The Loneliest Highway in America(or, wherein we participated in a massacre)
Today was our first day actually visiting a national Park. We loaded up our extensive supply of art supplies and supporting technology, and sought out the free breakfast. When I walked in the hotel’s breakfast room, I was elated, then had my hopes dashed. The signs above the serving dishes indicated Eggs, Bacon, and Sausage. There were 2 types of eggs in its container. There were biscuits and gravy in the sausage container. In the Bacon container, there were in fact, ZERO bacon. There were 2 types of sausages, though. No matter how good they might have been, sausage is bacon’s ugly red-headed stepchild. For a hotel breakfast, though, it was pretty good.
Once we finished, we got in the car to head off to our first stop - Great Basin national park. Actually, it was not even on our itinerary, but Carrie found it while looking at our route for the day. To get there, we would travel highway 50, following the Pony express route, which has the moniker of the Loneliest Highway in America. It didn’t disappoint, as there were few exits, and miles and miles (and miles) of beautiful desolation. There were multiple sections of incredibly straight, flat highway. I made good use of adaptive cruise control, and flew (not really literally) down the road.
We started seeing items on the road. They looked like little pebbles, but it didn’t sound like I was driving over rocks. Eventually, Pat mentioned they were crickets. These are not your usual Jimeny Crickets, though. These are massive, soon-to-be-squished crickets. We stopped to get gas, and the ground was covered by some moving, some dead, some with their innards all splayed across the ground. As we left the town, the highway even took on a reddish-brown tint, instead of the normal asphalt color, as there were so many cricket-casualties. Carrie wanted to take a picture of something or other, and asked me to slow down. She rolled down her window, and you could hear the snap crackle pop of crickets going to meet their maker.
We continued down the seemingly endless highway. After we entered Great Basin, we took a scenic overlook route. By the time we decided we had seen enough, we were over 10,000 feet in elevation. We could see incredible distances. I noticed a plane flying overhead at its cruising altitude. You could really tell the difference between seeing one while at normal elevation, and being at 10,000 feet.
We stopped at the visitors center to avail ourselves of the facilities, and left on to our next stop. If you’ve never traveled with artist types, it is a treat. Carrie and Pat look at all the landscapes and clouds discussing how they would paint them. I pointed out a swath of ice and snow at the top of a mountain range, and Carrie yelled out “Guache!” (A type of paint she would use to achieve that effect). I only know what that is because of a conversation back in college. A friend, who is a talented artist, told me that was what he used to paint a particular piece. I always had great conversations with Dennis.
Well, I didn't know you were called `Dennis.' - Well, you didn't bother to find out, did you? - I did say sorry about the `old woman,' but from the behind you looked--What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior!…Well, I AM King…
When it comes to me quoting Monty Python, I know Carrie appreciates Cousin Eddie’s advice in Christmas Vacation - “It’s best to just let him finish”
Sorry, those responsible for quotes in this blog have been sacked.
We still did have another long drive from Great Basin to Cedar Breaks National Monument. I do think we actually found the Lonliest Highway, though…for the multiple hours it took to get to civilization, we only saw 5 vehicles and one extremely brave long-distance cyclist. On accident we did come across petroglyphs site and a site with dinosaur footprints.
The sun was getting low in the sky, but we did make it to Cedar Breaks. The views there were amazing. I’m sure we’ll have some examples in the gallery below, as words really fail me. I did get a great picture of a chipmunk! I don’t know if it was Chip or Dale though.
Our last stretch of road got us to Duck Creek, where we are staying the next few nights. We barely made it to the only open restaurant in town, and had a great meal. They were super nice, but totally slammed, as they are the only game in town tonight. One of the oddities was they had lots of bird feeders for sale. Carrie and Pat fell in love with these 2 cardinal ones, so once we get back home, both will have found new homes with us.
We got checked in, and ferried everything upstairs to look at the days haul of photos. I suspect that once photos are complete, we will hit the hay and paint tomorrow night. I must say the Chauffeur is tired.
