7-04 Wednesday - Fourth of July in Nevada

Its the fourth of July today! I finally have internet access that doesn't suck outright, so I'm trying to get all of my posts up to date. I've also had a hankerin' to play Fallout since we hit desert and so I'm also taking advantage of the internet to grab that.

Matt and I left Grand Tetons pretty early this morning, and just kept on driving for Fernley, Nevada. I still wish we had shot for Reno, just half an hour farther, but no matter, this place is way nicer than I ever expected, especially from a Best Western. On the route we left Wyoming and passed thru Idaho.

I gave Mark Niehus a call as we entered Idaho, since he lives there now. And what does he say when he calls back? "I'm in Jackson Hole..." Holy crap, we were in Jackson Hole like 3 hours before. I don't know how we missed each other. I'm so disappointed and also really amazed at this coincidence.

Idaho is pretty much as you'd expect it. There's large really flat areas and some hills. Its pretty much the Kentucky of the West Coast, just take away trees, add flat areas, and add some brown into the color palette, and there you go.

Nevada was interesting, as well as a bit intimidating. It definetly gets into hot desert area. The parking lot here was still hot from the sun's heat long after it had gone down. As soon as we crossed the state line from Idaho into Nevada, we were greated by the town of Jackpot and its casinos. Pretty seedy. There's a lot more mountain in this desert than you'd think. There's also a vegetation everywhere still, but its all yellowed grass and some form of tumbleweed or another. The vast majority of Nevada is devoid of civilation. The best signs of people are rundown buildings, and lots of cattle in what appears to be ranches. It sounds bad, but I actually find it all very cool.

Fernley is decent enough. It appears that the entire state of Nevada comes here for fireworks. And what a fireworks display it was. If you've never watched fire works in Nevada, you should try it. It really was one of the better displays I've seen.

Check out this awesome dude we saw at a stop in Nevada.

Tomorrow we should arrive in San Francisco!