2023 CDT - Day 17 - Running down the road

Running for home I am.

Sunday was the last day of a long Fourth of July holiday week. It dawned on me just past Ellensburg on I-90. I had the trailer all ready and hooked up to the truck. I was up about 0530, ate a banana and then moved the trailer over to an "over flow" section of the KOA. I was going to leave it here while I ran back to Seattle for my appointment on Wednesday to save on fuel and time. I had initially planned to go into town for a Starbucks coffee even though it would be a bit out of the way. Instead I just jumped on the freeway and did the 80 MPH speed limit and would pull off in Missoula for fuel and Starbucks there. Beau was completely happy dozing in the back seat and having a couple of walks at rest area. They are great for him as they have concentrated smells in a small area.

I had been making great time and my last planned fuel stop along the way was in Ellensburg. I jumped back on the freeway ready to do the 70 MPH the rest of the way home but that wasn't the way it went. It was pretty much just a creep all the way to Easton. The slow down added over an hour to the time left to get home and apparently for no apparent reason except for just a lot of cars. Finally home Beau enjoyed a walk on his home street and then I got on with many of the chores I had planned for the time I would be home. It was nice to be home but I felt rushed to get a lot of things done. The weeds had exploded in the garden, the truck needed a good bath in a bad way. The front end was covered with smashed bugs, the undercarriage was still carrying a lot of mud from BannAck Pass, and I was told in Leadore that they salt the roads in parts of Idaho. I had seen a lot of trucks that still looked new from a distance but a closer look showed corrosion all over the body and under the fender wells. Not on my truck!

I started fading before I got much done and I was getting hungry. I'm sure Beau was getting hungry as well. I made myself stop all the activity, had a shower, scrounged something up out of the freezer, and then the power went out. I resorted to a salad, skipped the shower, checked on Runningbird's whereabouts, then got into bed with my book. It was a long day and I was done with it.