While I was talking with my father before I was out of Colorado, I happened to mention that my destination for the day was Salt Lake City. He recommended that I take US 50 as I-70 went 47 miles south to meet up with I-15 and further, US 50 would be a more direct route to Reno. Since I'm a visual person, when I next stopped for gas I checked his route out and liked it.
So, now it is 9:30 PM PST and I'm in Ely, Nevada. What's more I almost made it here before darkness. With the moon so big and bright, you could say I did. Really though, twilight disappeared with me just 35 minutes out of Ely. This was due to the 65 mph speed limit on US 50 in Utah, which I thought was real good. A more direct route and allowable speeds close to the expressway. I was even more impressed when I got to Nevada. The speed limit was 70 mph and that was really what clued me into the fact that I had entered Nevada. I expected to slow down for towns but they really were non-existent. They did reduce the speed limit on the curvy passes over the couple of ancient ranges US 50 crosses. (This is a really good metaphor for my Life after Layoff: Surprisingly high speed limits allowing me to go as far as I want.)
On the road to Ely, even once in Utah, I saw a couple signs advertising the Hotel Nevada and its free Wi-Fi. So, I bypassed the Best Western, which looked a lot like the Topeka motel I stayed in, and checked into the Hotel Nevada. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi is not detectable in my room. So, right now I'm in the hall updating my blog. (By the way, the Hotel Nevada also has a casino. If they didn't the room would have been even cheaper than the hotel in Topeka. As it is, it is the most expensive place I've stayed so far.)
On the plus side, they did have real coin quarter slot machines. I slowed down my money donation by "collecting" state quarters. In the mix I found four double dates, bicentennial quarters.
The scenery on the way here was truly spectacular. Since I had so far to go and did not want to drive too far in the dark on potentially icy roads, I didn't take any pictures as I would have had to stop to give the camera an even chance to take something not blurred by salt encrusted windows. I have made a couple mental notes about it though. One, I'm going to have to make another trip when I can stop and enjoy the sights and take pictures to be able to point to and say the pictures just don't do it justice. Two, there is a reason there isn't a hiking trail the length of Utah, or for that matter Nevada. It could only be used by mountain climbing enthusiasts and even they wouldn't be enthused by the highest elevation I was on, 7,720 feet.
I ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant even though it characterized itself as "Burger Heaven." I had one serving of all you can eat spaghetti with meatballs and a marinara sauce, without the meatballs. I forgot to ask them to hold the cheese and was relieved when the cheese was served separately in a little shaker.
I also took the ice bucket down to the registration desk to be told that there is an ice machine on every floor but four, my floor. So I stopped off on three on my way back up. It had an ice machine but it didn't have ice. Then I tried the fifth floor. Its ice machine was full up.
I've debated pushing on for home in a long day tomorrow but I've now ruled that out. At best I would be caught in the returning from skiing traffic. At worst I would be fully behind it and driving in the dark. This gives me a chance to lose some more money in Reno, where I'm sure all the quarter slots are now quarterless.
Oh, I purchased a couple Power Ball tickets for tonight's drawing in Purchase, Colorado.
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Sorry I missed your call. We ended up with about 12 inches of snow. I wasn't able to see the big bright moon (cloudy skies). It was to be the brightest full moon of the year as it was closest to the earth on it's orbit. Lucky you for getting to see it. I did note that even with the cloud cover, the sky was brighter than normal. Hope you win BIG in Reno!!
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