And we're off!

So, 2,800 miles of driving in 3 days is pretty rough! Mike and I left around 9:00 Monday morning, drove through: NH, Mass, Conn (traffic jam near Hartford, bleagh), NY, Penn, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois before stopping for a brief break early Tue morning. We took turns driving and sleeping until 5:30 a.m., pulled over for a nap then moved on out as a bad rain storm was coming in. We hit St. Louis just as rush hour was starting, and to add to the fun we got stuck in traffic again. This time the highway was closed because of an overturned tractor trailer, so it was time for evasive maneuvers! Found a way to get through the city and back to the highway (through a really rundown and abandoned area, kind of depressing), and then it was back to covering some miles. Pushed on through Missouri and Kansas and got a couple of hours into Colorado then stopped for the night for a good rest before attempting to cross the Rockies.

Bright and early Wed morning (6:00 a.m.) it was off on the final leg. Weather was a little iffy, and we started to have snow on the road as we hit higher elevations. The driving was okay, and we made it through the passes with no problem. Down the western side was a little more tricky as it was snowing a bit more, but it wasn't too bad. Snow kept coming until we hit the Utah border, then suddenly stopped and within a half hour we had beautiful sunshine! Kept on trucking, and just for some more adventure we hit another snowstorm as we went through the mountains. It was most unwelcome! Finally, at 8:00 p.m. we arrived in Las Vegas at our friend Mike's place (yes, it's confusing, there are a lot of Mikes)!! Thoroughly exhausted and reeeaaalllyy hoping not to have to sit down ever again.

Thursday we started climbing! My friend Colin met up with us, and Sarah arrived today (Saturday), so we're looking forward to lots of good climbing, hanging out in the sun and just generally enjoying being slackers! :)