On the road

Greetings from Elko, NV! We left home yesterday morning a little after 6:30 and arrived here around 10 hours later. That included a couple of potty stops for the dogs and a refueling stop, during which we also ate lunch. (Speaking of refueling... gas has dropped 16 cents a gallon from the Fairfield, CA area; last price we saw was $4.o9. I'm wondering how far east one has to go to see it rising again.)

It has been a fairly easy trip so far, save for one spot in CA where I truly thought we were rushing to our deaths. Since I had only slept 3 hours the night before, I thought I'd try lying down on the bed in the back and seeing if I could catch a little rest there. This was on a stretch between Auburn, CA and Reno, NV. For starters, California roads are some of the worst in the world. Very rough and bumpy. I felt like I was on a trampoline with someone else doing all the jumping. But that wasn't the worst part. I could feel the RV heading down some big inclines and it felt like we were on a runaway train. Rory was lying down next to me and I held on to her and prayed out loud: "Dear God in Heaven, we're all gonna die!" and "Save me, sweet baby Jesus in the manger!" After what seemed like forever, things settled down and I came up front and asked Brian if it was as scary up here as it was in back and he looked at me like I had 2 heads. Apparently, I was having sleep-deprivation hallucinations or something. He said it hadn't been bad at all. So how fast were we going down the inclines? I asked him. 50 or 55, he said. My jaw dropped. I could have sworn it was more like 80. Note to self. Don't ride in the back when going through mountainous areas. It will conjure up images of death, destruction, and very bad things.

Anyhow, the rest of the trip was much easier. The roads in NV are as smooth as buttah (but with out all the fat). Once we got here and set up camp, I cooked dinner. (French Country Chicken.... a make-ahead dinner I made at Dream Dinners a couple of weeks ago.) Then Brian took Halke and Noah swimming. Joel stayed here and helped me wash/dry dishes. We took the dogs outside for a bit and played some catch, then came in to watch some tv. I was asleep by 8:30 or so.

The dogs were ready to go out at 5:30 this morning... yawn. They've both had breakfast now and are lying around. Everyone else is still asleep as well. Not sure when we'll get on the road today. Our goal for tonight is Rock Springs, WY. According to Google Maps, that's 410 miles. Brian is in charge of dinner tonight.... steaks on the grill.

One low spot of the trip is that Emily is sick. She seems to have come down with the same virus she had a few weeks ago ... kinda like a bad cold with a sore throat. She spent the entire trip yesterday sleeping; all except the last hour or so. Then she was back in bed after dinner. Hopefully she'll feel better soon.

Will write more later today or tomorrow!