Monday, the First Travel Day

The day of departure from the Valley of the Sun has arrived.  We had most of our work done and had made no provision to eat this morning, so got up early and went right at it.  While Marg finished the packing and loading chores, got the drains filled with RV antifreeze [it lasts better than water] and put the covers on them & the toilet; shut off some breakers, locked some stuff down and generally got the place ready to be abandoned.  We had a few visitors and said farewell to them this morning with the truck loaded to the max.
  We got away about 7:30 after the farewells on the driveway and made our way to Mediacom to return the TV & wifi hardware.  They open at 8, so we were there about 15or 20 minutes early and I was 5th in line.  Should have known, when dealing with senior citizens if there is an appointed time, many will be early.  Got out of there in pretty good time and stopped at the AJ McDonalds for bacon/eggers and coffee and we were off.
  Took the 202 [which was good] to the 101 [which was bumper to bumper for 3 or 4 miles], then off north on the 17 to the cut-across to Wikenberg.  This gives us a way around the west end traffic in Surprise & those cities out there and saves a lot of time.  The highway is part 2 & part 4 lane, so was pretty busy this AM, but once we get to 40 up around Kingman it's all 4 lane.  Stopped at Kingman for fuel and something to eat [at the same place we stopped at with the Smith family last spring].  We hit a bit of rain at Kingman with cooler weather and later a downpour at Boulder City, both of which were short duration as having the truck I went past a whole passel of small cars.
  Las Vegas was busy, always is on a work day and it was a bit tricky getting our exit on to the I-15.  The exit ramp is a not logical to me, the right hand exit should be for north bound traffic, but it is the next one to the left of it.  We encountered road works in the Virgin River gorge that slowed everyone to about 50 for 4 or 5 miles.The roads there were bare & dry, so we made good time all the way to St George, where we stopped for a Mc something and fuelled up.  The weather was warm [22C] & sunny so we felt good in our shorts after all.  The traffic was fairly light after that and we made good time with the 80 mph [130 kmph] speed limit.  About 2 hours north we ran in to heavy rain that turned into snow on the summit at Panguitch.  This frequently happens at elevations above 5,000 ft.  Traffic really slowed in an area where there was a 3 car wreck with vehicles on both sides of the northbound lanes.  The rain was so heavy cars had slowed right down so again in the truck we passed many, even though we were only doing about 45 mph.  They sped up when they could follow my trails in the water on the road.  The rain lessened on the downward slope and the road was again dry in the valley, so it was back up to the max.  Believe it or not I saw several cars pulled over for speeding.
  Made it to Provo, Utah, so 655 miles today, about 11 hours on the road.  The math doesn't work because of the fuel & bathroom stops, well getting something to eat as well.  Traffic was light coming into Provo, a bonus that we will not have tomorrow morning where we will leave in rush hour traffic.
  Went out for supper to the Olive Garden.  It was very nice and we had a most pleasant young lady as our waitress.  I thought Marg deserved a decent meal after a long day like we had.  After supper, I stopped and fueled the truck, one less delay in the morning.  It was the cheapest fuel I have seen in a long time, just under $2 per gallon, so it was better than Az.
  Marg took some pictures with her ipad, so you may find some on there after she gets out of the shower.  Got to go, it's time for a Scotch, got too much to take over the border.  LOL  Weather looks pretty good for tomorrow, but stay tuned.