UPDATE: Tolls and Tolls and Tolls … A third of I-90 is now Tolls.  I can definitely NOT recommend driving I-90.  I didn’t realize just how many Toll booths have been added in illinois alone.

With the car packed with paintings and we left this afternoon bound for Seattle.  Our plan is to take I-90 and our hope is to make it over the Rockies at the Montana/Idaho border on Sunday when the weather is supposed to be good. Otherwise, the forecast is snow before Sunday and after Monday. It is midnight now.  We should be in Madison, Wi by about 9am Eastern time and will be somewhere in Rapid City, South Dakota, by the time we sleep tomorrow night.

If you tried to access eWillys this evening (Tuesday), you likely reached an error screen.  I believe my google xml sitemap plugin was causing problems, so I am hoping removing it has fixed the problem.  I also removed the mapping program in hopes that will also reduce the heavy resource demands of the site.  Hopefully these changes will fix the problem.

Thanks, Dave

Updates Sat AM

Due to the snow along I-80 yesterday we decided to travel northward from Omaha to Washington along I-90.  I mentioned to Ann I had never seen Mt. Rushmore and she said that I have to see it.  So, this morning I will be ‘investigating’ the Rapid City, South Dakota, area for any jeeps.  I will push my investigation as far south as Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, so dedicated I am.  Later today when we get back on the road for the remaining 14 hour drive, I will report on my success (or failure).

I had hoped to do updates tonight, but after a busy and successful day in Denver, I am wiped.  I will do updates tomorrow on the road as we head back to Nebraska.  We hope to make it to Omaha before the snow storm descends upon us.

I did want to thank James for inviting Ann and I to see his project (pictures tomorrow).  I also wanted to thank Guy for his invitation to tour the Pikes Peak International Raceway, which I will have to delay until my next visit to Colorado Springs.

Here are a couple pics from Casa Bonita, which is a fun tourist trap in Denver.  We had a great time.  The first pic is Ann and I and the second one is me doing the Mamba (strangely, I was the only adult doing the Mamba …).  We have pics of the cliff divers, but they came out a bit too dark.

No pics provided.

“1949 Willys. Ready to be restored. Have Title. $1000.00 OBO. Please call (208) 437-2780 with questions.”

http://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/2664631644.html

After a couple days in Omaha, we are cruising to Colorado Springs for the weekend to visit my Ann’s friends.  The weather so far has been perfect, with beautiful blue skies.  We have only had two near misses (cars switching lanes into us — you’d think a bright red mustang would be easy to see against the endless brown fields, but, nope, some drivers just seem intent on making our drive that much more interesting).  I had my first Runza while in Omaha, which is a lot like a Russian Piroshki, but not deep fried.  It won’t be my last.

Thankfully, the mobile broadband is functioning beautifully, hence the updates this afternoon. On Monday we will be in Denver for two meetings I have, then on Tuesday we head back to Omaha.

UPDATE:  Thanks everyone!

Brian asked me if I knew when CJ-5s switched to 12 volts.  I couldn’t find the answer online, so I was hoping someone might know?  He has a 1956 that is 6 volts.

I ran out of steam tonight …

I’m pushing to finish another draft of my book tonight .. so it might be sunday before any updates are posted.