200 our time. So I will get up in the morning and drive the last part. We figure we have a better chance of finding a parking place there in Barstow,CA where we have 4 truck stops to choose from. We go any further and the pickins will be slim.