Elko is the center of a current gold rush. Billboards specifically target miners, wether they promote shops, hotels, or casinos. Most any establishment has "gold," "bonanza," "mine," or some other term associated with gold wealth. We had hoped to get a tour of one of the active mines, but, alas, we were there on a day where there were no tours.
Oh, I know. I know. You are so jealous. And yes, Winnemucca was everything I could have hoped and dreamed of. Its our first day back on the road, and our first order of business was to play Johnny Cash's rendition of "I've Been Everywhere" on loop. For those not in the know, the song begins:
We had to loop back to Grass Valley to pick up a few last items we had left with friends. With a few lessons learned, we laid out the back of the van in a more thoughtful way with rugs, a mattress on the floor, plastic storage drawers as dressers, and a cooler, easily accessible in the back. I guess the means we are ready for the first leg of our real trip...
I know some people might baulk if I were to say that we were "trapped" in Los Angeles. Maybe I'll say that we were detained? There was a small matter of a broken break light and air conditioner that led us to entrust our beloved Dodgy to one of the few mechanics in LA that would even touch a car from the 80s. Good man that he was, finding replacement parts for an '86 van is no small feat and what we had anticipated as a stay of a few days in LA turned out to be two weeks. In the end, while there was still more work to do on the air conditioning, we liberated the van from the shop so that we could continue our trip...with the windows down.
Ah, Santa Barbara! Sure, I could say we visited for the cute downtown but who would we be kidding? It was all for the pinot noir. Though our wine tasting travails were limited, they were quite fruitful. It was for this reason, and this alone, that we had packed two coolers. One is for ice and food. The other is for wine.
Next, we mozied down the 1 to Big Sur. Aside from almost getting bit by a rattlesnake, it was a laid back ride that was all about the scenery. Here, we had our first go at sleeping in the van at the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park Campground. While Big Sur isn't quite the place to roll in without a reservation, it helps to arrive on a week week day and be friendly.
For our first night on the road, we celebrated by not sleeping in the car. Instead, we indulged in a hotel by the sea. There were sea lions, arcade games, and mimosas. It was perfect.
The car is a '86 Dodge Ram. But don't let that fool you. The engine is from '93. Ancillary parts are from...some time between '86 and now. I currently call it "Dodgy." That name is subject to change.
Ya know, I think we had a pretty nice place. We lived in San Francisco doing that San Francisco thing: a technology startup. We had a nice apartment with a nice view and a nice walk to a nice market for nice meals. It was very nice. But "nice" gets boring. So, we have either given away or packed up all our worldly belongings. A few choice possessions we are loading into a van for a cross country trek. This blog is the story.
I have never been a fan of cars. When I turned 16, getting a driver's license was the furthest from my thoughts. When I left home, it was to live in cities as a pedestrian. And yet, here I am. In a car.