Loving the 80 mph speed limits today

Highway memorial

Our stay in Wendover, Utah was brief and the Quality Inn was a little disappointing, but the room was clean so we made do.

It would help the image of a hotel to clean up the grounds around the outside so that the first thing you see isn’t a bunch of empty booze bottles in the landscaping.

We ate dinner at the Montego Bay Casino and Hotel and of course, we spent just a short time paying reparations to the Native Americans before turning in early after a long day’s drive.

Lincoln monument

Morning broke with no rain, but that would change later. We departed Wendover and made the boring drive over the Bonneville Flats to Salt Lake City. I remember this stretch as a young man and it seemed shorter, which is probably due to the new speed limit which is 80 mph.

In fact, most of Utah and part of Wyoming has the 80 mph speed limit which makes traveling very enjoyable and quick.

There was plenty of snow in the mountains around Salt Lake City and later through Wyoming, but the roads were clear, but we did run into the rain again for several hours on Saturday.

Albany Restaurant

Having done this trip several times we decided to make a stop at the Lincoln Highway monument in Wyoming. We usually drive by, but have often noticed the statue of Abraham Lincoln up on the hill as we sped by. (Besides, Joan really needed to use the rest room there).

Joan at the train depot

It turned out to be an interesting stop as there is a marker designating this location as the highest elevation on I-80 from coast to coast and a memorial marker for a man who foresaw and pursued the dream of a coast to coast freeway.

Our XM radio kept us entertained with comedy, music and radio classic programs and we arrived into Cheyenne ready for some food.

Joan and a big boot

It is fun to find local restaurants to eat in, so we searched the Internet and found a downtown restaurant called the Albany Restaurant which has been in the same family since 1942. It is located in a vintage building across from the 130-year-old railroad depot.

We had a nice dinner for a reasonable price and then spent a few minutes walking around downtown before heading back to our Quality Inn, which fortunately had no booze bottles littering the grounds. Temperatures today ranged from 57 degrees at the start to the  low of 44 at the end in Cheyenne.

Mileage out: 102746

Time out: 8:39 a.m. (Mountain Daylight Time)

Mileage in: 103307

Time in: 4:24 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time)