Day 4 - Monday October 27th - Lincoln - NE to Cheyenne, Wyoming

This is the leg of the trip I figured would be the worst, as it is an old truck route, open to high winds, weather, and long distances between fuel stops.
Yep, I was right!

Highway 80 is a straight shot across. It was a mixture of nice pavement and old concrete road that you bounce along - clack,  clack,  clack... we also had many miles of construction where we were reduced to one lane - more fun being blown around with trucks passing you in the opposite direction in the next lane head on.

The day before in Missouri,  the winds started blowing and we almost got side sipped twice by 18 wheelers, to were I had to take evasive action. We didn't know how high the winds were until we got out of the truck at a gas stop and we nearly blown over. Today was much worse!

Nebraska and south eastern Wyoming are flat. South east Wyoming does not even have trees to block the winds. The warning sign said "Caution High Wind Alert Winds Gusting 35+". A fact, as it turns out. We also passed signs and gates crossing the highway "When Flashing Highway Closed Exit Here". OK it gets that windy on the route to close the highway - why are we not on the southern route?

The speed limit on the route is either 75, or 80. No truck ran over 65, because with the wind it just was not possible. We were all being blown around and it took a lot of concentration to stay at speed an on the road. Luckily, there was not much traffic.

The 450 miles was mostly up hill and combined with the 25 to 35 knot headwinds / side winds the rpm was up at 3,500 all the time and you could watch the gas gauge run down - and this is the stretch with few gas stations. I was stopping at 1/2 tank to fill up to make sure we didn't get stuck out there.

When able, I really got into the county. I can see why people would live out there. I don't know where they shop because there are not any grocery stores anywhere. I think they must know and really depend on each other creating strong community and family bonds.

This is "Big Sky County" and the air was crystal clear. You could see the tops of storms hundreds of miles to the south and snow showers 50 miles to the north.

We pulled into Cheyenne,  which is a huge rail yard, basically. We asked about grocery stores - no there aren't any.

Snow showers in the area and the low tonight is 27 deg.

Driving across country has been an amazing experience for the both of us. It has raised a lot of questions for us to research. It has raised more questions about how we all live than provided answers.

As Rose said, "We are the kind of people that can buy a one way ticket".
As for me, some days I think I have lost my mind, and other days I thank God I have.
This is a great adventure!