america is a very big country. like, seriouly big! we have driven a lot. and we didn't even get half way accross! we crossed a time zone the other day, honestly!
we left sacramento,which, as i said, is a dump, and headed inland to the wild west. we were actually going east, this is a strange country, oh, and big, did i mention that? first stop was lake tahoe, which is enormous, and it's the smallest of the great lakes! we're talking big. you could drop derbyshire in it without a trace (which doesn't seem such a bad idea!). and it was incredibly beautiful.
just a quick interlude, a lot of america is big and pretty, so i'm running out of adjectives, apologies if i repeat any!
we drove on throuh snowcapped moutains and gigantic forests to reno, nevada. this is a state that escribes itself as 'cowboy country' and they're not kidding! reno was a lttle too much like sacremento, but with gamblig, for our liking, and we were headed for vegas anyway, so we blew through town, pausing only to check out a genuine cowboy shop, stetsons, snakeskin boots, the lot! we thought it was a costume shop, it wasn't.
then the real driving started, I80 through nevada. cool, but mind blowing! straight through the desert, 40 miles between junctions, and 80 between towns. and y town, i mean a gas station, a bar and a general store (see, i can talk amercan). seriously empty places, where everyone looslike a cowboy, even the women!
stopped in a place caled winneuca, mainly because we liked the name, and ate in a place where i was the only woman, and northern was he only guy not wearing a stetson!
headed up disconcertingly long, straight roads to twin falls in idaho. another incredible sight. don't think they're used to tourists in twin falls though, when we asked for a room in the only motel in town the receptionist said 'whee are you from?' in a tone of oice that said 'is there something wrong with you?' don't tink they're very big o the outside world either, asked about an internet cafe and were told there might be one in town. it was closed.
went driking with hicks. one guy was called randy! he wasn't wearing a steson, but he did address me as ma'am and tip his baseball cap! love it!
headed up through the rest of idaho, had a brief flirtation with wyoming, and got to yellowstone, montana by mid afternoon.
christ it was cold. seriously, you could die from this, kind of cold! as soon as we swapped seats and i was driving, it started to snow, on very twisty little roads. and we had about 70 miles to go. the last 20miles of roads had an inch thick layer of ice!
by the time we pulled up at west yellowstone, northern had to peel my fingers off the steering wheel!
we pulled up at some nice looking cabins for rent, and had a much needed, much desrved ciggie. looking around, the town seemed very quiet - almot like a ghost town.
just as we finished our fags, the owner of the cabns came out and asked if she could help we asked about a room for a couple of nights. she very apologetically explained that the cabins were closed for a couple of months. the dropped the kicker. 'are you here for yellowstone park? you do know the park is shut for november, right?'
well, after the terrifying drive, i was about ready to throw myself onthe floor in a full blown tantrum, but it was all icy and snowy. turns out, instead of clearing the snow, they let it build, then send everyone in on snowmobiles.
the fourth motel we tried was open, so we startd to cheer up. i even started to appreciate the lovely forest we drove through to get there! we went for a hike down the one trail that was open, which helped, then a hot tub at the motel, which helped more.
the only open bar in town closed at 8, but they did sell us a hobo style half gallon of beer to take back to our room - so it was all good.
headed back down the terrifying icy roads, but at least n was driving, and hauled ass accross utah to get to vegas.
utah is very big, but has very smll owns. we went through one place with population of 76! then again, it was calld butte city, would you want to live there?
stayed over night in a small town, surprisingly. everyone else in the motel was on a huntng trip. some guys were wearing all their camo gear in the restaraunt, which seemed kinda pointless. i could still see them.
fially, after many hours of driving, and some tense discussion of road position, we got to the bright light city - las vegas!
i can see why elvis liked it so much, it's really tacky. fantastic!
we've done a bit of gambling, and guess what? i won at poker. only $8 but hey, i still won in vegas! ill let you know if we broke even next time, but i doubt we will!
take care.
United States
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