Day 1 -- Carson City, Nevada to Elko, Nevada -- 320 Miles

Today we began our 2019 vacation to the far off land of Ohio by making the extra long (for us) drive from Carson City where we live, to Elko, Nevada in our state's northeastern corner. Usually we only drive about 150 miles a day, which allows us ample time to see the local sites surrounding our campsite of the previous night. However today, since we had seen the sites along Interstate 80 so many times, we opted to double our usual mileage which would allow us to reach Twin Falls, Idaho tomorrow night while still sticking to our usual distance of about 150 miles.

But first we had some chores to do along the Interstate 395 corridor. First of all we needed to top up our propane tank which had not been filled since we returned from my fifty-year high school reunion trip of 2018. This we were able to do quite easily since just over the hill to the south of our house was an RV camp that had a suitable propane filling station. Once that was done, and rather quickly since we were the only ones in line to have our tank filled, we headed north on Hwy 395 in the direction of our next task -- a nice bath.

What with all the frantic comings and goings over the past few months as we got ready to hit the road for another adventure, we just hadn't gotten around to washing the Los Angeles dirt off the RV. Add in a winter of regular snowfall and snow melt, and the outside of the rig was positively grungy. So our next stop was the big rig truck wash in Sparks east of Reno. We had determined in advance that we would only stop for a wash if there wasn't too many big rigs ahead of us. So we were excited when we rounded the curve before the washing bay and discovered that there was no one at all in line ahead of us. Then, for the mere cash outlay of a dollar a foot, we were immediately ushered into the bay and the boys set about making the rig look like new.

After the wash job we jumped on Interstate 80, cranked up the air conditioner to ward off the hot desert air that had ratcheted into the mid nineties by then, and cruised on down the road toward Elko and our anticipated visit to Elko's California Trail Interpretive Center. We always love taking advantage of the Trail Center as the exhibits are wonderful, the staff super dedicated and friendly, and the opportunity for pictures pretty nice as well. In addition I always like to look over their selection of gifts and books on the western history and the westward expansion experience. This time I scored a jar of Raspberry/Rhubarb jam containing real sugar and no corn sweetener, and a copy of Keith Heyer Meldahl's 2007 book, "Hard Road West," which is subtitled "History and Geology along the Gold Rush Trail." Since I'm a huge sucker for anything to do with geology, I snapped it right up.

In between Sparks and Elko we stopped occasionally to stretch our legs and get some steps on the pedometer. We also tarried awhile for lunch in the slumbering town of Lovelock, a town that was especially hard hit by the twin whammies of being bypassed by the interstate, and the incredible gas mileage that cars come with nowadays that make mid-state stops unnecessary. The rest of the ride we just admired the local flora, puzzled over the sometimes strange geology of the Great Basin, and tried to stay well away from the 18-wheelers. Tomorrow we should be back on two-lanes after we leave Wells, Nevada, about forty miles from here, and head north on Route 93.