I’m sitting in a pre-dawn Diner in Green River, Wyoming eating an omelette waiting for a little daylight before I hit the road again. Yesterday I left home in Mom’s old Mercedes heading east. The eastern two-thirds of Oregon is all US20, which is a two-lane 55MPH highway that traverses the northern edge of the Great Basin, before going up and over into the Malheur River canyon to Ontario, Oregon where it meets the superslab of I-84. It’s a fun road for high-speed dashes, but honestly after my deer encounter in the BluBaru a few weeks ago I’m being cautious with this car and ride the speed limit. I know that once I hit the Interstate it will all be 80MPH speed limits until I hit Nebraska a thousand miles east.
The rest of the day is riding this car’s exceptional “Distronic” Cruise Control on the Autobahn through Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Some traffic through Boise and Ogden, but otherwise just me and the big trucks. I take advantage of the new Costco in Nampa, Idaho to fill up the tank. But otherwise only stop for potty breaks (including two at those empty “Ranch Exit – NO SERVICES” exits one finds out here in the west.
I have driven these roads many many times since the mid-80s so I am very familiar with their character in every season. I know that once past Rock Springs there is a many hundred miles of nothing so book a room in Green River before sundown and sleep a good nine hours.
