Nevada Is Full of Lights (But Not Really)

Good evening everyone! It's 11:00 pm (Pacific Time) and we made it to Carlin, Nevada. We had a slight change in plans. We were going to take a smaller state highway to Yosemite, but we wanted to play safe and stick to a bigger, more well traveled highway. As mentioned in the previous entry, we left this morning around 9:30 am. We only drove for 13.5 hours today... a slower pace than the past day.

Driving through Wyoming was amazing. The state is so beautiful. Everywhere we drove there was another beautiful valley or mountain to see. I wish you could be there with us as we drove through. The pictures do not due these natural wonders justice at all.

Utah was pretty fun. After entering Utah, I drove down this crazy stretch of highway. It was mostly downhill and a lot of curves. Everyone was flying past me at 80 mph or more. I would like to mention that the speed limit in most of these states was (is) 75 mph. We stopped for food and gas in Salt Lake City, Utah. The city was pretty and clean. We ate at a restaurant called Squatter's. It is also interesting to note that if you want to go to bars in Utah you have to be a member. It is required that you purchase a membership for $4 and it is valid for 3 weeks (for tourists).

Utah was pretty amazing too. After you leave Salt Lake City there is a 20 mile stretch of road that was super straight. The road was surrounded by sand and lots of it. It was white and you can see the mountains on two sides. Sean drove until we got into Nevada and Ty drove the rest of the way to Carlin. Nevada was really dark since we drove during the night. But there was no towns for 50 miles or so. It's kind of scary. What if you broke down? What if you didn't get gas at the town you passed? Good thing we have the AAA TripTik. It definitely helped with the gas and food planning. Anyways, you'll be driving in the dark and then a huge area of lights. That's Nevada.

So now we're in a Comfort Inn in Carlin, NV. We changed our plans and decided to travel straight to San Fran from here. It's another 7.5 hour drive (489 miles). I'll leave everyone to our pictures.

We're almost there!!!

Our progress as of June 30, 2008 at 11:00 pm.

Pictures... We have too many

We stopped at the Wyoming Welcome Center. Not much here...

A monument of President Lincoln.

Sean with a view of of I-80 in the background.

Ty taking a video of me... I think.

Sean and I posing in front of the sign.

Pretty pictures of the valley.

Entering Laramie, Wyoming. Notice the Rockies in the background.

There's a Wal-Mart in Laramie, too.

Stopping in Rock Springs, Wyoming for lunch.

Plateaus and mountains all day and night.

Driving past motor cyclist and big trucks.

Ty sleeping. This never gets old.

Beautiful Wyoming.

Hello Salt Lake City, Utah! Ty and I posing by the car on Main St.

Trying to find something to eat...

Interesting name for a beer...

Sitting outdoor with the water mister (it mists water into the air to make it cooler).

Ty looking surprised... I think he's faking it.

Some cool sculptures in the City. There was more... they're really artsy.

Where we had dinner. Squatters. Nice name. Cool place.

To Yosemite We Go

Good morning! It's 9:30 am (mountain time) and we're about ready to head on out again. We're trying to be to Yosemite by tonight and stay in a motel and enjoy it in the morning. San Fran is about 4 hours away from Yosemite National Park. So here's a picture of the route we have to take in the next two days.

It is estimated that we will get to Cali in 20 hours if we drove straight there with no stop.

Kevin Did Mention Nebraska Was Endless

Sean's mom's boyfriend, Kevin, did mention that Nebraska would take forever and he was right. It was all farm land. We did stop in Gothenburg, home of the First Pony Express Station. We also picked up dinner at Pizza Hut (half pepperoni, half everything).

It was kind of weird. We ordered pick up since we were heading in that direction on the highway. We were early so we visited the Pony Express. Then when we went to pick up the pizza all the doors were locked to the dining room. There were signs that said that the "Dinning room is closed after 5 pm." Okay, so how do we get our pizza?

We then noticed the drive-thru window and Sean pulled up to it and got out of the car. At the same time Ty was calling the Pizza Hut. We saw the kids working there and they came to the window and got us our pizza. Ty had an interesting phone call with one of the employees that picked up the phone. It went something like this, "Hi, we're outside your restaurant... how do we get our pizza? Oh nevermind, someone's helping us. Thank you." There was a lot of giggling / laughing from inside the restaurant. Well, at least we got food.

We've been driving pretty much all day and all night since we left at 4:20 pm on Saturday. It's 1:59 am back at home, but it's 11:59 pm here in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Yes, I said Wyoming. We're 34 hours and 1,870 miles into our trip (Google map says we're 1,835 miles in but our mileage includes going to the First Pony Express Station-see pics below- and stopping for food and gas off the highway).

Home of the First Pony Express Station. Gothenburg, NE.

Checking out the town time capsule. To be opened 2010, resealed and then open again 2040.

Being touristy (probably not a word).

Plaque on the wall of the station.

This was a stop along the Oregon and Mormon Trail. There were other trails that went by this station, but I can't remember it right now.

It's a pretty small place.

Signing the guest book.

A picture of the town center.

A beautiful sunset.

One more time.

A visual of how far we traveled in 34 hours - Saturday 4:20 pm (Eastern Time) to Sunday 11:59 pm (Mountain Time).

Catching Up - Iowa and Nebraska

After Iowa we went through Nebraska (which took forever) and then a bit of Wyoming... whew. We took turns but the guys did most of the driving. I only drive during the day. My night vision is not so great. Here are some of the pictures. Now I need sleep.

View from the Welcome Center in Iowa. You can see the Mississippi River in the background.

Ty posing for the camera.

Ah, a welcome sign. Our first picture of one.

Sean's glad to be out of the car.
Me... I'm usually the photographer so it's nice to have a pic of myself every now and then.

Ty goofing off on the jungle gym.

Pretty clouds in Iowa.

Stopping and stretching. The wind was pretty strong...

Filling up the tank yet again.

Clearly not suitable for young audience members.

Windy!

It's pretty much all farm land.

Pretty clouds in Nebraska.

Another pit stop.

Sean sleeps with his mouth open... catching all the yucky bugs that hit the windshield.

Yes! First pic of Ty sleeping...

A pic of me driving through Nebraska.