Day 17 and 18 Rest day in Moab, Utah

COMPETITION: As we take our rest day in Moab, we maintain our third place in Class and eighth place Overall. We had a horrible scoring day on Day 17, accumulating 26 penalty points and a good day on Day 18. All in all, we maintained our place, but the 4th and 5th place cars are gaining on us.

OBSERVATIONS: As we head south the weather is warming. Mornings can be cool (especially on early starts at 7am), but by noon everyone is in short sleeves and most in short pants.

The forests of pine trees have given way to high desert scenery. Two days ago, we saw a herd (10-15) of Antelopes; beautiful and graceful animals. Yesterday, we saw a couple of deer grazing alongside the highway.

Before leaving Wyoming, we went through the small town of Kemmere. It was here in 1902 that James Cash Penney (great name), opened his first JC Penney store. In recent years, the company has almost disappeared from malls and shopping centers following a bankruptcy. But if you were of a certain age (and I am), a JC Penney store was “the” store for middle-class families to buy dry goods. Every late summer, my mom would march me and my sister into JC Penney for back-to-school clothing…..shoes, pants, jackets, sweaters, etc. In any event, the Mother Store of JC Penney still exists in Kemmerer and we drove by it….very nostalgic.

As we left Wyoming and entered Utah, the geography changed again. Millions of years ago, rock formations were pushed up and rivers carved great valleys between rock formations. Yesterday, we drove through (and had a Regularity in) the Buckhorn Draw surrounded by massive rock formations. These were colored reds, oranges, and brown. Hard to put in words the spectacular views. I think the Europeans on the rally were really impressed by the beauty.

On today’s rest day, Brant gave our car a bath and a little cleaning. Many competitors are working hard on mechanical fixes for their cars. Most everybody will take an afternoon nap…as we push off tomorrow morning for Arizona and ultimately Tucson.

A storm is coming.

Cooorsdo st Moab

 

 

  

Your trusted reporter at rest 

Piedmont Kilns. Used to make charcoal
which in turn was used for making steel.

Dinner in Jackson Hole was at the
Gun Barrel Steak and Game Restaurant.

I didn’t see this beauty, but one of the other competitors did

JCPenney Puts Its Original 1902 Store In Kemmerer, Wyoming Up For Auction