Today we made tracks for home. Leaving Cedar City, Utah about 9:30 (MT) we made it all the way to Twin Falls, Idaho.

It wasn’t all driving. We stopped in Provo, UT for a comfort stop, a coffee and some lunch. Interestingly, it was the very same stop we made last year on our way across country. Just happens it was the same exchange off the interstate and we ate at the same burger place and got coffee at the same Starbucks. Nothing special about it, other than it was a convenient stop along the road.

After about an additional hour of time driving about 5 mph on the interstate through Salt Lake City because of an accident involving two semi trucks, we stopped at Hill Air Force Base in north Ogden to visit their excellent museum. We had been there two years ago and enjoyed it so much we decided to stop again since it was only blocks off the interstate and we would be going right by it. Besides, it was a nice place to stretch and take a walk around the museum for an hour before getting back on the road.

Hill AFB is home to one of the static B-17 bombers that have been refurbished and are on display in our country. There are only about 25 of these planes left in existence. After walking the museum and thoroughly scouring the gift shop for new patches or pins for my collections, we decided to go on.

As I watched a film on B-17s in the museum theater while Randy made one last comfort stop, I was shocked when all the lights in the place went out. The film stopped and I could hear all the Japanese tourists gasp. I gasped, too! What could have possibly happened?

I stepped out of the theater and looked out the doors. It was almost black outside. Having heard the weather report last night, I knew this must be the storm with heavy rains and winds that was predicted for this part of the state.

Knowing that I needed one last comfort stop myself before we got in the car to go, I quickly fished out my handy, dandy flash light (which I have carried ever since getting caught in a storm with interrupted electricity while taking night classes at the old St. Edward’s Seminary in 1996) and made my way to the restrooms. Once inside I found three Japanese women who were so thankful I brought a light so they could find the door. They kept saying, “Thank you. Thank you,” and bowed to me several times as they made their way out.

When I got out, I found Randy and we decided to make a dash for the car. There was no rain as yet, and we thought we might be able to get on the road ahead of it. But, as we pulled the doors shut the skies opened and it simply poured. Gusts of wind rocked the car and hail starting hammering on the roof and windows. We decided to stay put and sit there until the cloud burst passed. We could see the freeway from where we were parked and were very glad we had not made it that far. The cars were almost standing still.

About twenty minutes later, the skies brightened, the rain lessened and the hail stopped. So, we carefully made our way, through standing water on the road, to the nearest gas station. After the time it took to fill the gas tank, we felt it was safe to try the interstate. Thankfully, we made it out of town without incident and even though it was still raining, we were headed in the opposite direction of the storm.

We faced almost four more hours of driving before we were going to stop for the night. It continued to rain on and off, but nothing severe and we listened to our audio book “The Irregulars” about the spying exploits of Roald Dahl during the Second World War. It’s quite intriguing and kept us rapt until we hit Twin Falls.

A quick bite at a local fast food joint called “Lemon-fire Grill” and we were ready for rest. Nothing like nature for all the excitement anyone needs while traveling.

It felt like we left home in the middle of summer and are returning home in the middle of fall. Well, today is the first day of Fall, so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. But we’ve had our share of temperature variations this trip. Sure glad I brought a sweat shirt along!