Written en route

First, the good news.  We are in western Wyoming and the truck and rig are working well.  We spent last night in Park City with great friends Deb and Janice and their son Stephen; we met them on the 2004 XP and have been great friends ever since.  Gas is getting cheaper.  Now the other news:  it is cold and wet with snow on the ground at high elevations, and even at lower elevations.  The horses have spent 2 nights out in the rain, and are not so happy.  The weather should warm up by tomorrow, but will continue to be wet.

We left home Wednesday and were stunned to find ourselves finally on the road.  The feeling was a bit flat and anti-climactic.  Going over the Sierra was surprisingly uneventful, but weather from Truckee on had us on high alert all afternoon.  Periodic squalls and sleet and cars spun off the road near Lovelock kept us on our toes, or rather in four wheel drive at 30 miles an hour.  Still we made it to Winnemucca fairgrounds by 6:30, where we were warmly greeted by the camp host Karen, eager for someone to talk to:  the fairgrounds have been deserted since the equine herpes outbreak.  We did put the horses in an area that hasn’t been used in weeks, so we weren't worried about contagion, but they were outside in all night in the rain.

The trip to Park City was broken up by a stop to get brand inspections for the 3 horses – really traveling passports in the western US.  The horses were a bit shy about having their pictures taken, and before we finished everyone in the office had trooped out to compare notes on the description.  The Ruby Mountains were shrouded in snow and clouds, and the sleet and rain followed us all the way to Park City. 

We had a wonderful evening with our friends.  The horses got a big pasture and were quite happy until the overnight rain.  The dogs played with the 5 host dogs including 3 standard poodles – Enu, Rocky and Rosie.  And Indian feast and good wine and conversation kept us up late but we slept well in their downstairs apt.

We haven’t gotten higher than the 30’s today but have less rain.  We hope to stay just east of Cheyenne tonight.  We are being highly entertained by an audio book called Doc by Mary Doria Russell.  The first day we listened to a hilarious British story by Douglas Adams – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (thank you Donna).

The rivers are high, the skys are gray, and the glorious desolation of the American West is mesmerizing (from Steve)