We’re heading east to clear out a storage unit. We haven’t had any of this stuff for two years, so we clearly don’t need it and we’ve been paying a monthly fee to store it. The fee has increased every couple of months because, the people storing it had to do exactly nothing to take care of it but, their expenses have gone up, like ours, but that’s the advantage of owning storage units. You can get people to pay for a space to store shit they don’t need AND every couple of months, you can pass on the increasing costs of living to the folks who are paying you to store the shit they don’t need.
We left on a Friday morning from Nevada City, California and drove route 80, mostly, straight through – with nightly stops along the way for rest, relaxation, and sanity breaks – and arrived on a Wednesday evening at Cross Lake, Maine. 3150 miles, give and take a few lapses at resetting the odometer.
Here’s a pictorial essay from the wheel of the truck whenever I felt the urge to take a picture. Sometimes I felt the the urge to take a picture but the urge to stay alive and not fumble with my phone won out and I resisted the urge to take a picture.
On day 1, we left when it felt right; mid-morning, after hanging out with the boys on the farm. After getting over the Sierras and into Nevada, I started taking pictures here and there. We called it a day at the rest area on east side of 80 in the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Pam says I was pissy because there were people around. Probably true. I now live in a place where the only folks we see are family and friends. We rarely hear vehicles. It’s pretty nice. So, having cars pulling in and out every 5 minutes and having people pull right up next to us and leave their engine running, and high beams on, while they fumble around in their car, etc., etc., etc., might have made me a little pissy. Pictures below are day 1.
Day 2 (pictures below). Woke up early in Nevada, cooked some breakfast and coffee and then got on the road. Traffic, at this point, was pretty much non-existent. Set the cruise control, enjoy the scenery and try to stay awake. Made it to a campground in Kimball, Nebraska where I took way too many pictures of a beautiful sunset while Pam took a nice long shower.
Day 3 (pictures below). Breakfast at the High Point Campground in Kimball and then back at it on 80. A quick stop at the Classic Car Collection in Kearney, Kansas. We made it to Johnston, Iowa where Pam found us a great campsite at the Saylorville dam.
Day 4 (pictures below). Breakfast at the Saylorville Dam in Johnston, Iowa and then back on the 80 headed for Detroit. In Detroit we had our first hotel stay and then found a local bar and grill…with a food truck! Owner Ray Davis gave us a tour after he cooked dinner for us out in the truck.
Day 5. Detroit to Potsdam, NY – to visit Tim & Joanne. Pam spent all day yesterday working on the ArriveCan website so we can drive across Canada today. As it turned out, it went really well on this crossing. I only took two pictures and I don’t know where they were taken but we were crossing water!
Day 6. Potsdam, New York to Cross Lake, Maine. Woke up nice and rested at Tim and Joanne’s after a nice night of revelry with Cheri and Steve. Tim and Joanne cooked us a wonderful breakfast and then we took off for Maine. First, another border crossing into Canada!
Our time at Cross Lake & Square Lake (very limited selection of pics below, all humanoids left out to protect the innocent) and the surrounding area was legendary, as always. The Hales are incredible hosts and their generosity is apparently boundless.
The Fourth of July party was epic, as always, with friends, and family, and home made French fries, and dough boys, and deep fried turkey, and deep fried Twinkies, and deep fried candy bars (a flop this time around but…NEXT TIME!)
