Sunday, September 2, 2012

789 miles driven

(I-15 N to 86/30 W to 93 S at Twin Falls to 80 W at Wells to Hwy 37 at Vallejo to Atherton/Black Point to HOME)

Pocatello ID to Novato CA

When the rain finally let up last night about 7:30, we walked over to the Sandpiper Inn for dinner.  We ate there 2 or 3 years ago on a trip and we both thought it was really good.  The bar area which is quite large was packed but we got a table within football game viewing distance.  And all the pick-up scenarios that were going on at the bar — always entertaining.  Bob had a scotch and we ordered a bottle of Fiddletown Zinfandel for dinner.  Oddly, all the glasses and bottles of wine ended in .95 (5.95, 7.95, 30.95… ?  Waitress could not answer why).  Ordered salads and sirloins (6 oz for me, 8 oz for Bob) that came with baked potato for him and steamed (yippee!!) vegetables for me.  I also had grilled onions that were heavenly — sautéed in butter.  I cleaned the plate.  We took most of the wine back to the room but both crashed without having any.

Sunday we were up at 3:45 and at the gas station filing up at 4:30.  Bob started driving in the pitch black with fog and about 40 miles of road work (single lane, steep drop off, a tumbleweed and deer on the road!!!) but virtually zero cars and the occasional truck.  At 6:15 we pulled into the parking lot at Idaho Joe’s in Twin Falls, our first target destination.  We fell upon this place on our trip to Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, etc a few years ago.  Bob saw the Bakery part of the sign and I noticed that all the cars and pick-ups (50-50) in the lot had Idaho plates.  It was great then (both taste and $$) and it hasn’t changed. Including the same two waitresses and the homemade pies — a selection of about a dozen.  We had checked online the night before to make sure it opened at 6a.  Bob had a scrambled egg, sausage patty and toast; I had the same only  a poached egg.   Also had their (so-so) coffee in case another of our accidental discoveries, a coffee shop on the outskirts of Twin Falls (towards Wells) that was a lavender shop (I know… odd but it was good espresso) is no longer there.   And it wasn’t.   BUT in Rogerson (pop 251), there was a sign for ‘Koffee Shack’ and there was a little drive-up hut that was Open Open Open.  The woman set it up about 7 months ago.  She said she has some regular regulars now and feels pretty good about her prospects.  She is open Mon-Sat from 5a to 1p and Sundays from 7a to 1p. (this is a plug… if you are on Hwy 93 going between Wells NV and Twin Falls, time it so you can stop…..)  I was so happy to get a really really good latte (soy, alas, but still good) and she put two chocolate covered espresso beans in the little divot on the lid — nice tasty touch.  Bob was still driving and it is a really pretty stretch of road with big farms and ranches.

At Wells, we stopped for gas and potty and I took the wheel.   Bob sat in the passenger seat looking for California Trail markers and got a crick in his neck doing so.  People think we are crazy when we say we like driving through the desert but it’s so beautiful and harsh and serene.  We started our last Stuart Woods book after listening to music on the first part of the drive.   With cruise control set at 80mph (and still getting passed on occasion), the miles truly do fly by.

Our next target was the Cowpoke Cafe in Lovelock for lunch.  This is a regular stop on all the trips we take along 80.  It is true made from scratch (the biscuits were being pulled from the oven when we were ordering… ahhhhhhhhh!) and always full of locals stopping at each others’ tables and gossiping.  No surprises here: Bob got a burger and their curly fries (cut fresh and fried for each order) with a pepsi; I had a buffalo burger and iced tea.  We also got gas in Lovelock and I continued driving to Verdi, just before the CA state line.   Bob drove the rest of the way — which included tons of Burning Man traffic (easy to spot because of the thick layer of dust on Every Inch of the cars/vans/RVs.  I know it has a huge following but I just don’t get it), a 10-mile stretch of single lane traffic just past Donner and a HUGE jam on 37 that added at least 1/2 hour to our trip.

We drove in the driveway at 5:30 to a very happy and well-cared for puppy dog.   2,798 miles,  and except for less than 125 miles, all of it done in four days.

Random things…..

Billboard:  Wells…. Small but entertaining.

 

A series of three billboards:

Cold beer on tap.

Lovely lady on your lap.

Wild Horse Saloon

 

In the Leadville post, Betsy was surprised I mentioned the Copper ski trip without mentioning the Leadville Camping trip we took a few years later.   Can’t remember the exact year, 95 or 96… I know Lauren was born and maybe Catie too. Manny stayed home with the kid(s) and Betsy and I took off in his Brand New SUV (like that week brand new) and a tent borrowed from the people across street and went to a lake outside of Leadville for a night of camping.  We set up our tent and took off for a hike around the lake.  About an hour out the skies opened, there was lightening, thunder and hail.  Golf ball size hail.  We have photographic evidence though not in a format I can easily post.  We were laughing / crying (it hurt!) and laughing again.  We trudged back to the campsite to discover our tent was completely collapsed and sopping wet.  We made a fire and cooked dinner (forget what) and drank a bunch of wine and laughed and laughed.  We couldn’t sleep in the tent so unrolled our sleeping bags in the truck with just. not. quite. enough. room. to stretch out.  And in the middle of the night when one of us had to pee, we set off the most incredibly loud car alarm.  Because it was new, we didn’t know how to turn it off.  Of course, this set off the hysterical laughing again.  We packed up all the wet stuff (I think Betsy ended up buying the neighbors a new tent….) in the morning, had breakfast in Leadville and drove back to Denver in Manny’s Brand New SUV, now with some hail damage.