The Road East

Day 3 dawned this morning with clear beautiful blue skies and we were on the road to our retirement by 8:00 a.m.  And our first stop is what I’m going to label as step 4 on my 12-step retirement program.  Treat yourself to something yummy for breakfast, even though you know it’s really not good for you, because sometimes it’s just fun – and yummy – to do so.

Step 4:  Treat yourself to something yummy for breakfast.

And be sure to get the one with sprinkles because sprinkles make everything better.

If I were to define today’s drive I would use the word, monochromatic – containing or using only 1 color.  Yep.  That pretty much describes the drive across Wyoming along Hwy 80.  And this is the 2nd time we’ve made the drive.  There are occasional landscape highlights, but for the most part there’s just not a lot going on.  The most amusing moments for us were the, “Oh yeah, I remember being here!” as we zoomed by.

The speed limit out there in nowhere land is either 75 mph or 80 mph.  We learned though that we cannot set the cruise control higher than 70 mph and Big Betty actually won’t go faster than 75 mph, which is probably not a bad thing.

Monochromatic landscape across Wyoming

Step 5:  Do something really big right away.

I think when you’re ready to retire, ya gotta shake it up right away. Do something really big, even if you circle back to your starting point. Our something really big is moving to the east coast.  We went back and forth about taking on this drive but in the end we decided it was the perfect way to decompress from the sale of the inn.  And since neither one of us has ever lived on the east coast, we think it definitely qualifies as really big.

And, it’s working.  Today on the road we were at peace and the monochromatic landscape was calming in a way.  But this is not a sight seeing journey for us – other than the obvious sights we see from the cab windows – rather it is a marathon drive from coast to coast because we only have the truck for a total of 12 days from pick up to return.  And driving Big Betty is not exactly conducive to anything beyond highway driving.  But that doesn’t matter.  We are together.  We are happy.  And by the time we reach Washington, D.C., we’ll be ready to start the next chapter.  Actually, I guess we already have!

Big Betty parked for the night

Day 3:  470 miles.  42 gallons of gas

Travel Tip:

Tonight’s accommodations are brought to you by The Hampton Inn in Sidney, NE, at a rate of $40 and 8,000 points.  Our American Express card is associated with the Hilton Honors points program and we bank our points for travel.  With a little bit of research, the deals are there to be found.

 To view more photos from The Road East, head over to the blog’s Facebook page.

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