The Long Drive part one...

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Yesterday we left Garberville, I have to say that I couldn't get away quick enough. Looking back it was probably the weirdest place I've ever been to. Just a one road town with lots of odd people and not one good restaurant. Apparently Humboldt County, which Garberville is in, grows or at least used to grow most of the marijuana consumed by the West Coast, so maybe the locals were stoned and not just thick.
We're on the road by eight and drive back through Willets and Ukiah and take a turn off onto the I80 towards Tahoe. I'm driving this stretch and the roads are straight the surroundings flat and it's not a bad looking day, a bit cloudy but no warning whatsoever of what's to come. At one point Kev spots a signal for traffic updates and we tune the radio to see what's happening. Apparently it's snowing somewhere around Donner, however the I80 is clear and snow chains aren't required. We breathe a sigh of relief and keep going. Kev takes over the driving and just in time, as we reach Donner the temperature drops to a chilly 32, that's zero in small numbers! There's snow outside and I've switched from air conditioning to heating. At one point we climb the mountains up 7000 feet, then it's a long and winding road down again towards Tahoe and Reno. Once past Donner the temperature starts to rise again and we make it back to a slightly warmer 52. We keep driving for Reno, which rises up out of nowhere. It's a small version of Vegas but much tackier and it looks like the local kids are having some kind of prom thing at one of the Casinos. Luckily our hotel is out of the downtown area and we drive into the madness for the evening. After about 40 minutes of wandering the casinos we decide to give them a miss and save gambling for Vegas where we are heading today. We stop off at Chili's for dinner, where our server James, informs us that the route we were planning to take to Vegas is probably snowy and maybe not such a good idea. He's very sweet and gives directions via the I95 and points out there are some hot springs along the way as well as some ghost towns and lots of straight road.
It's a 10 hour drive from here to Vegas, so I had better pack up the laptop and get away, it's 7.30am and we need to be out of here by 8 so we can stop at Rachel and catch up with the UFO watchers!

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Photos

Somewhere outside Donner
Snow! Thank god for socks!

Somewhere outside Donner
Around 7000ft above sea level, it's fucking cold.

Reno...
well sort of. This town ain't big enough for the both of us.

Comments

[caro]

I'm not jealous....................
much!!!! Great to read of all your adventures, sounds fantastic...........enjoy vegas and remember your little ol' sis when you win the big bucks! c