And So It Begins...

Great Basin National Park, Nevada

After a whirlwind tour of Cabo, Trinidad and Ecuador for the past several weeks you'd think I'd have the "on-the-road" syndrome out of my system. Au contraire! My gypsy soul is definitely speaking to me and after less than 48 hours at home we hit the road for a 7 week road trip. Pure Heaven.

Today was a long day in the car, not really much to see in Nevada. We took Highway 50, known as the Loneliest Road in America. Several years ago we traveled this road from east to west direction. My memory of it was that it was desolate and pretty much a wasteland. Mmmm. My experience today was much different. We always had a view of one mountain or another, many snow capped. Our big outing for the day was going to be a milkshake at Economy Drug Soda Fountain in Ely, but unfortunately it is closed on Sunday.

One of the highlights of the day was coming round the bend and spotting Wheeler Peak the focal point of Great Basin National Park. The ipod was on random shuffle and it just so happened that Ray Charles was signing his heart out to "America The Beautiful" as the snowcapped peak came into view. There were clouds gathered around the mountain top and the golden rays of sun were streaming down highlighting the mountain. Gave us chills - partly with how beautiful it was and also because we will be camping there.

We reached Great Basin National Park and I must say I was completely surprised at high beautiful this campground is! We had made a short visit to the visitor center many years ago in the dead heat of summer. I was less than impressed at the time. Probably cause it was hotter than hell and everything looked bleak. Pulling into the campground tonight was such a different experience. We have the sweetest camp spot, under lots of pine trees, and right next to a roaring creek. It almost feels like we are in Lassen rather than the Great Basin. Fortunately we are camped in Upper Lehman Campground situated at 7,500 ft and not at 10,000 ft. It also looks like the road to the top is closed due to snow. We were hoping to drive to the top tomorrow, but it looks like a tour of Lehman Cave will now win out.

Tonight's dinner is roasted peppers and onions on the grill, with marinated skirt steak and a glass of red wine. It's a bit chilly outside so we're opting for dinner in the camper rather than al fresco. I think it's supposed to dip down into the low 30's tonight. Good thing we have a heater in Winnie and my hubby likes to snuggle.