Day 14
Yreka! We sort of found it
Sat, Oct 13, 2007
8:30 am
3,542 miles from home
Tonopah, Arizona
Today is mostly about getting from Point A (where we are) to Point B (closer to home).
As a result, there's not going to be very much interesting to write about, and we've
used up all the adjectives we can think up to describe deserts.
So we figure we'll fill out this trip report with some "Robert & Laura FAQs."
As we leave Tonopah, we notice that it is the "Home of the Muckers." We're not sure
what types of cheers the pep squad uses, but we're guessing it probably involves some
variation on "Muck 'em, Muckers!"
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: Who writes this thing?
A: I do.
And then I edit it.
You mean you mess it up and take out all the good parts!
No, I mean I correct your grammatical errors, remove unnecessary words, and jokes that
don't work.
Hah!
9:36 am
3,612 miles
Mina, NV
The map insists that Mina is a town, and there are buildings and such here. But there
are no chains at all. Not a Burger King or a Chevron or even a Subway. We wonder if
these people feel like they're living in America.
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: Do you guys ever fight?
A: Yes. But our fights are not very interesting to write about. When we have a fun
fight, we do write about it (like the time Robert almost left Laura on the Isle of
Capri).
After 18 years of marriage, though, mostly we bicker to pass the
time. And anyway we're both always right.
10:05 am
3,643 miles
Hawthorne, NV
We're noticing all kinds of little bumps in the landscape. Turns out they're bunkers,
and the entire area around this town is an ammunition depot. The bunkers are
camouflaged by desert earth and scrub to make them harder to see from the air.
We're guessing the ammo is in bunkers so that if one bunker blows up, it won't set off
the rest of them. Still, it must be a little nerve- wracking to live here—especially
given the signs that say "Explosives laden trucks may not park here."
Hawthorne also proudly proclaims that it is a Naval Undersea Training Facility, which
we at first think is totally goofy until we notice nearby Walker Lake.
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: Who does the driving?
A: We change drivers every hour so that we don't get tired or punchy or more reckless
than we should. So we end up each doing about half the driving. Whoever's not driving
is responsible for navigating and talking on the cell phone and taking pictures and
advising whether or not it's safe to pass the three humongous RVs poking along at the
speed limit.
All the driver does is drive.
11:32 am
3,719 miles
Fallon, NV
We're getting tired of looking at all the Grand Canyon dust on our car, and decide
that it's time to rid ourselves of this souvenir at a car wash right behind the gas
station we stop at.
There's still plenty of dust in the door wells, though, so we'll be remembering that
dusty road for some time to come.
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: Who's the better driver?
A: Robert is. His regular vehicle is a motorcycle, so he's very aware of what's going
on around him. Plus he plays lots of first-person- shooter games, which enhance his
spatial perception. He tends to push the vehicle envelope, though, and he HATES being
stuck behind somebody, so he's got a scary tendency to pass vehicles at high speeds.
Laura is a more cautious driver; sticking to just a few miles
per hour above the speed limit that Robert believes is only a suggestion. Still, Laura
is the one who usually gets pulled over by the cops.
1:15 pm
3,797 miles
California!
Here we are, in sunny California! Of course, it's been sunny all morning, so that's
not much of a change. But we can no longer play the slots in gas stations, and the
road suddenly got a lot worse. So we do notice a difference.
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: How do you decide where to stay?
A: Robert uses hunting method—"Me find motel with good rate. Hunt down, kill, and
sleep inside carcass." Robert looks up motels on the GPS software, trying to find ones
that don't seem to belong to national chains. (Our experience is that independent
motels charge less; plus we both teach classes helping people start small businesses,
so where else would we stay?)
He'll write down the numbers and call to find out the rates (so we don't accidentally
check into the one motel in town with outrageous rates).
