California Bound!

I packed up the car and headed for California. The route is very familiar, as I've traveled that route many times before. My sisters told me about an LDS Temple open house for a newly constructed temple in Taylorsville. It's right off the freeway in a suburb of Salt Lake City, so I stopped there for a quick tour before heading West on I-80. (I'm easily distracted.) I really liked the woodwork inside, and my favorite painting was a nativity scene with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Mary looked so young and innocent, and her eyes sparkled with peace and contentment. The temple is massive in size. It probably needs to be because there are so many LDS church members in the area, but I prefer the smaller temples like the Sacramento temple located in Folsom.

I got out to stretch at the Wendover rest stop after driving across the Utah salt flats. The salt flats are flat and white and so long they say you can see the curvature of the earth.

My sister was very thoughful and packed me some snacks for the drive, so I didn't even have to stop to eat. I only stopped to stretch my legs or get gas. It was a great day for driving across nevada -- blue skies  and  snow in the distant mountains. Here's how it looked near Wells, NV. 

The trip was going great, but then I heard some rattling in the glove box. I reached over and opened it, but then it wouldn't shut! I figured something must have fallen behind it. Sure enough, I reached behind and pulled out the cover to the cabin air filter. I recognized it because I had recently replaced the filter in my own Subaru, and knew they were located behind the glove box. Pulling it out enabled me to shut the glove box, so I figured I would deal with it after I got home, but you'll hear more about it a little later.

When I got to the Reno area I started seeing signs warning to expect long road construction delays at the California border. Unfortunatel for me, the signs were accurate and the night crews were active. The initial wait at the border was  20 minutes before we started moving again. When we started moving, the averaged only about 20 mph.

The road really needed repair, so I can't complain. Heavy semi trucks wear grooves in the cement pavement, and that's what the workers were repairing. The deep grooves make you feel like you're on a toboggan run, so I look forward to the improved roadway next time I'm taking I-80 over the Sierra.

The construction ended a little before Truckee, and I was finally able to resume normal highway speeds. However, I started hearing fluttering noises behind the glove box, due to the loose cabin air filter. I didn't want to listen to that for the rest of the trip, so I pulled into the nearest rest stop at the top of Donner Summit. Traffic cones blocked the automobile parking area, so I pulled into the truck area. I got out of the car and got down on my knees by the passenger door, trying to disassemble the glove box so I could put the air filter cover back into place behind it. A truck driver pulled up behind me and flashed his lights, wanting my spot, but I waved him on and he parked somewhere else. I wasn't going to give up my spot until I accomplished my task!

The rest of the trip went smoothly. The unexpected advantage of stopping at the rest stop was that I had the highway to myself for most of the rest of the trip. Since traffic was being stopped for a half hour at a time at the Nevada/California border, traffic flowed  in waves. The cars in my wave all passed by me while I was stopped at the rest stop, so I had the highway to myself almost all the way to Auburn, which was nice!