Four Country Gals

Upon checking into the motel Wednesday night, the Inkeeper suddenly realized they had three pretty good sized dogs, and saw an opportunity to extract a higher rental… Well, the girls got all undone. After all, they were pretty much exhausted after the very long day.

They soon struck a deal. No extra charges unless the dogs damaged the room.

The next morning, with Bev and Jim having packed everything, and gotten the three dogs into the vehicles, Cindy stood for inspection in the room… no problem at all. Therefore, no extra charge. However, the shoddy treatment by the proprietor has led Bev to put that place on her “do not recommend” list… to the point of not even providing me the name.

Knowing they’d be staying in Cedar City for at least one more night, they went across the street to the Motel 6, where the folks were very dog friendly, even providing them a first floor room near the door.

After a quick breakfast, it was time to “go exploring”… that means go west on Hwy 56 and find their new home. All that stood between them and their home was one more mountain pass… elevation 6455 feet. Lot’s of history here… but no time to stop and investigate.

Within minutes they crested the summit and began their decent into the Escalante Desert Valley. My God, you can see forever!

They pass the little burg of Newcastle. Significant as this is the home of their local Post Office; that and a Phillips 66 station and convenience store. A couple miles further there’s a sign to the Beryl Rural Fire Dept and a community “dump box” area… oh boy.

About 7 miles down the road, they come to Beryl Junction. Where’s Beryl?

What’s at the junction? This is where Hwy 56 and Hwy 18 intersect. You’ll find the “El Rancho Restaurant”, a small Mexican place, as well as the offices of the local power company, “Dixie Escalante Power Cooperative”. There’s an elementary school, a small community center, the “old school”, and a couple of houses. Oh, there’s also a road maintenance shed including some fuel tanks, and a little roadside picnic area.

A few hundred feet south on Hwy 18 is one of the busiest Goodyear Tire stores in the west… they marvel at that…

Turning right (north) on to Beryl Hwy (no longer officially Hwy 18), they soon find themselves in very unfamiliar territory.

What’s this big dairy? How come everyone looks alike? More about that later.

What was once desert is now a huge patchwork quilt of irrigated circles. Folks are growing alfalfa, hay, potatoes, and corn. There are a couple of “cubing” operations on their right about 4 miles up the the road.

Just past a sign that’s had more than it’s share of bullet holes saying… Blowing Dust, they turn west (4800 N or Antelope Springs Road) and see a fair-sized group of locked mailboxes.

Heading west for about 1/2 mile, they pass a couple of mobile homes. Other than that… nothing but sagebrush, tumbleweed and sand.

Right on to 400 W and they’re new property is on the left of the truck… an expanse of tumbleweed, sand, a couple of pinion trees, a couple of sagebrush bushes… and their new house.

I say “house” as it’s not yet THEIR HOME. With the “double closing” and Bev and Cindy on the road, paperwork had to be “overnighted” to Mom. Yes, she’s on the deed. This process proved to take a little longer than they expected. Mom had done everything correctly… so it wasn’t her problem.

A quick call to the seller confirmed that although they could unload the trailer and store the stuff in the garage, they wouldn’t be able to put anything in the house. That was the advice from her attorney… as long as she was carrying the insurance, the new occupants couldn’t have any access to the house.

No problem… with the trailer unloaded into the garage, they’d have room to haul some new furniture. You see, they’d left their old beds on the island, planning to purchase brand new beds when they got here. Hey, if you’re gonna make a change… you may as well make a big one!

Trailer unloaded, they take time out for pictures… gotta show Shari how far away from “civilization” they really are. From here you can see over 40 miles west, about 40 miles or so north, about 25 miles east and about 20 or so miles south. What a view!

Ok, time to get back across the mountains to Cedar City, a distance of about 45 miles, and do some serious shopping. In addition to the new beds, they add a dining room table and four chairs, spending nearly two grand in the process. At least they’ll sleep well, and have somewhere to eat.

Having arrived at Dad’s barn, they set about gathering the many boxes and other items they’d been moving off the island for the past six months or so. Originally, they’d been packing and storing the boxes in the basement of their island home, but the Realtor insisted they move things off and put an end to any clutter.

