DAY TWENTY FOUR

TONOPAH, NV - SALT LAKE CITY, UT

LEFT TONOPAH: 10AM, ARRIVED SALT LAKE CITY: 11PM

Well, today did not go exactly as planned. I had been warned before leaving on this trip to stay flexible, and accept that some things were going to go wrong, and just yesterday I remarked how I couldn't believe how well everything was going. We had planned to drive to Moab, UT today to see Arches National Park, and then continue on from there to Colorado. Today, after stopping for lunch, our check engine light came on, and with good sense (I said let's just keep driving) Kenny decided to turn around back to the town we were just in to run a diagnostics test. The mechanic said he had never seen the code that showed up, and didn't know what to do about it and turned the light off for us. We started driving back on our planned route, but stopped again when the check engine light turned back on. After talking to Kenny's brother in law, we decided that this was a problem that really needed taking care of and we routed the nearest Acura specialist. Unfortunately, that was four hours away in Salt Lake City. Our problem is that we're unable to accelerate past a certain rpm, which can cause serious problems if we let it go. We called the Acura dealer and set up an appointment for tomorrow, which will take all day. He was unable to give us an estimate, saying it could cost anywhere from $125 to $1000+ If it's on the higher end, I may need to add a donation box to this blog! (just kidding, but fingers crossed for the low end... seriously.)

We started out the day checking out Tonopah where we slept which is actually a very weird little town. They are the town that reported the UFO sightings years ago, and about half of the old mining town is deserted, and the other half is just kind of creepy. 

Kenny was very excited about driving on "The Loneliest Road in America," which we had to take an even lonelier road to get to. 

this road was pretty lonely... especially for Kenny because I was asleep

This is the park of the country where it is pertinent to fill up on gas every single time you see a gas station, because the next one could be at least 100 miles away. This drive, which didn't offer much in the way of sights besides a few ranches and mountains, took us about 4 hours to complete. We stopped in Ely, NV - the most populated town along the route at about 6000 people, and ate at McDonalds. 

We're in white pick up truck territory yall

This is where the Automobile Fiasco of 2013 happened... and we started driving to Salt Lake City instead.

This took another 4 hours, but luckily once we got into the Utah the drive became much more interesting and beautiful! 

You can see the white salt flats on either side of the high way

The sky here was a pretty pale blue and pink color, over salt flats, which I had never seen before, and mountain ranges in the background. We eventually got to Salt Lake and checked into a motel. Tomorrow, we're going to have to drop the car off at the dealer, and spend the day walking around downtown Salt Lake. We weren't planning on it, but I am looking forward to checking out this beautiful city, and hoping for good news!