Day VIII

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Caity: Upon waking up this morning and exploring the luxury of the mini in-room coffee pot, I hurried downstairs (or glass elevator, really) to the craps table. Joke. I couldn’t wait to get up & out of there… though, Reece & I did take advantage of the breakfast buffet for half price….and, much to the vexation of the omelet-lady, I enjoyed a tasty egg-white concoction including tomatoes, spinach and cheese. Reece & I attempted to thug a few extra tasty items for later, however, selection was limited since our route was taking us straight across the deserts of Nevada…the apples proved to be rather mealy and corn flakes are, after all…Kellogg’s…(though those mini boxes that you can turn into bowls are rather cute)

Before hitting the road, we juiced up the wrangler, and, decided it was an appropriate time to change her oil, as we were numbering about 2800 miles for the trip and about to enter the land of tumbleweeds & sand. While waiting for the mechanic to return back to his post (at the only auto-shop in town) Reece & I made a little friend- a baby bird, who, in his attempt to fly (or maybe his mother’s attempt to make him) fell from the roof over the pumps and onto the ground at our feet. We spent the next half hour watching him hop about, chirp, and interact with some adult birds…Maybe it was the heat & blazing sun already going to our heads, but I remember us coming up with some hysterical dialogue to fit the scene….
After thanking Juan for the oil change and shelling out a steep $30, we were back on the road. Wind in hair. Country jams blaring. Life was good…. Hundreds of miles along route 80 in Nevada, however, are not. Following a similar path but towards the south, route 50, a highway notorious among truckers has the distinction of being known as “the lonlinest highway in America”. I however, must maintain that route 80 is at least equally as lonely. Every so often we had the pleasure of passing a trucker or biker gang (what, exactly, do these guys do out in the desert?)….a train passing was cause for celebration. The monotony of the desert hills, blaring sun and harsh prickly plants made my eyes droop with fatigue…. As in all hard times in life, positive thoughts and hopes of the coming future are what often helps us prevail. I mentioned previously that one of my desires for the trip had been to visit a cave. Another thing I hoped for was to see a tumbleweed blow across the highway. Crazy? Not at all! There are many reasons to respect and revere the tumbleweed and I wanted to see one in action! The dramatic symbolism of isolation and abandonment…..the representation of the old west; the colonization westward….manifest destiny…the amazing ecological niche it has & the gusto with which it spreads its seeds. In the desert of Nevada I cannot think of a more effective method of seed dispersal than taking advantage of the strong, gusty wind and flat land by rolling around. Too bad there are so many range fences. I had had my eyes peeled for tumbleweed since Kansas….Reece claims he saw one in Colorado while I was asleep (I might believe him…)…but here I am….4 states into plains and still not a single tumbleweed. I was getting discouraged….California was nearing with every mile and we would not be traveling in any desertous area there. Were my hopes of tumbleweed glory going to go unanswered?
Reece & I pulled off the highway at a designated ‘rest stop’ area (I had to pee). To our right we noticed a sign boasting “truck stop” & “open”. The truck stop, open or otherwise, lay in a crumpled heap of rubble on the sandy ground. I hopped out of the car to snap a few photos of the dilapidation & Reece asked me to take what had become the classic “artsy shot” of the vegetation. Then, I noticed it….a cute helpless little tumbleweed trapped in the barbed-wire fence! I sprung into action & freed my prickly friend. Reece snapped my photo with the little guy & then I set him free, watching him roll away into the horizon… Maybe I didn’t get to see a tumbleweed blow across the highway cowboy movie style, but even better, I got to get up close and personal with one myself. I was a happy girl.
The rest of the afternoon proved uneventful. We made a quick stop in Reno, “The Biggest Little City in the World”, snapped a few photos in the casinos, and did a bit of “car-seat tourism”. I had had enough of gambling…
As we headed towards Lake Tahoe (California side) I was both excited and nervous. I was pumped for the beauty & majesty that I had heard of the lake from friends, particularly my former colleague Blake that, at any prompting would rave about his “favorite place in the world”. The nervous side was that which I couldn’t control….I had been to Cali (LA) once, as a young child, and here I was….headed towards the state which held our final destination, and, the place which, despite having never visited, I would call home for the next 7 months. Crossing the border into California, the sun was, appropriately, shining and route 80 redeemed itself. The Sierra Nevada Mountains rose of either side of the road, and an icy cascading river flowed between. We reached Lake Tahoe (beautiful as everyone said) and due to a navigational error by Reece (finally not my fault!) ended up back in Nevada. Whoops. No matter though, the drive was lovely and I was happy to see it all again as we turned around and headed back to the California side…We decided to bag the driving once we found a quaint little campground outside Tahoe City, the William Kent. The cutest little forest ranger ever (I wanted to adopt him as an additional grandpa) checked us in & we set up at site number 4; complete with a shading of towering pines, huge bear box (I could fit inside), and fire ring. Reece was particularly excited to have a fire ring, as, much to his disappointment, in most nationally protected areas backcountry fires are not permitted, an activity which, like most, he associated with camping. We found a lovely diversion on the swing set in the neighboring park, collected some firewood (pine burns WAY too fast), and picked up some dinner (soup). The fire was really key to providing comfort that night as the air grew quite chilly…the weather forecast checked on my phone predicted lows in the 30s, and Lake Tahoe did not disappoint.

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