24 March, Tuesday - We didn't get a terribly early start but we had enough time to stop at Peter and Naomi's to drop off the fleece jacket Peter had won at the Bi-Wing Fling at Baldy last October. They weren't there (Later we heard that Peter had been interviewing for the PhD program at WSU.) but we got to meet their lap-raised chickens. On the way to fill up with (cheap - $1.909) gas at Costco in Yakima we drove through the canyon looking for the invisible bighorn sheep. We ran into snow as we crossed the Blue Mountains and made our semiannual stop at Sierra Trading Post in Meridian. After filling up with (even cheaper - $1.709) gas at the Boise Costco, and picking up a rotisserie chicken, we camped at the Airport Motel6 for the night.
25 March, Wednesday - We got a reasonably early start from Boise but should have pushed for earlier because we had an extra 80 miles to cover to get to Laramie - last year we had stopped at Twin Falls for the night. We didn't think much of it because the GPS was showing that we would get in around 1730 which seemed reasonable. Unfortunately, the GPS does not automatically adjust for time zones so the travel time would put us in at 1830 - and that's not even counting stops here and there for this and that. We stopped at a rest area just after we turned onto I-84 just beyond Burley, climbed over the high Sweetzer Summit in light snow and then dropped down into the Salt Lake Valley. The guide at the Utah Welcome Station reminded us of how to get to Costco in Ogden and we got gas ($1.679) and lunch there. Climbing out of the valley to the high plains we started encountering snow again. We made it to just beyond Rawlins with a couple of rest stops just as the snowplow operator locked the gates to I-80 to the east. Feeling brave and confident we headed north on US30 and 287 through Medicine Bow and on to Laramie. It was snowing and blowing and not too deep on the road, but we were glad to have some other traffic with us. We made reasonable time and got to the Best Value Inn shortly after 2015 following a stop at Safeway to pick up some salad makings to go with the leftover chicken (we were definitely on a low-budget trip this time). The motel was pretty nice and we even got upgraded to a room with a microwave and refrigerator. Not that a refrigerator was needed at all because the temperature outdoors was in the low twenties and the wind was howling.
26 March, Thursday - We slept-in a bit, had breakfast and went into town to get gas (and a discount gas card at Loaf and Jug ($1.649 - prob the lowest price we'll see this trip). The temperature on one bank sign showed 6 degrees and there was snow in the air, only some of it due to the strong wind. As we drove south out of town on US 287, the snow picked up and soon there was not much scenery to see. It was a slow trip over the high point and it got even slower as we headed down into Colorado toward Fort Collins. By the time we reached the city, the roads were snow-packed and icy, and we were happy to hit 30 mph once in a while. C.J. checked with the 511 system and found that 287 and I-25 had been closed to Laramie shortly after we made it through. I thought it would be better once we got on I-25 but it was, if anything, worse, and still worse as we crept bumper-to-bumper through Denver. We made a short stop to rest at a Wendy's just south of Denver - good thing because the next rest area was closed. Once beyond the suburbs the traffic eased and the road conditions improved. Still, it was blizzarding in Colorado Springs when we reached there some nine hours after leaving Rawlins, only 150 miles away. At least we had booked a nice room at the LaQuinta Inn just a quarter-mile from the Doubletree where the BOD would be meeting (if everyone shows up - last we heard I-70 was closed, and the COS airport was closed also).
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