San Francisco, CA to Twin Falls, ID
671 Miles
One of the great things that you can say about Pete is that he makes decisions quickly. When I called him on Wed night before the trip and pitched Yellowstone, he was smoking a cigar with Bob Rankin. Maybe it was the mood, but it took him about 30 seconds to agree to meet me in Twin Falls on Friday night.
I’ve read about the Iron Butt and figured that if these cats can run over a thousand miles a day for several days on end, then 650 miles wouldn’t be “all that bad.” And as an effort to get somewhere, it wasn’t that bad. But it sure wasn’t conducive to sightseeing, picture taking, or cigar smoking.
Left around 6:30 a.m. relatively awake (a double shot of espresso does wonders for waking up), and stopped only for gas until lunchtime. The ride was Reno was beautiful, but I forewent stopping for photos to continue making good time.
I did come away impressed with HWY-80 through Nevada. It was in great shape (at least the left lane) and I love the higher speed limits. It means you can kick back and cruise at a reasonable pace without worrying about getting a speeding ticket. At first, and coming out of the Serra Nevada’s, the land seemed rather desolate. But after awhile, I noticed that although it’s a little sparse, the land has it’s own type of beauty.
I-80 Nevada
Open Road
And, as the sun went down as I neared the Idaho boarder, it got even better.
Sunset near the Nevada Idaho border
Shadows and Light
The original intent, of course was to be in Twin Falls before dark and we would have both made it if someone hadn’t had a head-on collision right on the Nevada/Idaho border. I ended up cooling my heals in traffic for about an hour while they airlifted out the injured and cleaned up the mess. And it was a mess.
Alas, we made it to Twin Falls and Pete already had camp picked out and his tent set up. Of course, despite the long day we found the energy to smoke a cigar and catch up untill close to midnight.