Camping Out West...Days 82, 83, 84...Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, September 6, 7, 8, 2010

Not much to talk about here. Monday's drive from Park City to Grand Island, Nebraska is uneventful...a pretty drive out of Utah, across southern Wyoming, and into Nebraska. I'm hoping to find a good steak restaurant (as Nebraska is known for great beef), but it's Labor Day, and most places are closed for the holiday. So...it's a Days Inn located next to an Applebees in Grand Island.
Tuesday morning, I'm up early and on the road. Around 11:00AM, I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska and heading to a place called Misty's for lunch. I've eaten at Misty's several times before (both locations), and I can say without hesitation that they serve the best Prime Rib that I have ever had. By 11:30, I'm digging into the medium cut, served rare, plus with a baked potato and a glass of Cab. It's every bit as wonderful as I remembered. Around 6:00PM, I'm in Davenport Iowa...a Microtel next to a TGI Friday's. A few cocktails, a light dinner (I'm still stuffed from lunch), and I'm done for the night.
Another early start on Wednesday...across Illinois, into Indiana, and then, Michigan at last. At around 4:00PM, I pull into my driveway...home at last.

Camping Out West...Day 81...Sunday, September 5, 2010...Homeward Bound

The sun is just barely peeking up from behind the mountains when I wake up. A quick (and last) trip to the Porta-Johns and a much-needed large black coffee...and I'm ready to roll out.
I'm patting myself on the back for having the foresight to leave a day early...I'm going to beat the crowds and make a quick getaway. Turning left on the Inner Ring, I head out to the left, then a right, and now I'm heading straight for the exit. That's when I notice that several thousand other people have also decided to leave a day early...I am not beating the crowds, I am in the middle of the crowd.
Still, things are well-organized (six lanes), people are courteous about merging (as expected)...and, then, I'm back on Nevada 447 heading south to Interstate 80. There are a few nasty accidents along the way...a car flipped over, a motor home split in half...it's contents strewn about the highway. When I get to Wadsworth, there's a place to dump my trash...carefully collected over the last week. I gas up and head east on 80...heading home.
It's a pretty drive across Nevada...a desert landscape and lots of mountains. When hit the Utah border, it's pretty flat...I'm driving through the Bonneville Salt Flats.
I'm figuring that Salt Lake City will have the hotel/restaurant combo that I always look for on the way home...a Days Inn (or similar) next to an Applebee's (or similar. I check in, walk over to the restaurant, have cocktails/dinner/more cocktails at the bar, head back to the hotel and sleep...all very convenient. It's dusk when hit Salt Lake City, but I'm not having any luck finding my "combo"...in fact, I'm having trouble just finding a hotel. Before I know it, I'm all the way through Salt Lake and back in the desert. It's not until get to Park City that I finally locate a Best Western...right next to a Chili's...perfect.
I check in, head for Chili's...and...a few cold (3.2) beers later, I'm feeling relaxed. After two small plates of appetizers and several more beers, I'm ready to call it a night.