![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeWe did pretty good getting packed and on the road than I expected, buttoning up the house and leaving around 2 PM. We had one local stop in Fernley, then Lisa took the wheel and we set out east on I-80. Here was the general route without our slight diversions here and there.
We zipped across the Forty Mile Desert in air-conditioned comfort. The money we spent to repair the Astro is paying off. The minivan runs well and the AC is working even in the very hot northern Nevada summer weather.
Winnemucca was the halfway point of today's trip, and we had several things to do here.
We refueled at the Pilot truck stop at the edge of Winnemucca. With the van getting less good mileage than it once did, it seems prudent to not let the gas tank get below half full. Somewhat to my surprise, we got nearly 18 mpg from Fernley to Winnemucca despite having the AC on full and traveling at freeway speeds. Sometime in the past year, speed limit was increased in this section to 80 miles per hour, but Lisa mostly kept the speed in the 65-70 mph range. The Astro does not handle well above that speed, and we were not in an excessive hurry.
We then went to Big R Winnemucca. This store is bigger than any of their other locations in northern Nevada, and we were looking for shirts for Lisa. It's hard to find women's 3XL button-up shirts, but we've found them before, but only at this Big R, not the others. Once again, we struck paydirt, as they had two that fit and suited her. It they'd had more, we would have bought more.
It was time for dinner, and we went to the restaurant at Winner's Casino, which advertises their all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner. Lisa and I ate and drank our fill. It's not as good as Lisa's pasta sauce, but we reckon that no restaurant could make a sauce like Lisa's without having to overcharge for it.
I'd left the 12V phone charger at home, so we stopped at a Maverik truck stop on the east end of Winnemucca and bought one so I could keep my phone charged while we are on the road. I'm going to have to keep one of these chargers in both vehicles. Then it was back on the road to Elko, after two hours in Winnemucca.
We stopped at the Beowawe rest area on I-80, where the timing was good to get this pretty sunset. We then pushed on to Elko, arriving at 9 PM, and thus taking about 7 hours (including stops) to go 264 miles (the actual odometer count, including all side trips.)
We are staying tonight in the Holiday Inn Express Elko, where we have stayed a bunch of times, including last year's Winnipeg trip. I had enough IHG points to use on tonight's trip. A member of the hotel's staff called me earlier today to ask about our overlapping room type request. I told her that a room with a bathtub is more important than the number of beds or the floor number. We don't have a bathtub at home, and Lisa always appreciates being able to get a bath when we are traveling.
After checking in and getting our keys, we went up and checked out the room. Kuma Bear approves.
Although most of the rooms in the hotel appear to have shower stalls only, there are a handful with tub-shower combinations, and they had assigned us this one on the second floor. Lisa was happy.
There is a decent microwave-coffee-refrigerator alcove, and the room was wide enough that getting the luggage cart with our stuff into the room was not a challenge the way it is with some hotels. The refrigerator has a bit of a problem, though, in that whenever you open the door, it tips forward. We can handle it for one night, though.
I have to work a half-day tomorrow morning, so I brought my work computers with me. To my relief, all three computers (including my personal one) connected to the hotel wi-fi and seem to be working properly. Now I need to try and get a few hours of sleep before having to be up for the last bit of Day Jobbe before my long holiday weekend.
We zipped across the Forty Mile Desert in air-conditioned comfort. The money we spent to repair the Astro is paying off. The minivan runs well and the AC is working even in the very hot northern Nevada summer weather.
Winnemucca was the halfway point of today's trip, and we had several things to do here.
We refueled at the Pilot truck stop at the edge of Winnemucca. With the van getting less good mileage than it once did, it seems prudent to not let the gas tank get below half full. Somewhat to my surprise, we got nearly 18 mpg from Fernley to Winnemucca despite having the AC on full and traveling at freeway speeds. Sometime in the past year, speed limit was increased in this section to 80 miles per hour, but Lisa mostly kept the speed in the 65-70 mph range. The Astro does not handle well above that speed, and we were not in an excessive hurry.
We then went to Big R Winnemucca. This store is bigger than any of their other locations in northern Nevada, and we were looking for shirts for Lisa. It's hard to find women's 3XL button-up shirts, but we've found them before, but only at this Big R, not the others. Once again, we struck paydirt, as they had two that fit and suited her. It they'd had more, we would have bought more.
It was time for dinner, and we went to the restaurant at Winner's Casino, which advertises their all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner. Lisa and I ate and drank our fill. It's not as good as Lisa's pasta sauce, but we reckon that no restaurant could make a sauce like Lisa's without having to overcharge for it.
I'd left the 12V phone charger at home, so we stopped at a Maverik truck stop on the east end of Winnemucca and bought one so I could keep my phone charged while we are on the road. I'm going to have to keep one of these chargers in both vehicles. Then it was back on the road to Elko, after two hours in Winnemucca.
We stopped at the Beowawe rest area on I-80, where the timing was good to get this pretty sunset. We then pushed on to Elko, arriving at 9 PM, and thus taking about 7 hours (including stops) to go 264 miles (the actual odometer count, including all side trips.)
We are staying tonight in the Holiday Inn Express Elko, where we have stayed a bunch of times, including last year's Winnipeg trip. I had enough IHG points to use on tonight's trip. A member of the hotel's staff called me earlier today to ask about our overlapping room type request. I told her that a room with a bathtub is more important than the number of beds or the floor number. We don't have a bathtub at home, and Lisa always appreciates being able to get a bath when we are traveling.
After checking in and getting our keys, we went up and checked out the room. Kuma Bear approves.
Although most of the rooms in the hotel appear to have shower stalls only, there are a handful with tub-shower combinations, and they had assigned us this one on the second floor. Lisa was happy.
There is a decent microwave-coffee-refrigerator alcove, and the room was wide enough that getting the luggage cart with our stuff into the room was not a challenge the way it is with some hotels. The refrigerator has a bit of a problem, though, in that whenever you open the door, it tips forward. We can handle it for one night, though.
I have to work a half-day tomorrow morning, so I brought my work computers with me. To my relief, all three computers (including my personal one) connected to the hotel wi-fi and seem to be working properly. Now I need to try and get a few hours of sleep before having to be up for the last bit of Day Jobbe before my long holiday weekend.
