Ian vs The Road

Nevada was a lot of things. We were up high, for one. Our night in Ely was at around 1800 meters in elevation (nothing compared to 3000+ experienced in Cusco, Peru, but more than even the mountain passes in BC) the highest pass was ~2200. The land was bare, one moonscape being out-‘mooned’ by the next stretch of highway. A stop in Wells (a hole, sorry) for gas was cold and there were sections of Drive with Daylight Headlights where we passed through dense fog that obscured the edges of the world as if the boundaries were still being drawn.

We were taking a smaller highway, the 93, that ran the length of the state, hugging its eastern border. In Nevada, this meant we could say goodbye to rest stops. It was a joke at first. After a few hundred kilometers and we ceased to look out for them. This was also the beginning of “check your fuel.” From Jackpot just inside the border at the north to Las Vegas (some 700 kilometers) there were only a handful of fuel stops. It was an exercise in trust, in many ways. We trusted not to be stranded in the cold, high desert, trusted that a washroom might soon be found, that the state of Nevada had things under control, and most of all that the car would not be blown clear off the road.

The first day in Nevada was not as bad. I was still able to enjoy the experience, the vastness, the freedom of the open road. On the second day, sheets of rain and pummelling wind were “a bit much.” Then, all at once, we emerge in bright sunlight, a gap between weather systems, and the desert would open up again. Here we would cut through dramatic valleys or stare out across a dried lake bed. New cactus and desert shrubs appeared, including fields of the funny-looking Joshua Tree. We pulled over here and there, but each time the bloody wind drove us back in the car.

At one point (Las Vegas was close by this point and all we could think about was how miserable it would be if the weather persisted) visibility was reduced to near nil as I followed a big truck, seeking shelter from the wind. Some lunatics were passing, but our little car was struggling just to keep going. When we made it to Vegas – intact, changed – the tarp was done, shredded. $7 from Canadian Tire, so I wasn’t troubled, merely in awe.

The rest of it was fine. Our stop in Ely, was the big urban center of the stretch – a eerie, shell of a place with a couple of classic hotel casinos in an otherwise abandoned downtown (no tumbleweeds sighted this time, sadly). Despite the lack of activity out doors, the Hotel Nevada was a busy place that we quite enjoyed. It was a classic old building, they gave us vouchers for free drinks (like the good ol’ days!) and for breakfast at the Denny’s built into the hotel (of course, but not surprisingly not garish as it had no street frontage). Sarah reported that the micro-gym was good, one of the best she’s seen and she had it to herself. We even had HBO, but there was something wrong with the sound and was hard to watch.

There’s smoking in the casinos in Nevada. Remember smoking? We tried a couple bucks in the machines and came up with nothing. It goes so fast… Everything goes fast. Will we ever be back this way? So much ground covered in such a short time, yet also such a small bit of the map. There’s Vegas to come (a free day of rest) then California and Mexico. I feel far from home now. This is a strange place, yet I’ll soon see people from all over who have simply dropped into town with the magic of air travel. It feels good to feel the road, to think of what’s behind and ahead. We’re only getting started.