Still in a strange September Chis and I head across the west; California, Nevada, Oregon and Boise, to pick up my son. We take the Fitness Journal mobile and head out from Sonoma to Hwy 80. We make it to Stockton before stopping for a oil change for the FJ. We use the opportunity to pick up some food and drinks for the 11 hour drive ahead. It is 1 PM as we roll back onto the interstate 80.
We drive in uneventful road-trip bliss for 150 miles until we reach Reno at sun down. It's time to eat dinner and what could be better then a 7.99 all you can eat buffet? Well a lot of things, but I let Chris talk me into it. Well after our unpleasant meal are trek around the "strip" here in Reno and after we do that about 3 times and have killed at least 10 minutes we head out into the night and into the desert.
Although it does not seem like it on a map the desert is a big place. Our next turn is Winnemucca which is also the halfway point. Just outside of of town I catch a flash out of the corner of my eye. From the center strip of 80 at a full run is a coyote. Now I am driving an RV at 80 miles per hour, there is no swerving to be done. At impact it doesn't even matter, the coyote hits us. He hit the tire of the RV with a pretty load BANG!. I take some comfort in the fact he died instantly. At the turn in Winnemucca we stop for gas and I check the hubcap, which has a huge dent in it. Bummer for the coyote.
From there it is Nevada hwy 95, one very lonely road. We drive for another 4 hours thought the desert at night. A whole lot of darkness. When we stop it is at a mountain pass.
The stars are incredible, but I don't set my camera right and none of my star shots come out. Oh well, there will be may more deserts at night. I wake up just after 7 and we have until 12 to get to Boise (Nampa really) to pick up Chance when he gets out of school.
I let Chris sleep and I grab my instant warm coffee can drink I found in the grocery store and fire it up. It has a built-in one time chem heater. It is cold in the high desert at night and while the coffee was marginal, I was happy to have a hot drink.
I must have driven for an hour or so before Chris got his ass out of his bunk. But he brought me a sandwich so that made up for him sleeping in. I drove until the small town of Huston and the intersection with HWY 55 which heads into Nampa. Somehow we arrive at 12:10 pm.
We meet up with Chance's mom and get a few bags of stuff Chacne wants to bring back to Alaska and we turn around and head back to Sonoma county. The dive back is uneventful and we arrive safely around 1 am in Sonoma doing the return drive in 11 hours.
