The long drive from Estes Park to Salt Lake City was mostly uneventful. Driving along Highway 34 to Loveland was spectacular. The drive along Highway 287 from Fort Collins to Laramie, not so much. Although the ridges, or “hogbacks” in the foothills north of Fort Collins were colorful and unique, they were no comparison to the descent from the Rockies.

The main problem with I-80 is that it’s a major truck route, so the traffic is heavy. There are numerous rolling hills and long stretches of road with very little to block the wind, which can be dangerously strong at times. Once we crossed the border into Utah, we began to make our way through the scenic Parley’s Canyon, with multiple downgrades of 6 percent.

Named after Parley Pratt, an early settler of the Salt Lake Valley and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who surveyed the area to find a better route through the Wasatch Mountains than the route through Emigration Canyon. Today, Parley’s Canyon serves as the primary route into the Salt Lake Valley, evidenced by the heavy traffic. As we passed the popular resort town of Park City, we couldn’t help but notice the ski jump that had been built for the 2002 Winter Olympics. But soon we headed straight into an intense summer storm, with heavy rain, intense lightning, and localized flooding. Thankfully, drivers had the good sense to slow down, but it was still treacherous driving into Salt Lake City.

The rain delayed arrival at our destination KOA campground by about 40 minutes, and within seconds we received an alert from our tire pressure monitoring system that one of our tires was losing pressure. Sure enough, we had an embedded bolt. We removed the tire (a comedy of errors) and proceeded with setting up for our four-night stay, finally having our dinner at around 8:15 (leftover boeuf Bourguignon never tasted so good).

To say we were lucky is an understatement. Had that tire blown while we were driving through a thunderstorm surrounded by heavy traffic, it would have been a nightmare. As it turns out, we arrived safe and sound, finally able to relax at the end of our “mostly uneventful” day.

A few lessons we learned along the way are worth sharing:

1. Drive friendly. You never know when the trucker you passed on the ascent will pass you again on the descent.
2. Gas prices in the middle of nowhere are generally the highest you’ll encounter.
3. Get a tire pressure monitoring system. Spare no expense. It could save your life.