Packing the trailer in the rain was bad enough, but just before sunrise, the automatic sprinkler system kicked in to water the lawn, and make our morning even wetter. But by 8:00 a.m. we were on the road and despite the discomfort of wet clothes, we were excited to begin our trip.

Just a few miles down the road, we just missed hitting our first obstacle of the trip - a large chunk of wood about the size of a railroad tie lying in the middle of the highway. We were fortunate to have avoided a nasty accident. But just minutes later, a bird was not so lucky: It flying directly into the grill of the car and then bounced off the windshield before it met its untimely death. It was as if the state of Utah were trying to keep us from leaving. And looking back on it now, it seems as if these incidents were omens of what we would face in the next several days.

We soon reached Wyoming, where the welcome sign read "Like No Place on Earth." We would soon learn that truer words have never been spoken. As we continued east on Interstate 80, I spotted a car that had a bit of snow on its hood and windshield. Trisha, who didn't see the car, found it hard to believe that any place except the highest mountains could have snow on the first day of autumn. If only we had just turned back then…