An-di-fan East

Day One:The Road Goes Ever, Ever On

The road to Nevada was interminable. In fact, it was dark before we finally crossed the state line. We left only seven minutes later than I intended--12:07, to be exact--but ran into considerably more traffic on highway 97 than I had expected. Almost exactly eleven hours later, we finally arrived at the Battle Mountain Inn. Not bad for about 550 miles.

I didn't feel like we'd really hit the road until I got my first whiff of juniper. As we drove east from Bend, the juniper gradually gave way to creosote, a much more sour smell--which is even nastier here in Battle Mountain, as it mingles with cigarette smoke and other things I'd rather not think about. It'll improve as we get away from this place. The water from our hotel tap is tepid, so I've filled our bottles with ice.

Along the way, we saw a glorious sunset over Steens Mountain--mostly in the rear-view mirror, unfortunately! Here are some shots:



Sean has been a great traveling companion, helpful, nary a complaint, despite spending most of the day in the passenger seat. He spontaneously began writing his own journal, in fact, and at the next hot spot, I'll have him upload his own thoughts.

I'm keeping this post short: we're off to Zion as soon as the car's reloaded.

posted by Mark Anderson @ 7:26 AM