Driving thru NV, Holy Hamburger!
Yea, so the truck stop didn’t do it for me, and it was full of flies! By the time I finished my evening work and dinner, I must have had a 100 stow-away flies in my van. I left the truck stop after sunset and continued on my path West, pulling over and staying the night in the middle of the Utah desert about 30 miles short of the Nevada border.
8am – The alarm sounded at 6am but I turned it off for some reason. I’m sure my subconscious mind had a valid excuse, but it makes no sense to me right now. I heated some coffee and got moving as I had roughly 3 hours of driving to make it into Ely, NV, my nearest Internet connection, and only 4 hours before work needs me online.
Noon – Made it into the Ely with some time to spare. I happened across a wildlife viewing area about 10 miles south of town. I had a cell signal so checked in with the “mom’s”. Though Verizon said I had full Internet, the connection is very poor so I continued closer to town where the signal did not get any better. I had seriously considered staying the day and night here, but the Internet requirements are not optional. So, I current sit in Ely’s public park, in the shade, to take care of this afternoon’s work load. I have about an hour to decide if I will sit here for another 8 hours to do the evening work, or make a run for Fallon, NV (my next reliable Internet signal) about 250 miles West.
7PM – I escaped the clutches of the poor Internet connection in Ely, quickly driving further West. With Fallon so far out, I was hoping that some of the smaller towns in between will have a connection (even though Verizon’s 3G map says no-way). Ironic, that this stage of the journey has given me the best connections I have had since leaving Moab. Heck, I had a full connection in Eureka, NV and even some fair connections up in the mountains between there and where I currently sit; 5 miles West of Austin, NV. While I had no connection *in* Austin, 5 miles into the desert and I have more than I can ask for… including one heck of a view for the sunset.
As I always do when I pass through Austin (at least the past few times I have) I stopped in the local dinner and asked for a hamburger to-go. A few minutes later and I was west-bound again with a little extra beef in hand. The first bite was divine! I actually made some sort of evil laugh… out loud… luckily no one else was on the street nearby.
I believe I will stay here for the night and move on into Fallon and possibly Dayton before my afternoon work. No rush, so we will see how I treat the alarm in the morning and that will dictate how far I get tomorrow.
