In need of a chocolate shake

Some travel data for the day:
Distance traveled today: 698 miles, 11 hours.
Most nerve-wracking moment: torrential rain, near-0 visibility in LA-like highway traffic in Salt Lake City.
Topography: from the high plains of Wyoming to the mountains of northern Utah to the Basin south of Salt Lake City to the desert mountains of southern Utah--astounding varied terrain in 698 miles!
Oddity of the day: a handful of hay hit my windshield as I was driving--I have no idea where it came from.

Every time I got in my car to drive somewhere in St. Louis, no matter the time of day, I marveled at the lack of traffic. There were cars, people out and about, but no traffic. Needless to say, traveling to Illinois, Tennessee, northern Mississippi, Nebraska, Kansas, even driving through Wyoming--no traffic. So what's the deal with Salt Lake City? Traffic. Yes, torrential rain, but the traffic resembled a freeway in LA. I was amazed--and irritated. As we inched our way south, away from the cell that was dumping all of its water on the cars of SLC, I then became amazed at how far SLC seemed to extend (suburban sprawl) and how long it took for the traffic to thin out. About 10 miles south of Provo. After nine hours of driving, and about two more to go, I was feeling a little harried and what appeared on the I-15 at the right moment? DQ. Ah, a chocolate shake to keep me going another 160 miles. Home tomorrow. Still more to come on Cather and John Coltrane...