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Somewhere in Nebraska
Somewhere in Nebraska. I thought this was a joke. It wasn't. The title says it all. After stopping at the Whole Foods Market in Charlottesville to stock up on food, I took the I-64 route through West Virginia. Being springtime, it was very scenic. Though, the steep grades and tight curves pushed the limits of my trailer setup. After West Virginia came Kentucky, where I thought I was going to get jacked at the gas station by some unsavory types, and then Indiana. Indiana was the first night in the truck. This was where I learned my first lesson in finding places to park overnight- do it when it's still light out. After some fruitless searching for a spot I could be confident about, I rolled into some strange town called Santa Claus. It was hard to see much in the dark, but it is obviously some kind of themed town, complete with red street signs. I pulled up to a campground/rv park associated with what appeared to be their christmas themed amusement park. The whole place was more or less deserted, this not evidently being their high season. The attendant informed me that the sites were $29 per night, and I of course balked, since I only needed a spot to
Driving through Wyoming
The Uinta Range from I-80, in Wyoming. park my truck. He generously suggested that I park in the employee parking lot but that I must leave by 6:30am since the general manager arrives at 7am. I called it a night and gratefully complied at 6:30am the next morning.
The next states were Illinois and then Missouri. Now, I had a crick in my neck from before I left (from weightlifting) that had been bothering me but now it was really hurting. While I was driving through Missouri, and in some degree of agony, I spotted the most coincidental billboard stating, "Got Pain? Come see Dr Joe D.C., walk-ins welcome, Next Exit". I didn't catch the rest of the directions in time but with the help of my Droid's GPS I was soon in the chiropractic care of Dr Joe. He performed some adjustments, gave me a complimentary bottle of BioFreeze and sent me on my merry way. My neck felt a bit better but to be honest, not much. I made it to a truck stop near Kearney, NE and parked next to some big rigs and a stream.
The next morning, I got a late start driving due to my fascination with the trucking
Made it to Reno
Finally made it to Reno with the trailer! related products for sale in the truck stop. Mainly what interested me were the low voltage DC appliances. They had coffee makers, crock pots, a mini-oven, coolers, etc. Now what I really COULD use was the cooler, which looked like a mini-fridge, somewhat smaller than the garden variety dorm-room fridge. It's not truly a fridge, as it only keeps the temperature inside about 30 degrees below the ambient temperature outside; that is, there is no regulation. But it would be very useful for keeping foods longer and preventing me from having to always throw things out or eat things that I don't want to just because they won't last much longer in the heat of the car. So, the expense could be justified as a way to save money. Not wanting to pay the inflated price of the truck stop, I used my droid to access walmart.com and found the same model cooler (Coleman) at a local Walmart in North Platte, just a few miles further down the interstate. I drove on through to WY where a wind advisory (30-40 mph with 60mph gusts) was really slowing the truck down and aboslutely killing my fuel efficiency. If I was going
Approaching Incline Village
Approaching Lake Tahoe, towards Incline Village slow before, I was really poking along now, sometimes slowing to 45 mph on the interstate. Rolling on I made it to somewhere around Rock Springs, WY.
The next day took me into Utah, and my neck was really bothering me and I was starting to worry that it wasn't going to heal quickly. I stopped at an absolutely incompetent chiropractor in Salt Lake City whose session consisted of putting me in a massage chair for about 10 minutes and then performing a quick adjustment. What a waste of money. Now pretty much having lost confidence in chiropractic, I started to consider acupuncture, but this would cost real money, as it's not covered by my insurance. I drove on through Wendover, UT and then pushed on through to Reno, NV, my final destination with the trailer. It was late, so I slept in the Walmart parking lot.
The next day was errands day. Unload the contents of my trailer into Public Storage, drop off the trailer, and lastly go to the UPS store mailbox and pick up my waiting repaired backpack. My neck was really depressing me at this point so I went to see an acupuncturist (Dr. Eichelberg ?). Very nice, older fella. We had great conversation while he tried different points. After I left the place, I felt like a new man, the pain was almost entirely gone!
Not content to stay in Reno that night, I drove into the Sierras and to Lake Tahoe. I stayed at the Motel 6 in South Lake Tahoe for the dirt cheap price of $26.99 and got a much needed shower.
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