Laura then applies the gathering method: "Let's look around for motels with pleasant
exteriors!" We'll cruise past the motels that Robert has hunted down and frequently
decide "No, looks like there could be a fighting in the parking lot there!"
Sometimes, though, we'll get totally suckered by a sign that
says "In-room coffee" and immediately stop and check in.
2:32 pm
3,868 miles
Susanville, CA
We seem to finally be done with the desert. (As it turns out, we really could have
called this the "God-Forsaken Desert Tour" as we have spent most of our time driving
through one desert or another. At first, it's fun and different and interesting. After
3,868 miles of mostly desert, it loses its appeal.)
There are tall evergreens everywhere. No deciduous trees at this elevation, just
evergreens. But lots and lots of them. Yay!
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: You mostly take back roads. How do you keep from
getting lost?
A: Robert uses advanced GPS technology, which occasionally works. It does have its
drawbacks, though. Today it insisted that we were driving through the middle of the
forest when we were in fact five miles away on an actual road.
Also, sometimes Windows refuses to recognize the GPS unit and needs several reboots.
But it mostly does a good job of plotting out a route and letting us know where we are
and how to get from here to there.
Laura prefers to use large-scale maps to figure out where we are ("Okay, here's New
York. Where are we relative to New York?") and our routes ("Which mountain is that?")
So depending on who's navigating, the directions to the driver
might be "Turn right at the Chevron station and go 432 feet and turn left" or "Turn
right at Las Vegas and go straight for a while."
4:30 pm
3,986 miles
McCloud, CA
We've driven through about 80 miles of national forest, with the occasional stunning
views of Mts. Lassen and Shasta. Now we're out of the forest and it's time to gas up,
so we stopped at the first opportunity in McCloud.
Our credit cards are whining at us again and we have to go inside and assure the gas
station attendant that we haven't stolen our own cards.
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: Do you ever make stuff up?
A: Nope. We don't need to. We experience enough weird
stuff as it is. Everything we write about actually happened.
5:30 pm
4,036 miles
Yreka, CA
We decide to stop in Yreka, because we're worried that Ashland (the next logical
stopping place) might be a tad spendy. Robert wants to eat at a place that uses metal
silverware for a change ("It's our last dinner out on this trip; we deserve utensils
that aren't wrapped in a napkin!").
So we cruise around town and find a place called "The Silver Spoon" (that Robert says
will be just the thing). Then we locate the nearest motel, which turns out to be a
Best Western. Even though it's a chain, it's reliably provided free WiFi for us when
war-driving, so we decide we should give them a few bucks.
And our room is fit for a king! Not only is there a coffee maker AND a TV that
works—there's also a hair dryer and an iron! AND free mouthwash! On top of which,
there's a shelf for our suitcases. And plenty of space—some of the rooms we've stayed
in, we had to step over our luggage to get to the bathroom.
After checking in and enjoying a double-alien rum-and-coke (we've been using our
souvenir alien shot glass every night since Roswell), we head up to The Silver Spoon.
It is, of course, totally crowded, and we should have made reservations, but—oh
look!—there's a table for two that's open and they can fit us in.
It's lovely fussy food—well prepared and tasty (we have chicken vindaloo and
marionberry chipotle chicken). For insisting on a fine meal tonight, Robert gets the
rare "You're the bestest husband a gal could want!" rating from Laura.
Robert & Laura FAQ
Q: How do you decide what attractions to visit?
A: We do some research ahead of time to try and identify cool places to visit. Some of
the things we plan to see turn out to be out of the way (who knew Texas was that
big?). Others are closed.
Sometimes we'll look at a map and recall that somebody told us the place was worth a
look. Or we'll remember an article we read somewhere about it.
We also keep our eyeballs peeled while we're traveling for interesting places along
the way.
On this trip, Robert's sisters were good sources of places to
visit. Sharing the same genetic propensity for weirdness, they had a list of oddball
attractions.
Tomorrow: The End is Near
Robert & Laura
Square State Tour
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