Well, as I mentioned before, we left early this morning. Many were concerned that I was planning on driving 800+ miles the first day and starting at 4am as well. I understand their concern and I appreciate it. However, as my family (mom and siblings) will attest, that’s how we grew up. Whenever we’d drive somewhere, we’d leave early. I guess the thinking was that us five kids would fall asleep and wouldn’t bother my father while he drove. Whatever the reason, that is my preferred way to go, early. It worked this time too, because Trevor slept most of the way.

Anyway, since we have not started our Route 66 tour yet, I wasn’t expecting too much. Just a drive through California, Nevada, Utah, and into Wyoming. Not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised as you will shortly see.

Trevor was kind enough to stay with me for the first couple of hours. When it started to get light shortly after 5am, I gave Trevor the go ahead to take a nap. The hardest part of the drive was between 6 and 7. I managed, though.

We got to Reno shortly before 8am and stopped for a little bite after we got through the construction going on. I won’t bore you with those details, but we didn’t go to a diner. After all, it’s I-80 and not Route 66. After breakfast, I had to stop for my usual coffee. Yep, they have Starbucks on every corner in Nevada, too. The problem is that they charge tax on the coffee!

Well, I noticed the gas gague and thought I should pull over for some gas. I didn’t think I could make it to Winnemucca, so I took the Lovelock exit. I saw a Chevron station, but didn’t want to do a major chain for a couple of reasons, not the least of which was the price. So, I bypassed the Chevron station, knowing there would be another gas station somewhere. Then I saw it. It definitely fit what I was looking for.

I hope you can see the pumps.  They are the oldest looking ones that I have seen in a long time.  Oh, by the way, that’s the car I’m driving.  Yeah, I know, I told people that I was going to be renting a Toyota Rav 4, but that’s another story.  Anyway, I get out of the car and immediately the gentleman in the background mentions how nice the car is.  He asked what the mileage was, but since this was my first fill up, I couldn’t tell him.  But when I was finished filling up, I did a quick calculation and discovered that I got 28.1 mpg.  That’s pretty good, I think.  If you can’t tell what the car is, it’s a Toyota Camry.  Anyway, I go back in to the little store to pay and get to talking to the lady behind the counter.  It turns out that the gas station dates back to 1937.  It used to have a motel attached to it, but now there is only one room where the owner lives.  Anyway, it’s this sort of out-of-the-way, quaint, nostalgic, odd thing that I’m looking for.  Look again at the pumps.  These days, there’s multiple pumps on each side that can handle multiple grades of gas.  Not these.  The reason that I am at the first one and not next to the white car is because there is only one 87 octane nozzle on each one.  The other nozzle was either diesel or a higher grade of unleaded.  Anyway, I didn’t want to wait for him so I backed up and used the other.

So, on to Winnemucca and points east.  You might be interested in knowing that the speed limit through most of Nevada is 75 mph.  That makes the 410 miles of I-80 a lot easier to drive.  The last time I drove all the way through Nevada, the limit was 55 mph.

Trevor woke up by the time we hit Utah.  I cannot believe he slept through the entire state of Nevada!  Now we are in Utah.  Trevor took a picture of the Salt Flats.

I like the drive through Utah.  It is 120 miles of mostly flat driving.  I remember growing up, it was like a right-of-passage for the one who just got their license (or permit, maybe) to drive a section of this roadway.  So, the drive was pretty uneventful.  We eventually made it to the Great Salt Lake, so I took a few pictures of that.

Well, we finally made it to Evanston, WY, checked in and went to dinner.  It was nothing special.  I’m still waiting for Route 66, I guess.  At least I had a …

I will leave you with one last image.  As Trevor mentioned in his post, this place is a little odd.  The fireworks/liquor store picture he posted is quite funny.  I really don’t think those two should go together.  I went into the store and was amazed at the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling array of fireworks.  I half-jokingly asked if it was a permanent fireworks store and he said yes.  Imagine that, fireworks 365 days of the year.  It’s a wonder there aren’t more fires in Wyoming.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve heard of one.

So, in the words of Sesame Street, which one of these don’t belong here?

See you tomorrow.