So, they moved things three times, from the upstairs to the basement, and then back upstairs out the door, onto the truck, to a rented storage building, out of there, back onto the truck… across the lake to Dad’s barn.

By the time they had stuffed the moving van and 12 foot trailer, all available extra space in both the Avalanche and the Blazer, it was nearly 11 PM. Yikes, and they were still in Ohio!

On the road… no matter they’d been up way before the sun. They must press onward.

They convoyed back to pick up the I-80 Turnpike, and head west.

Somewhere west of Toledo at the Swanton Rest Area they pulled off for much needed sleep.

Every time they stopped and started again, Cindy called Shari. It mattered not that there was a time zone adjustment, or that it might be the middle of the night. So, Shari was called after the vet stop, and then again very late, as they left Dad’s barn.

Very early the next morning, with fresh eyes, they again started their trek… Utah or Bust!

Bev and Jim did most of the driving, with Cindy filling in for short stints. On long boring straight highways, Cindy tended to get drowsy (or is that mesmerized).

From just west of Toledo, they put the pedal to the metal, soon heading into Indiana, through Illinois, Iowa, and into Nebraska. They’d be on I-80 until they got to I-76 just west of Ogallala. Even though they had well over 1900 miles to go, they felt like they’d be there in no time.

The towns and cities became a blur as they raced westward, stopping only to fuel the rigs, themselves, the dogs, and to provide a few minutes “out” for the dogs and themselves.

By the time they stopped for the night in Kearney, Nebraska, they’d gone through most of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and half of Nebraska. That’s also four update calls to Shari, who was tracking their progress, as well as keeping an eye on the weather for them.

The found a “dog friendly” motel and crashed for the night, knowing the most challenging section of the trip was still ahead… the drive across the Rockies with the Avalanche pulling a 12-foot trailer.

Up early again and fueled by coffee and a McDonald’s breakfast, it was time to load the dogs, and point their convoy westward.

From Nebraska into Colorado and another call to Shari, they could almost see the mountains now.

With Denver just ahead, the Rockies were in plain view. From Denver, they were just 60 or so miles from the famed Eisenhower Tunnel…

the highest vehicular tunnel in the world at over 11,000 feet. This would officially take them through (rather than across) the Continental Divide.

Now they were on the western side of the Continental Divide, where all the drainage would point to the Pacific Ocean.

Just west of Denver, the weather had turned quite sour on them, with “slushy rain”. That terrible stuff stayed with them all the way through the higher elevations. After that, it was rain clear into Utah. Who’d have thunk you’d run into this kind of weather in August.

Somewhere along the Glenwood Canyon, with Bev driving the Avalanche… the trailer got in a huge hurry to get to Utah. As she was watching the trailer skid along side her left rear tail light, it was all she could do to correct it’s path.

After a quick underwear change at the next rest stop, it was someone else’s turn to drive as Bev took time to recover from her near disaster. Just as soon as they had a cell signal, Cindy called Shari to let her know they’d nearly lost the trailer.

Time out for fuel, refreshments, and a “doggie out” in Grand Junction before pressing forward to Utah… just twenty miles west.

Cindy, who’d never seen much in the way of mountains was in total awe of the beauty and mass of the Rockies. With each turn and slight change of scenery, she’d take another picture.

Would you believe that within less than 180 miles, they had dropped from the “top of the world” at the Eishenower Tunnel into Grand Junction at less than 5,000 foot elevation. No wonder the trailer was in a hurry.

With only 340 or so miles to go, they once again pointed the convoy west, towards I-15 and Cedar City. There they would spend the night at yet another “dog friendly” motel.

As if the drive hadn’t already been tortuous, I-15 was under construction most of the way. Here it was, dark, rainy and now they had the “orange barrel brigade” to keep them on their toes.

It was late, very late when they reached Cedar City. Luckily they had called ahead for reservations. No time for anything but to fall into bed, totally exhausted from the marathon drive, yet anxiously anticipating the next day.

Remember, they had never seen their new home in person.