2003 02 Nevada

Well, today I finally got out again, after two rather blah days of sitting waiting for the weather in Truckee.  The NWS said it was going to be cloudy to partly cloudy over all of Nevada today, but they were only partly to mostly right.  This morning the skies were very clear in western Nevada, and got progressively cloudier going east as the day went by.  It was a beautiful day.

For the first time I drove across Nevada on I80.  All the other trips I have made have been on 50, which is far less traveled.  It is interesting to note the differences between 80 and 50.  I80 is one of the main east west interstates, and has been designed to support 120MPH, I think.  It goes around most of the north south mountain ranges, where 50 goes up and down them.  Driving 50 gives you a much better sense of the real "basin and range" geography in Nevada, but 80 is best if you just want to get there in a hurry.  That is what I wanted to do today - just get from Truckee to Elko.  Still, it is a beautiful drive.  I stopped a few places and took some snaps from the freeway:

This all probably seems quite repetitive, but, well, it is. I saw 250 miles of this today, and it is all very beautiful. The rain and storm clouds that built up as the day went on were spectacular. I hope tomorrow looks much the same.

Tomorrow I am going to the semi-shost towns of Tuscarora, and then to another semi-ghost town, Midas. This whole area looks interesting.