Through through through, he'll get that train through!

2:44 a.m. Pacific, 3:44 a.m. Mountain

At a Flying J Plaza in Rock Springs WY. Was hoping to get on Wi Fi but it costs $12.50 /mo. When you sign up for a year! Uh no.

Some day, mebbe, when I wake up, I will tell you the tale of mighty DMV, who took that big ol train through the avalanche. Or maybe I’ll tell you the true story of Donnie V., who wrangled big Bertha up and down old highway 30 for hours and hours in the dead of night, braving 2 lane highways, semis, giant pickup trucks, a myriad of animals running hither and thither, changing traffic patterns, road work every where, tunnels, mountains, and even a road closed sign – with a stop light and a nice guy in a escort car that appeared when the light turned green to guide Bertha and her cargo through the off road adventure. What a night.

2:18 p.m. Pacific, 3:18 p.m.

We finished up Wyoming this morning. Stopped at a mom and pop gas station at 7 a.m. that didn’t open until 8. So we chilled out. It gets so much colder at night and in the morning! After filling up, we shot off towards Nebraska. However, we had a bit of a scare when I took over driving and the radio wouldn’t work. Then the blinkers, and the horn and the wipers. Donnie was scared it was the alternator, so we didn’t want to shut off the ignition. We drove around Cheyenne, WY looking for a Midas or something. Decided Cheyenne is not the town for places like Midas. Instead we found Buzz’s Transmission.

Donnie doesn’t think the guy who helped us was Buzz. He was a skinny older dude with a weather-beaten face, thinning hair, wearing overalls and chomping a lit cigar. The two looked under the trunk, played around with a few things, and found that a whole half of the fuse box wasn’t getting power. Finally determined to turn off the ignition and see if she would even start again. Well, not only did she start, the radio and everything else came back on! There apparently is some sort of plug / relay in the steering column and all of our driving off road last night might have unplugged it a little. We’ll hope it holds together enough to get us home (don’t relish the thought of taking the steering wheel off right now.)

Stopped at a Bosselman travel plaza and ate very uninspiring lunch. Donnie had meatloaf sandwich and I had salad bar. Now Donnie’s taking a shower before we take off and I’m gonna try to post my blog from inside the plaza.