Friday, August 24

First leg: Novato to Park City, UT

(San Marin/Atherton to Hwy 37 to I-80 East to Hwy 50 East to 6 to 132 to I-15N to 189 to 224)

836 miles

Pinot Grigio and a Chivas

We were going to pack up stuff, car etc Thursday night but .. too exhausted.  So when Bob woke up just after 2am we decided to get up and go.  Sierra very confused with worried eyes as we packed clothes (the dreaded zipping of duffles!), odds and ends, straightened up house, fed, watered, pooped Sierra and packed the car.  We left Sierra in the house, under my desk with the Weather Channel (Food Channel was just stupid infomercials which are annoying even to dogs).  I kept telling her that her favorite dog walker, Danielle, and daughter Zoe would be there soon but… still the Sad Eyes.

We drove out of the driveway at 4:15 with Bob at the wheel and we flew.  Dozens of big trucks sleeping at the rest stops and exits.  At 5:35, just as the horizon was brightening up a bit, we drove by Calvary Cemetery and waved to Mom who would have been 78 yesterday.  May you continue to rest peacefully, Nancy Jane Kennedy Smith 8/23/34 – 5/9/80.

We were listening to the Bridge on XM which is all mellow/schmaltzy rock that you know all the words: Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac, Cat Stevens, Beatles….  The time flew by with the miles.

At Donner Lake, I Yelped “breakfast nearby” which led to PJ’s Grill in Truckee.  It was at a golf course we had never heard of, Gray’s Crossing.  It was beautiful!  We were the first and only customers at 7am.  A really nice stone/cement room with huge floor to ceiling windows and a big wide stone bar.  We sat at the bar and watched ESPN (all Lance losing his 7 titles…).  Bob had scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sourdough and OJ.  I had The. Best. Breakfast. Burrito. Ever.  Seriously.  Very light scrambled eggs, just enough spicy sausage, salsa in a spinach tortilla that had been grilled with heirloom tomato slices instead of potatoes.  I ate the entire thing.  So good.  It was more time and $$ than we usually spend for breakfast on the road but was totally worth it.

Back on the road at 7:45 and Bob drove til Fernley at 9am where we got gas and water and I took the wheel.  They call 50 The Loneliest Road in America but we both love it — no cars and 75 mph.  Lots of old silver and lead mining towns and historic markers.  I blew by about six before Bob started giving me the heads up.  I blame the book.  At Fernley, we started listening to a new Stuart Woods audiobook featuring our favorite: Stone Barrington (said in a voice about twelve octaves lower than mine).   We love love love listening to these books on the road.  They are far-fetched, corny and so entertaining.  We just laugh out loud.  “Just good stories” as Bob says.  Anyway, I set the cruise control to just a hair under 80 mph, stare at the road as we fly through the scrub of the desert, get involved in the story  and only come to when Bob waves me down to pull off for a marker.   They are all about towns that were booming for a few years in the  late 1800s when the mines start up  — growing quickly to 10,000 people, saloons, Opera Houses, Wells Fargo banks — until the silver / lead dried up and poof!  Now there are just a few still viable towns and those are pretty tired.

At about 12:30 we stopped in Eureka (named for Eureka!! when silver was discovered) for potty and to top off the tank and didn’t stop again til 3pm just before the Utah border for a snack (and, yes, potty…).   Bob was holding out for a burger in Delta that he remembered when we were headed home on our Honeymoon Road Trip five years ago when we had Sierra with us.  The burgers were good and there was shade….   Bob got some chips and a root beer, an iced tea for me.  I had a bunch of baggies from home that I filled with raw nuts, seeds, goji and dried cranberries (I see you rolling your eyes — you know who you are!) for *emergencies* just such as these.  After thousands of miles of road trips, you realize what you can expect as far as snacks go. With the exception of a gas station somewhere in WY that was attached to a natural foods store (!!!), I pack my own snacks.

Hwy 50 through Utah is equally beautiful and desolate as it is through Nevada but the speed limit is only 65 so cruise control set for 73mph.  No other cars.   At 4:30 we hit Delta and all of sudden the landscape turns green.  Bob was about to give up on finding the burger place and there it was at the end of town, Delta Freeze.   He ordered a burger and a Pepsi — and we realize we had lost an hour entering Utah and it’s 5:45.   The burger was as delicious as remembered — I had a couple of bites.

Bob took the wheel for the rest of the trip.   It was really beautiful: lots of small farms, everything really neat and clean.  It was sort of slow from I-15 at Provo up to Park City but enjoyable given the scenery.  Went by BYU stadium and then a vibrant river with a lot of activity — kayaks, early evening picnickers, fly fishermen.  It was a beautiful evening in the low-mid ’70s and very still.   Got to the Best Western in Park City at 8:15; dumped our bags, brushed out teeth and headed to Main Street, about 6 miles away, for dinner.

So different than last year year when we had dinner in Ogden (where the ‘bar’ had one bottle of scotch and bottle of vodka).  This was a happening place with lots of people and bars and restaurants from which to choose.  We chose Bandit’s Bar and Grill, it looked a little more low-key and –AND– smelled delicious.  I have been craving baby back ribs for several weeks for some reason.  Bob was going to make them last weekend when Dennis and the girls were up but Jenna requested fried chicken (a la Barefoot Contessa, a great recipe).  Anyway, Bandit’s is known for bbq pork, beef, etc and when I saw a batch of baby backs being delivered — and smelled them — that was that.   Bob ordered a Chivas rocks olive and I had a glass of Pinot Grigio.  I was driving and since it’s dark and these people like their roundabouts, my dirty martini will wait for tomorrow night.   Bob ordered a 10oz NY strip with baked potato vegetables and salad; I ordered (for the first time ever in my life) baby back ribs with grilled green beans and salad.  They were delicious!!  Bob has to make them when we get home because his (the last time he made them … 5? 6? years ago) are better.  And less fatty.  But they were good.  We ordered a bottle of Rosenblum Zinfandel which didn’t feel like a ripoff and we each had a glass.  Bob ordered chocolate cake to take home to eat in front of ESPN and we corked our wine and went back to the BW.  Fell into bed exhausted at 11p local time.

Random things…..

Bob got a new Garmin GPS (Gladys #2) to use in my car and the truck since Gladys number 1 bit the dust.  This Gladys is so much better and Bob said about 1/5th the price of the old one.  She is much quicker to figure out where we are and doesn’t babble on “Make a U turn” “Make a U turn” incessantly.  Which is why we named her Gladys, after my grandmother Sis.  This Gladys saved us on the drive back to the motel from dinner when we encountered a bad accident; a car had run into a light pole and they had the road blocked off.  Gladys took us through a residential neighborhood back to the motel.

We saw two bad accidents today.   The other one was just west of Cisco Grove on 80.  We were buzzing along and all of a sudden the traffic was dead stopped.  After a few minutes it slowly started and we merged into one lane.  The left lane had an overturned car (with its headlights on) facing us and the attached trailer was on its side with crap all over the road.  They were doing some roadwork — grinding the pavement down it appeared — so the lanes were very narrow.  Whatever they were doing got my nice clean car (got The Works Wash the evening before) all muddy and dusty.  Bob hosed it off at a car wash in Fallon.

“Holding out hope for polygamists”  Billboard just south of Provo UT.