Odometer: 15,135

At 7:00 we decide to start packing and get ready. Just after 10, the apartment looks decent enough to leave, two suitcases are packed with heavy shoes, warm cloths and shorts and t-shirts to be ready for all weather conditions, the camera equipment (another 3 bags), plus computers, food and drinks – the car is full!
We take a short detour to Costco to get gas and an ice cream for both of us, then we head north first on HWY I-15, then I-215 our goal for today is St. George (464 miles), about 8.50 hours!
The further away we get from the coast the hotter and dryer it gets. We pass Mojave Desert, where the thermometer reaches 108 Fahrenheit (42 Celsius). After 4 hours and 15 minutes we cruise through in Las Vegas. We don’t stop but look at all these big hotels from the Highway.

While Marco is driving I’m using the time to work on my mobile office (laptop) – I even have power from our “fully loaded” 4Runner! – the only thing missing is the Internet, but there are still a lot of things that can be done and emails that can be prepared and will go out at the Hotel in the evening.

At around 6pm (after not even 7 hours (with only one short stop to get gas) we arrive in St. George – sooner than predicted by the navigation system. We have dinner at the Chuck-A-Rama Buffet and then, with the help of the waitress, drive straight to the same hotel we were last year. Believe it or not, but when we walk into the office of the Howard Johnson, the guy immediately says: “you have been here before, have you?”

Our plan is to drive up to Yellowstone as fast as possible, the weather forecast is excellent until next Monday, during the days warm and sunny, during the nights it’s already quite cold though (that’s why we have our warm clothes). Where our trips will take us from there? Keep reading – we don’t know yet either!