Day Nine

Caldwell, ID to Zephyr Cove, NV
June 3rd, 2009

High Point of the Day....
Low Point of the Day......
Nevada Beach Campground, Lake Tahoe
Wind shear in the desert
Miles Traveled Today
Total Miles Traveled
The Bus Playlist
Weather
468
3465
Dixie Chicks, Eels, Erykah Badu, Best Of Fat Possum Records, Ghostland Observatory
Sunny, overcast, really windy
Price of Gas 
(average per gallon)
Wildlife
Night's Lodging
Where this Page was Uploaded
2.75
Cows and horses
Nevada Beach Campground
South Lake Tahoe, CA

Daily Didactic
We woke early, anticipating a long drive, amidst the big rigs in the Caldwell Campground and RV Park.

Brian spent four years in Caldwell in the late 80's going to school. It was not a result of his over thinking his college options. While the very small College Of Idaho turned out to be a good school and just what a kid from a high school of 3000 needed, it is not the sort of town most kids would be excited about spending four years in. Caldwell is a small farming town 30 miles west of Boise, with a cute little college and a whole lot of agriculture. We left the campground, drove the ten minutes from one end of town to the other, and spent the next half hour walking the totality of the college's campus. Theresa put up with a string of Brian's half recollections and surprise at rediscovering the names of things in a way most spouses wouldn't. It was a pleasant and short hike and Brian looks forward to visiting in another 20 years.

From there we got on the road for what is essentially a long drive across sage brush desert, south to Winnemucca and then west to Reno. Brian recalled this drive being a little bleak, and it turned out to be bleak. The three hours to Winnemucca were spent on a thin concrete band of mostly straight two lane road, with more big trucks than the rest of us. From Winnemucca Theresa careened the bus down the interstate into one of the most substantial winds we've seen all trip. Driving the bus in the wind is an experience, its shape doesn't really lend itself to aerodynamics. It's a little bit like tacking a sail boat into the wind and a little bit like flying a small plane in the Aleutians. Any which way, you are happy when you are done.

After taking an accidental detour through Reno, we headed up and over the pass to Lake Tahoe. We drove down the eastern edge to a beautiful sunset and eventually stumbled upon the very awesome Nevada Beach Campground in Zephyr for the evening.


Daily Pictures (Slide Show)

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The bus and the big rigs The College of Idaho administration building, Sterry Hall
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The college amphitheater, Brian thinks it was there when he was Strahorn Hall, Brian got much of his undergraduate degree in this building
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Terteling Library artwork Terteling Library
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Brian still has a trophy Hay!
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Cattle apparatus in the desert The long thin road to Winnemucca
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Oregon welcomes us Not great, but good enough
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Makes a white bus nervous Cutie Pie
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Nevada welcomes us, not necessarily with its best foot forward Fenced dunes outside Winnemucca
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Mule show and races Almost had to stop
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The art teacher says this is atmospheric perspective Somebody had a spare truck
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How's that economy Reno? The road up and over the pass to Lake Tahoe
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Sunset on Lake Tahoe The moon over Nevada Beach


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