We’re halfway through Montana when we find out that i80 has reopened. Glad we headed north instead.

Got the wiring fixed this morning (Tuesday) before we departed, so it’s now charging. That’s good.

But now it’s not maintaining as much voltage as I’d expect with two house batteries. Maybe one’s bad and needs replacement. I’ll worry about it later.

Also noticed the left tire is unevenly worn. Badly. I put the new “spare” on service.

The bigger problem is, well, my ears. This flu-caused congestion isn’t clearing and we’ve been up and down from 7000 down now to 2500 ft…and the pressure is rather bad. So bad that when we stopped at Smelterville, ID to overnight, I had trouble seeing, my hearing dropped to almost nothing and now I’ve some real concerns about rupturing an eardrum if we descend much further. Oh, and now a possibility of an ear infection, too.

If the purpose of this trip were for any other reason, I’d have canceled it, but it’s significant enough to that I’m going to push through for Daisy to see her little brother.

We were on our way down i80 in Wyoming just past Laramie on Monday … and red lights started flashing ahead: I80 is closed.

A couple checks of weather and news and there was a pretty large pileup, a hazmat burn, and all routes through southern Wyoming are now blocked.

So, we headed back toward Cheyenne to go the northern route.

The flu holds on: I’m all kinds of stuffed up now. My ears seem to be stuck at 6000ft.

Found out UPGRAYEDD isn’t charging the trailer. No idea how long it’s been that way as I’ve honestly never checked. Only noticed when I turned on the house lights and they dimmed noticeably when the water pump ran.

We overnight in Sheridan and pick up some parts to run an electrical bypass.

The driver (me) has the flu and needed the extra day to get some strength back.