comment on "Good day of travel" & update for the day

When I click on the link and look at the map it looks like our travels stopped in Elko, NV.

This is where I got the oil changed and met Cesar who fixed the vacuum leak and plug wire.

We in fact traveled well beyond Elko to east of Twin Falls, ID.

Look for the yellow star on the map to the east of Twin Falls. That’s where we are staying tonight.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=211023380774782452524.0004a7ebfd8cda0dd5af7

 

the big news of the day is that while stopping for an oil change I met a mechanic that found and solved the vacuum leak that has been plaguing us for the whole trip!

Read more about this below. The stopped cost us a couple of hours of traveling but was well worth it in the end! Thank you Cesar!

 

I was also able to fix the shower drain last night and it was nice to take a shower this eve without my feet feeling like they were in the tub.

 

The roads in NV today were straight and smooth for much of the day. There were some long hills but once the engine was running better than ever we were able to handle them well. I like the long, straight, flat roads of the west for sure. And the scenery is great. The terrain is so wide open here compared to home. It’s interesting to see the open space for miles and miles and wonder who owns it and what do they do with all this land?

 

Yesterday and today I noticed something we haven’t seen on the trip: triples. In the we have tandem trailers pulled by one tractor but out here we saw lots of tractors pulling three trailers! I have driven tractor trailer (and still have a CDL) and always thought pulling two trailers would be stressful…but three! And in the wind that these flat prairies can get…it looks tough. The winds can really whip on this flat land. And without warning. We got hit today with a quick blast that jarred us and then was gone. We also saw quite a few mini-dusters today. Small dust twisters off in the distance.

 

Lots of trains today too. Must have been at least 10 freight trains running parallel with us at different times on I-80. Must be a big shipping corridor. Some looked like coal for electric plants, some looked like other mining, lots of containers and freight in general along with tankers and box cars. 75 cars were counted in one train. Most have two locomotives and some have three.

 

We finally finished the audiobook version of Huck Finn today. Was a great story to listen to together. And there we some tolerable funny parts. Almost more than a body could stand! J we started The Secret Garden this afternoon.

 

Tomorrow we head for Yellowstone. Plan to stay tomorrow night and the next before heading to Mt Rushmore and points east.

 

It’s warm and not windy tonight. After another windy night in the NV mountains last night we’ll welcome a night of sitting still while we sleep.

Good Night!

 

trains

Jay