Tuttle Creek Kansas with The Qwaaazy 8s - Event Date: 18 Oct. 2019 - 19 Oct. 2019

We knocked off a little early on Saturday and 9 of us  went to an early afternoon at the Texas Longhorn Steak house. That was awesome. Thanks to all that joined us. We wanted to beat the K State football game crowd to the restaurant and get a few miles down the road to home in Northern Utah. It's about 15 hours drive time if you have an uneventful trip. We didn't.

We made it to York Nebraska knocking 3 hours off our drive time, and spent the night there.

We hit the road at 5:30 Utah time (6:30 York time) and had a pleasant drive across Nebraska. About the time we hit the Wyoming border the 40-60 mph wind gusts started hitting us and by the time we got to Cheyenne the snow had started and I80 between Cheyenne and Laramie was closed. 

Google maps said that a 2 lane State road was open that could get us to Laramie, so off we went. The snow was blowing sideways and getting packed on the road as we wound up and down and around the hills of Wyoming. About halfway there we came to a flashing sign saying the road ahead was closed. We pulled over and waited for a while. Finally some cars came through from the other side and some cares went on, so we did too. Wasn't really any worse that what we had already seen and we made it to Laramie. 

I80 from Laramie to Rawlins was also closed most of the way. After sitting around in McDonalds for a wile we found that Google Maps said that we could get on state road 12 and get through.  We figured "what the heck" my pickup has 4wd and moving slow is better than not moving so off we went. 

Stat road 12 passed back and forth under I80 a few times and we could see that there was no traffic on it but it really didn't look that bad. Pretty soon 12 started to get narrower and narrower and at times the blowing snow made visibility only a few feet. Pretty soon the road was no longer marked with a center line. And then the pavement ended. We consulted with our friend Google to make sure we were still on the recommended  route, and we were. We went quite a few more miles on the dirt road, passing under the freeway several more times and over many cattle guards, through herds of cattle and through what seemed like peoples ranch yards. Finally we reached state road 13 that was paved and very slushy and slippery. After a few miles on 13 we came to an on ramp for I80. There was no barrier or closed sign so up we went. 

Sand trucks and plows had been by but there was no other traffic. Very weird traveling down a major freeway on a weekend and not seeing any traffic in either direction. The road was snow packed and sanded so we didn't have any trouble. After Rawlins the road and the weather cleared up and we were able to roll on home at freeway speed. 

The 12 hour trip ended up taking us 16 hours.

Here's a picture at the rest stop after we got out of the worst of it.

Alan, I had an awesome time in Kansas. I really enjoyed the new and different experience. I think I said it on the one muddy waterfall climb, "something is just not right about your dirt." I had to really work for it there, but it was loads of fun.

I also had a great time at dinner and just talking with you and the others that I met. The flat fender community is a pretty awesome brotherhood.

And the blizzard we got to drive through on the way home was just a different type of adventure. 

Stan - glad you got home ok.  I ran into tough weather on I80 through Wyoming last January... I can relate to that.

Jeff has done a great job with his videos showing how it went for the whole group. I put this video together that mostly focuses on me and Grampa's Jeep and how we fared in the unfamiliar terrain of Kansas.

Also liked your Willys pickup. 

Till we meet.