HELL...& HEAVEN

Let me start off by defining irony:

Living on the edge of Silicon Valley and not having internet access. Hmph!

But first things first...Yes, I made it. And as my title suggests, I drove thru Hell and reached heaven. No, not heaven-Nirvana!

I was warned by many that my triop would reach it's lowest point beginning in Nebraska and end after Wyoming. Those people must have all turned at Salt Lake City. If they had continued west, they would know that hell doesn't start until the Great Salt Lake Desert. There ain't nothin' great about it! Over 60 miles of nothing but flat, hot,...well, nothing! As you leave the desert you enter Nevada and drive over a ridge. Hope blossoms as the road twists thru picturesque mountains. Then immediately it dumps you into a basin (the Great Basin!) where you drive for an eternity around mountain range after mountain range. There's nothing more depressing than seeing a road stretching before you for mile after mile. It made NE and WY seem like a breeze. The only positive thing about Utah is it's a straight drive across the state. The road thru Nevada meanders here and there to the point where it seems you're getting nowhere. The only amusement is watching dust devil #58 sweep by a sign that says chains or snow tires required for the next X miles. Huh? I did get to see my first (and hopefully last) sandstorm. And I now understand why the gov't used this region for nuclear testing-there ain't nothin' to kill out there! I didn't even see any buzzards!

I really began to feel sanity slipping away. Hell, I cried twice and I couldn't even tell you why!

Gradually the road began to wind upwards. Very soon I was following the Truckee River into Reno. I crossed over a ridge and came to Truckee, CA. My uncle owns a B&B there, so I stopped to take advantage of a free night's lodging. Truckee is a beautiful town nested on the mountainside. It consists of a lovely main street with quaint shops and restaurants. The Truckee River runs parallel to the railroad which is a popular means of travel. I could have stayed and worked at the B&B-the Richardson House-part time and did think about it. It is a beautiful Victorian house that sits above the town. Go to the link and you'll understand better how special it is. It consists of 8 rooms. Because they weren't open, Peter(the innkeeper) gave me my choice of the rooms. I decided on Tamsen & George's room mainly because of the footed tub. If you've never had a bath in one, I highly recommend it. It was exactly what I needed. The easiest way to tell you why I decided against staying there is to give you a number: 380. That's the # of inches of snow they had last winter! Not all at once, mind you, but even if you devide that by say 5 months, that's still well over 7 feet a month. Now I like snow, but not that much. For those of you who do enjoy winter activities, this is a great place to come. Northstar and Squaw Valley are only a short distance away and in the summer, Lake Tahoe is just over the ridge. That is where I went the next morning. I took the scenic route, which in my family is a dreaded thing; however, this was a wonderful drive that followed along the shore of the lake.

I am now at Los Gatos-a truly beautiful place that is less than a 1/2 hour from San Jose and maybe 20 minutes from the ocean. The trees are big and the stars are plentiful at night. I have a job at the B&N in Campbell and will be Newsstand lead there starting the 10th. So I've been reading and basking in the sun. I will post more later-hopefully I will have internet access soon.