Numbbutts Adventures

We must begin this entry at the end.

Through a major oversight on my part, we ended up driving 650 miles today and almost running out of gas. See the title? Twelve hours in a car creates numbbutts. Nearly four hundred miles between gas stops means squeezing the last bit of fumes from a tank of gas, and that is adventurous.
Go back to the original plan. Leave Tucson on Friday, the 23rd, have lunch with family in Cottonwood, then press on to St. George, Ut. Not much of a push, really. Last year, pulling the trailer, we made that many miles the first day.
Forward to revised plan. Drive to Cottonwood on Thursday, the 22nd, have a more leisurely visit with family, and go only as far as Kanab on Friday. We could leave late, arrive early, and be well rested.
Now we get to the oversight. Two things. First, we gassed up in Kanab, not St. George, making Tonapah nearly four hundred miles, instead of three hundred. Secondly, we did Zion in the morning, feeling lots of time, so we stopped often (it was worth it) arriving in St. George at noon. We were then three hours off the original schedule. No red flags, no alarm bells, no hairs on the back of the neck, we pressed obliviously on.
Now let's go to the beginning. We took our time, but got out of Kanab before nine. We got to Zion and the ranger confirmed that it was, indeed, Free National Park Day, so we saved $25 on admission. The road is narrow and twisty, and the scenery is breath-taking (you must look at the photo album when it links-Peggie experimented a lot with the new camera) so we were going slowly and stopping often.

I think that arch is Zion's eye, keeping a watch over the park.

Being a professional animal spotter, I saw the butt end of this bighorn sheep on a rock face as we came around a curve.Luckily, there was a place to get off the pavement. After we got out of the car, he started to move. This is just one of the poses he gave us. Check out the album for more. I looked up on line, and sightings of bighorn are rare in the park, so we felt privileged. All the other cars went by without a clue.
After the big tunnel, we stopped to let the long line of cars go by and got great shots of the cliffs, including this now dry spectacular waterfall. We lunched in St. George and continued on our way. (Cue ominous music)

Here is Peggie at the entrance to the Extraterrestrial Highway. As you can see, many previous travelers have found it necessary to leave their personal marks on it. Shortly after this sign was another that announced "no gas for 150 miles." (increase volume on ominous music) I checked the odometer, did a quick calculation and decided we could make it, if our mpg held at 17 or better. The drive is beautiful if you like wide open spaces. In the one hundred miles of the Extraterrestrial Highway, we counted 16 vehicles going the opposite direction, and one (stopped fixing a flat) in our direction. There were a few free range cows, including a group in the road, but no sign of UFOs. The low gas warning light came on when we had 50 miles to Tonapah. Always before when the light came on I could put 18 gals in. That means there are four gallons remaining, and at 17mpg, we only need three. (cue nervous sweat)
The drive into Tonapah was uneventful other than the wild horses we saw. At the first station we came to, I put 21.456 gallons of gas into my 22 gallon tank. What, me worry?
Now we get to the numbbutts. It is five o'clock and we still have 250 miles to get to the motel we have reserved with no possible refund. Not to mention there are no motels for the first 200 of those miles, anyway. Off we go.

One benefit of driving late was this sunset. We needed to stop and get circulation into our lower extremities, anyway, so why not snap some pictures. These shots are iconic Nevada. One detriment to driving late, is we covered an hour and a half in the dark. What good is traveling when you can't see the landscape? It is 53 miles on I-80 from Battle Mountain to Winnemucca. We passed two slower moving vehicles, but otherwise saw no other cars on our side of the freeway.
I am writing in the morning. I was asleep 30 minutes after checking into the Holiday Inn Express. Today I feel like a rocket surgeon.