Road Trip. I have to say I really enjoy road trips. I've spent many hours in the car growing up driving Route 66 and many other US highways, Interstates, freeways etc...
A few months ago we drove from Los Angeles to Boise, Idaho. Dear friends or ours were
moving up there. We drove their second car and made our way through California, Nevada, Oregon and finally Idaho.
We left LA at the grueling hour of 4am, it was suppose to be 3am (I took that picture above at that time, no turning the clock back for a photo op) so you can imagine how early we had to get
up for this. Our friends have two kids so it was essential to get them in the car asleep a
nd get in a good 6 hours of driving before they woke.
We took the 5 freeway and hit a few pockets of nothingness and then stumbled upon the worst smell ever. And for 5am, it was miserable. Cow's for miles and the stench j
ust wouldn't go away.
After passing the stench we get to the grapes of wrath where there are lines of fieldworkers that define this part of the continent.
Food fair on the road is pretty dismal. My mom use to pack a lunch or stop in some great little hole in the wall diner in some small little town along our route. There weren't that many options this time. So as typical Americans we stop at the usual fast-food, chain restaurants.
McDonald's, Denny's and a Subway, which is the healthiest of the bunch. For some reason this
food is appetizing on the road.
As we drive into Nevada and closer to Reno the scenery drastically changes it becomes beautiful blue sky's, tree line mountains, with patches of snow higher up.
We arrive in Reno about 2PM and are completely spent, it's the ridiculous tired feeling. We stay at the Grand Sierra Resort Casino.
I take a nap, check out the hotel amenenties while SB runs down to the pool with our friend and his two kids.
In Nevada's alternate to Las Vegas, Reno pale's in comparison for casinos, though the vie
ws are
awesome. We do however, decided to head down to the Casino to eat the buffet....seriously we
get there and the line is around the corner, through the slot machines to the race track and through to grandmother's house. Wait is 1 hour. I feel meltdown coming on all of us...finally we can't make a decision and just head to the quickest nearest place possible
, Johnny Rockets.
More burgers, fries and shake...but ooooh so delicious.
We had a great night sleep in a bed that SB absolutely loves so
much that once we
got back he called the hotel to find out what kind of bed as we need to purchase a new one ourselves. We
ate breakfast repacked the cars and took off for some interesting scenery.
You may or may not be surprised how many penitentiaries we passed in the middle of nowhere, not a lovely site.
We really got to see the little towns, abandoned shacks, farms and beautiful places.
Just before entering Boise we came through this town that had wineries and fruit orchards and the like it was really inviting.
After a day waiting for our friends POD to arrive we checked out downtown Boise, reminded me of Portland. It felt very College town like, without the FRAT boys. The next day when the POD arrived we unpacked it and it was barely empty before SB and I had to catch a plane home.
I got very emotional. These are dear friends but because of our busy schedules we didn't get
together as much as we'd like. We really bonded with them and their kids and I for one was sad to leave them. I know they'll adjust to their new 3 bedroom, 2 car garage and yard quickly and
their new friends will come to love them as much as those of us who grew up around them.
Can't wait for the next road trip, I've already got my mind spinning. We were sad to leave our friends behind, but made a promise to visit in the winter, I'd love to see Boise with snow everywhere. We miss you P family.
