Road Trip!

One of the things that went under the microscope in a big way after my Inconvenient Truth Oscar Win epiphany was my travel plans for the year. Up until that point, and even that night, I'd planned on flying to Ft. Lauderdale to take a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas for my big vacation this year.

That's been shelved. I can hardly get a train to Ft. Lauderdale, as the Amtrak route through the south was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and hasn't been re-opened.

I'm now splitting that vacation into two road trips, the first of which happens this weekend. I'm splitting the drive to Las Vegas with a friend. She'll be making the pilgrimage home to visit her mom, I'm going to a spiritual growth conference. I'm hoping this will be the trip I get to stop at all the scenic overlooks... and that sitting there for a bit will be as wonderful as sitting on slickrock watching the sun set in Moab was.

We decided to look at renting a car for the trip... her beetle gets 40 mpg, but needs repairs. My 17,000 mile Subaru only gets 22 mpg and is a stick shift. I looked around to find a place that did green car rentals and was surprised to find they're not available. I can't get a rental agency to commit to renting me a Honda Civic, let alone a Honda Civic Hybrid, a Mini, a diesel Golf, or a Prius. I can rent a U-Haul truck at 7 mpg at the drop of a hat, but a Smart car? Fuggedaboudit.

Anyway. If you know any good local restaurants or natural food stores along I-70 or I-15, let me know in the comments.