Countdown to Departure: Day 0

Today is Departure Day. It's my last full day of Day Jobbe for me for nearly a month. I'll be working some half days remotely while traveling, which saves PTO and also means I'm less likely to come back to work next month and feel like I've forgotten how to do my job.

We packed a lot of stuff into boxes and then put the boxes into the minivan last night. We'll do our personal luggage and valuables before departure, of course.

Today's destination is Elko, Nevada, which is over 250 miles, but Interstate 80 is a pretty fast road in Nevada, and we're usually up to longer trip legs at the start of a trip than at the end. We very nearly left yesterday and went to Winnemucca, because if we had discovered that we'd left something critical behind, it's a shorter trip home. But we've been obsessing over packing lists for weeks now, so we'll just have to trust to luck

Winnipeg Road Trip, Day 1: Fernley NV to Elko NV

Thanks to our very efficient packing, we were ready to leave just after 2 PM today.

( The Best Laid Plans )

I had not looked at what the highway conditions were across I-80, and it hardly mattered as there are not many alternative routes. But what I did not know was that there are many stretches of I-80 across Nevada this summer that are reduced to one lane with a 55 mph speed limit, for repaving projects. And we don't travel quickly anyway. We tend to stop at most rest areas and make other stops along the way. For example, we went to the Big R in Winnemucca, which has a larger selection than the stores in Fernley and Fallon. There, we found a shirt for Lisa, which I call a big success, as Lisa is very difficult to shop for.

( Bugs, Mr. Rico! )

We got to the hotel about 8:30 PM. After moving in and getting my computer running, I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. I was puzzled why it was showing the right address but a different room number until I realized that we must have ordered when staying at this hotel on a previous trip, and my computer remembered the old room number. Anyway, while waiting for the pizza, we walked over to the mini-market down the street and got drinks to bring back to the hotel. It's a good thing we didn't go far, because the pizza arrived in only half the predicted time. We're not complaining; we were both hungry.

Now I must try to get some sleep; I have to be up in less than five hours to do a half-day's work at Day Jobbe before we shove off for Idaho Falls.