After we got through Omaha, it was my turn to drive. I80 West outside of Omaha is pretty desolate and flat. I drove for several hours and really got pretty comfortable behind the wheel-as long as I don’t have to turn corners!
We made it to the Summit rest area just outside of Laramie, Wyoming, on night one. This is a nice rest area with plenty of room for truckers and RV’s. The RV area is a little odd to get to-you need to enter and go past the main restroom building to get to the RV parking lot. It’s a little confusing in the dark and we passed the entrance which led us to a dirt road that didn’t look very motor home friendly. So, we had to unhook Yeep and turn around. (We can’t reverse when flat towing Yeep, so it’s kind of important to know where we’re going-another oops on my part, but not the end of the world) It was COLD! And a little windy!
The Summit rest area houses an Abraham Lincoln Monument that attracts lots of visitors. It was cold, dark, and windy so I got a picture of the back of it early the next morning-wouldn’t load for the life of me-you’ll just have to imagine.
We left slides in as this rest area, while large, was pretty busy for a week night in September. We had a light dinner and got some sleep. The rest area had lots of great areas to walk the dogs the next morning. I met a couple of guys from Google maps in their car-they had pulled over for the night too. They said they are on the road for 6 months at a time and have been all over, including Brazil and yes, they usually have hotel rooms, but just slept in their car last night.
Once Mike got us through the mountains a ways, it was my turn to drive again. My kind of driving-desolate and straight lol! All kidding aside, I am getting more comfortable.
I tend to get very nervous right before I drive. I get so worked up and worried when Mike says I can drive now that I often turn into a growly bitch. I should know by now that Mike knows and studies the roads many times before we travel them-unless I take us adrift from the planned route lol-but I just get crazy worried that something will come up that I can’t handle. I’m usually good after 15-30 minutes of driving, but I put the whole cab through a little hell. Not sure there’s any other reason than my own anxiety, but I’m working on it.
It was nice, easy driving, just as Mike had said. I did have to pull into some type of check station on the Idaho border to have the kayak inspected. That threw me for a little bit of a loop, but I did ok pulling off and getting back on the freeway. Fortunately, it was not crowded and the inspectors were understanding, lol!
We were less than 20 miles outside of Boise when it was time to fuel up. I pulled off at a truck stop and switched Mike at the off ramp stop sign so I wouldn’t have to turn-it’s the little things, lol. Anyway, we lucked into an AWESOME truck stop. We had arrived at Boise Stage Stop!
It was around dinner time when we stopped. We found easy access diesel pumps and while fueling, we found huge spaces to park for the night! We were able to park Reva Mae near one end of the parking lot away from the semi-trucks and positioned her so we could open half the slides without obstructing any paths or taking extra space.
Boise Stage Stop has awesome online reviews! I would have loved to try the restaurant but calorically we were still recovering from the wedding so we just grabbed a light sandwich and some soup in Reva.
There are several parking lots that, when we arrived, were mostly emptied, but by morning were full of rigs. This is a busy place. Just take a look at it on Google maps satellite-it’s huge!
They have several different dog runs that they allow customers to use free of charge. There are even signs that you may apply your own lock if you choose to leave your animal in the run for whatever reason.
They also have horse/livestock pens and a free RV sewer dump. Since we knew we could fill our tank the next day at Cheryl’s house, we took advantage of the free dump and each took a nice, hot, long shower. We slept in, had some coffee, exercised the dogs, dumped the tanks, and headed over to see Mike’s sister, Cheryl in Caldwell, ID, about an hour’s drive away.
Cheryl has an acreage in Caldwell and had plenty of room for us to park Reva Mae and enjoy a nice visit late into the evening. Cheryl had her great grand kids with her while we were there so we got to have fun playing with some more babies. We also got to meet Cheryl’s goat, Barbara Jean, named for my mother in law. Barbara Jean was originally raised in the house as a little kid and still wants to be inside whenever possible. It’s not easy to keep her out, lol! We also learned Barbara Jean loves cheese puffs-go figure! I’m assuming she named her Barbara Jean because the original truly was the GOAT! I hope I’m half the mother in law she was!
Spent the night in Cheryl’s driveway and headed out early to reach our final destination for a bit, Pyramid Lake!
This visit was one of healing on both sides. A lot happens over the years and family can become strangers or even worse. Cheryl was always so special to me in our early years of marriage. She was my rock so many times and I’m grateful we had this time and opportunity to let all the bad waters flow under the bridge and move on in our lives. It’s good to be connected again.
Mike drove through some traffic and hilly areas and once we were clear, I took over again. I think it was finally here that I started analyzing how weird I got every time I drove. Mike and I talked about it and figured out a few things that might help me not get so dang uptight and bitchy before I drive. It’s nice to finally be at a place in life where I can look at my behaviors and feelings honestly, like a learning opportunity, rather than just defensively. If that makes sense.
We talked as I drove and I think we both learned things about ourselves and our reactions to things. I get so dang anxious about so many things. Sometimes you just have to be brave and know it’s ok.
I drove nearly to Winnemucca, Nevada, then Mike took over for the remainder of the drive. We hadn’t made reservations at Pyramid this time and it’s getting more and more popular so there were no monthly options available when we arrived. We stopped in at Crosby’s Lodge to see old friends and get our dry camping permits. We unhooked Yeep and drove around various areas on the lake to look for a good spot to set up Reva. The water is so high the last couple of years that a lot of the shoreline we used to be able to use for camping is under water . Because the Fresh and Salty crew were coming for opening day, we tried to find something near Warrior Beach. It was funny to run into so many free range cows grazing on the beach. We drove among them while they gave us inquisitive looks! So fun.
We ended up choosing a nice flat area near Crosby’s -our usual spot we had camped so many times over the years in our pick up camper. Mike always has good luck at Crosby’s beach and while most prefer other areas, it’s home to us and the fishing is good. We’re all settled in for the next 2 weeks!
