We're not in Kansas anymore...

Saturday morning, after a quick breakfast of delicious bagels in a parking lot, we were off to Salt Lake City.  

Cleaning our gross windshield to get the day started

The view leaving Colorado Springs

Mmmm...bagels

Mike Ives, look! 10th Mountain Division in CO

After looking at our maps and the length of time it would take us on varying routes, we elected to go north through Denver, up to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and then over to Salt Lake City.  Unfortunately, we got off to a rough start on the road, getting stuck in HORRIFIC traffic in Denver.  We discovered that it was the result of a four car pile up, and after getting past that, things opened up.  However, later on, while still in Colorado, we saw another accident; a tractor trailer bent in half with a small car crunched.  This one was so bad that traffic on the other side of the highway had been brought to a complete halt, with people outside their cars walking around.  

The view from the passenger seat

Eventually, we took a brief stop in Cheyenne for lunch.  We found a little sandwich shop called the Bread Basket, where we had some soup and some cookies, and quickly hopped back on the road.  

This was nestled in a residential area

From there we spent the rest of daylight climbing mountains and rapidly descending out of them, all while dealing with gusts of wind 35+ mph.  Needless to say it was terrifying.  But, while we were freaked out, it was some of the most beautiful scenery either of us has ever seen in our lives…truly breathtaking.  

We had the opportunity to watch the sunset while on the road, and again, just stunning.  

However, after the sun set, and we got closer to Salt Lake City, things got scarier.  In almost complete darkness/blackness (honestly neither of us knew it could be SO DARK outside), we started coming out of the mountains into Salt Lake City.  The roads were constantly curving, and you had no choice but to keep bombing down them at 75 mph, as all other trucks/cars on the road were going that fast, if not faster.  After some tears (on Amy’s part) and some impressive white knuckle driving from Pat, we safely arrived in Salt Lake, and were warmly welcomed by our friend Cameron at the hotel.  We quickly unloaded the car, changed, and had a late dinner at the Beer Hive.  As we settled in for the night, we made the decision to move our reservation in Reno out a day, and take Sunday to recover/recharge/relax in Salt Lake City.