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I’m baaaaaaack!!!

I knew something was up a few weeks ago when Ms. Mar and Mr. C were hustling and bustling about the house. When I heard the words “road trip” I got all excited and started packing my things. I’ve never been on a road trip before.

So dark and early one Saturday morning we hit the road. Stopping for coffee to sustain us along the way, we headed out. First stop was to pick up Mike and Diane and then start the long drive. I didn’t know where we were going but I was excited . . . this was going to be fun!!! As the sky started to turn light, I could see a mist rising from the cold ground. It was going to be a beautiful day.

The scenery didn’t change much the entire 16 HOURS in the car. We drove along loooooong straight roads through rolling hills and lots and lots of sagebrush. It made me think of all the movies I’ve seen about the wild, wild west. I could just imagine the pioneers riding through the desert with their horses and wagons.

It must have been a difficult journey. I didn’t too many houses out there so there must not be a lot of people who want to live among the sagebrush fields.

After about 6 hours in the car, we crossed over into Nevada in the small town of McDermitt (originally known as Dugout).

The town began as a calvary station during a time of tension between the region’s native American Indian tribes and new settlers. Fort McDermitt was about 5 miles from the town and the town later adopted the name. There’s nothing much there but a casino, bar, gas station/grocery store which support the area’s ranchers and farmers. According to Wikipedia, the state line between Oregon and Nevada goes through the White Horse Inn, which is a historical landmark now being restored. It was a saloon, hotel, and (reportedly) a brothel. We were all a bit tired from sitting for so long that it felt good to get out and stretch a bit.

About an hour from McDermitt we arrived at the metropolis of Winnemucca, Nevada.
We stayed just long enough to have lunch and stock up on supplies to make margaritas. After sitting in the car for so long, I think everyone was looking forward to the first margarita.

The rest of the ride was a bit of a blur. Desert, sage, hills. . .desert, sage, hl’s. We spent hours on the Great Basin Highway . . . about 400 miles. It is a very stark and bare place, but very beautiful too. Too bad I slept through most of it.

It was dark when we stopped in Ely, NV for dinner and everyone was getting a bit punchy and tired by then. I went back to sleep and was just starting a nice dream when I heard a big yell “ELK!!!” from the front seat. A big, bull elk had wandered out onto the road and we just avoided hitting it. That woke everyone up for the rest of the trip.

We finally arrived at our destination, St. George, Utah, around 11:30 p.m. It was a long, long day sitting in a car and none of us even wanted to think about the drive back in a week. What we needed right then was a good night’s sleep to get ready for the week ahead.

I know reading all these links can get tiring, but it is informative in a nerdy way. My next post I will display some photos to show how beautiful this place is.

Aloha til next week,

Tux