Dobbs' Desert Trek 2010

It's official. The $40 I saved last night on the hotel room was NOT worth it. Too bad. I probably slept more in  the car today than I did last night in the hotel. To think I used to be able to make it on a two week wilderness trip sleeping on the ground or on the floor of the bus along the way. I'm a wimp now.


When we stepped out of the car at the first rest stop of the day, we knew we were back to business as usual. The humidity was like a wall, the air thick. Dry heat is as real as wind chill, don't let anyone tell you differently! A storm brewed up to our south and for a while we considered stopping early to avoid the walnut size hail that was supposedly ahead of us, but decided to make a run for it. Hey, if the motorcyclists in shirt sleeves could make it, we could, right? In the end we beat the storm to Salina, Kansas - but the high winds were no fun to drive in, even with our relatively low profile Altima.

And speaking of our car - either I have had a few too may cheeseburgers on this trip or we really did do some damage to that poor car on that "road" in Monument Valley. We keep bottoming out on parking lot entries - I think the poor Altima is going to the shop when we get back. Good thing we didn't buy any souvenirs on this trip. I think the damage to our suspension might be our souvenir.

Tomorrow is either "steely determination to make it all the way home" or "get to St Louis and collapse." We'll see how we feel at St. Louis! Ready to be home and in our own beds. When I was growing up, going to a hotel was such a treat! But now that I'm paying the bill, either I go cheap and the room is not as nice as home, or I pay a lot of money and the room is gorgeous . . . but then I feel guilty about the money spent. Being grown up is overrated.