Day Two - Three States (NV, OR, ID)

Day 2. Woke up in Lovelock, NV at 7:30am. A few times in the night, I thought there were helicopters flying overhead. Turns out it was a local train.

Rather than leave at 8am, I decided to walk around this small town (population 2,000)...you've seen the pictures. I was out the door and on the road by 9:20am. Destination: Boise Idaho. 

Before I get too deep into the day's activities, I have to say it is June 19th. Father's day in America AND game 7 of the NBA finals. Cavs vs Warriors. I was on the road for 5 hours today...planned my day to make sure I could be in a hotel room with a big TV for the game.

Klay Thompson backing away from his MADE 3 pointer!

I may (will) be distracted while writing this blog! (Go Dubs!)

For most of today, I had no cell service. I was in the middle of NOWHERE for at least 200 miles. The road was mostly flat, mostly straight but all beautiful. 

For a while, around 11am, there were a ton of road mirages. It looked like the road was going to end and I would drive off into the atmosphere.

Then, I entered Oregon and, at some point, passed a sign that said, "Mountain Time. Set your clocks ahead an hour."

More, more and even more straight, beautiful roads. As I passed from NV to OR, the Earth seemed more forgiving. A little greener, a little less dry. Eventually, I reached an incline in the road. It was the hill we'd all been driving towards for a hundred miles. There were stunning rock faces on either side of the road. Unfortunately, I saw orange flags. "Wreck ahead", "Prepare to Stop" and "Flagman at work."

For a semi truck being on it's side, perpendicular to the road, it didn't seem like that bad a crash. It wasn't jackknifed, the front end wasn't smashed, there didn't seem to be another car involved. Still, its a clear reminder that you have to stay focused on these long drives.

And stay focused I did, which caused me to miss a few photo opportunities. I passed a sign that said, "Rome Launch Site" (WHAT is that? I'm going to have to look that up.). I saw three antelope - a mama and two babies. I saw fathers and sons fishing in Snake River. I saw a road called Chicken Dinner Road.

Here are some shots I did manage to capture.

And finally, I arrived in Boise. Cute, progressive city. My gut said, "This reminds me of Austin." Seems like a college town with a lot of young people It turns out I missed Boise gay pride by one day. Flags are still hanging all over. 

I decided to Yelp a restaurant. Fork! The staff were super friendly, the food delicious. On my way into town, I passed two wineries, so I asked for a local red. They gave me a delicious Petit Syrah. 

While at the restaurant, I booked my hotel for the night and I'd like to give a shout out here to Hotels.com. There are a lot of sites out there and I've used them all, but I decided to use Hotels.com on this trip because of their '10 stays earns you 1 night free' policy. I figure, by the end of this, I'd like a free night somewhere.

While still at dinner, I was on the phone with my parents and got a call from Arizona. I ignored it. Another call. Ignored it again. A THIRD call. I decided to answer it. Hotels.com letting me know that the hotel I reserved was overbooked. They stayed on the phone with me and within 5 minutes, found me a better hotel, in the area, with the amenities I wanted and they paid the difference in cost. 

When I got to the hotel, the front desk clerk hooked me up with a top level room (second floor) with a balcony and a view of the river! If that wasn't enough, he said, "Can I hook you up with some chocolate chip cookies?" "Um. Yeah!"

Now I'm here...watching the game, having a great night...about to dig into those cookies. 

The view from my room!