Westbound Log

(Dates in reverse order.)

May 11, Tuesday

1457 MDT, Arizona, 5483.4 miles.
1522 MDT = 1422 PDT, Nevada, 5512.7 miles.
1613 PDT, California, 5636.3 miles, immediately came to a dead stop for 20 minutes in a construction zone marked "October 02 through December 2004".

2007 PDT, Home!  Total trip 5861.7 miles.  Mazda now has 52,350 miles on it.

We had spent the night in Green River, Utah, the first opportunity after sunset.  I did a careful estimate and determined that if we proceeded via Four Corners, it would be another 16 driving hours, certainly another night on the road or arriving home at 2 a.m. Wednesday.  If we went straight down I-70, it would be more like home at 8 p.m., which at this point seemed ... choice.  We decided to do Four Corners another time (for sure).

The water in Green River was brown.  We used the heater in 40 degree weather in central Utah.

From southern Utah, called W0RPK at 2000Z on 14.476 MHz but raised John, W6GL instead, a friend from work at his home in Thousand Oaks.  Ralph could hear us from Iowa but not well.  K6TY, at home unexpectedly, called on 40 meters at 2200Z but we were single-band on 20 for the day.  Final QSO of the trip was with W0RPK on 20 meters at 2300Z.

The Homecomming	John and Viannah do "battle tango".
Sheridan	Fires in SoCal.
Opening the trunk for the first time in five days.	Unloaded and Accumulated Junque.

May 10, Monday

1212 MDT, Colorado, 4665.3 miles.
1952 MDT, Utah, 5115.7 miles.

It's nice to have Viannah doing most of the driving, though this is a very comfortable car to ride long hours in from either front seat.  And, 30+ mpg too!

Toward the edge of Kansas I found the 2 meter amplifier too hot to touch.  Apparently the APRS unit had locked on, possibly due to interference from HF transmissions.  After cycling power we were back on and updating immediatley, and after an hour of cooling all else was well.

Discussions in the car covered virtually every conceivable topic.

Weather brewing over central Colorado.  We heard next morning that tornadoes had "crossed  I-70" that afternoon.  We couldn't have missed by two hours.	Entrance to the 1.6 mile long Eisenhower Tunnel.  Notice the snow.
Sunset over eastern Utah with "laughing whale" cloud formation.

May 9, Sunday

Still clear and sunny.  Getting a little warm.  We're doing our part to remove bugs from the air near the freeways.

1131 CDT, Illinois, 3860.0 miles, by crossing the Wabash River.
1328 CDT, Missouri, 3990.8 miles, Mississippi River.
1811 CDT, Kansas, 4242.4 miles.
Stopped in Russell, Kansas.

Had two excellent 40 meter SSB QSOs with W0RPK, being within a few hundred miles of Iowa.

"Jazz" contemplates St. Louis.

New position for the HF rig behind the driver's set.  ("Two passenger configuration")  APRS box visible at the very bottom.  Once all the overnight luggage is loaded, you can't see this much.

May 8, Saturday:

1057 EDT, Maryland, 3188.6 miles.
1221 EDT, Eastern Continental Divide, 3276.4 miles.
1747 EDT, Kentucky, 3544.5 miles.
2028 EDT, Indiana, 3735.2 miles.
2123 EDT = 2032 CDT, Central Time Zone, finally.

The Ohio River at sunset, about to cross from Louisville, Kentucky to Indiana.


(photo credit, Viannah)

May 7, Friday:

Left Franklin and Marshall at 8:46 p.m.  Spent the night in Gettysburg, PA.

The car, packed (and probably won't/can't open the trunk until we're home).



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