Road Work. Here, there, everywhere. Hit it as soon as we headed up toward Donner Pass.
It’s kinda odd how a mountain pass is named for people who managed to get themselves stranded in the Sierra Nevada over the winter from hell and ate each other after idiotically taking the Hastings Cut-off to California instead of the more familiar and well-traveled Oregon Trail.
That’s one of the things my husband and I discussed with raised voices (in order to hear each other) as we rattled along the single open lane of I-80, Jake wandering back and forth between the cab and the bed in the back, staring at us like we were insane. Perhaps we were.
We learned an awful lot that first day, as in Harry Reid must have received a shitload of stimulus dough because the stretch of I-80 running through Nevada pretty much consists of RoADwORk and DETouRs. We also learned that it’s way scary to drive an unwieldy vehicle on a two-lane no-shoulder semi-truck route at night. Where the speed limit is 75 mph.
Most of all, we learned that a 14 hour drive in an RV is at least two hours too long. We arrived at our first destination long after dark. Too late to officially check into the almost impossible to find RV park so we had to use the after-hours drop which, by the way, at this particular park was NOT self-explanatory.
The good - the fridge was a wonder of functionality, so was the stove. The bathroom wasn’t as small as you might think - very adequate. The bad - the heater and the lack of hot water. I tossed and turned that first night. Up in Idaho, no insulation, hubby bundled up in his single sleeping bag. It was like trying to sleep in a deep freeze. We lost an hour of driving time the next morning working with the advisers on the other end of the 1-800 help line, attempting to get the heater working. No luck, although we did solve the problem on our own a few days later.
While hubby was on his cell phone, I headed to the office to complete the check-in process, because I wanted to make sure the manager got our money. It would be damn easy to arrive late and leave before sunrise to avoid paying for the night, if one was so motivated. I noted that our immediate neighbor was so motivated.
I have to be honest, day two got off to a less than promising start.
Me, loitering on the deck of the office at 9:05 a.m., studying all the notices, waiting for someone, anyone to appear.
“Yeah? What’re you doin’ here?”
“Well, I want to pay now because there was no one around last night.”
“I left the envelopes over there.” She pointed a thick thumb over her shoulder. “Ya stick yer money in the envelope and drop it through the slot.”
“Yes, I saw the envelopes, but they were ripped and had no glue strip. I was afraid the money would fall out and I didn’t have exact change anyway. I figured it would be better to pay this morning.” (Who’s to say you wouldn’t have claimed I didn’t stick any money in the envelope? And lady, I sure as shit ain’t givin’ you my credit card number.)
Eye roll. “Well, c’mon in then. Guess I’ll have to open ‘er up.”
Well, uh, yeah. The sign on your door says you open at 8 a.m.
I hand over $40. She counts me out eight $1 bills in change.
“Do you sell any maps?”
“Nope.”
“We’re heading toward Bozeman, Montana. I’m wondering if Highway 20 is faster than I-15. Our GPS says…”
“Faster? Hell, what you doin’ up here? Shoulda gone through Salt Lake City. That’s what I tell people. You wanna get to Bozeman, go to Salt Lake City.”
“But that’s like two hundred and fifty miles backwards. That would add over four hundred miles to our trip. Highway 20 is right up the road.”
A shake of the head and a snort. “City folk.”
I walked back to the RV. Hubby was still wrangling with the heater. “That lady’s a bitch,” I told him. “Forget the heater, let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Did you ask her which route is faster?”
“Yeah, she was loads of help. She said to go through Salt Lake City.”
“What?”
“Salt Lake City.”
“But that’s hundreds of miles out of our way. Is she nuts?”
“I don’t know about nuts, but she isn’t very nice. We should have driven off before sunrise like that other guy did.”
To be continued…
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Hmmm, you probabaly should’ve driven off before the sun came up.
Oh, goody! Another serial story by Julia…yippee! Can’t wait for the next installment….*going to get popcorn*
Did you check to see if there were any people buried up to their necks behind the office?
I’ll bring a box of Dots, Penelope. This is going to be a good one…
My father-in-law is a rabid lone fisherman in his RV. He just came home from a two week trip to the four corners areas and did a large portion of Montana in August. He said the same thing about the RV parks and payment! (Hours of complaining actually) He often ended up after dark in a Walmart parking lot in the nearest town, because he couldn’t find the RV park or else couldn’t find the money drop slot. It was not the wilderness experience he was hoping for. This was his comment: “Word to the wise, arrive before dark, carry lots of small bills and bring your own envelopes,’cause there aint’ no one around except to write a ticket.”
XXOO Kat
Kat, your father-in-law is a very wise man. We chose more carefully on the way home.
Ya know, Jaye, I shoulda. I bet she had ‘em out back. In that weird storage room of hers…
But Penny, there’s no sex this time! Well maybe one-time sex…Too damn cold!
I think so too, Amber!
Nice to know California is actually doing some road work.
Hello Kay. Welcome! Yes, some road work, but kinda scary roadwork. Donner Pass. Northern Cali usually gets the shaft when it comes to road work.