My street, as seen from Marin County.
My street, as seen from my street.
Some Pacific Ocean views in Marin.
Some mysterious dudes in head coverings playing at the Stork Club, Oakland.
Filed by chuck j at 1:58 pm under nothing much
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And finally on Day 5 Agent Wilkes and I made the 4+ hour drive from Reno through the lovely Sierras and the Sacramento Valley and arrived at our destination - the tiny Oakland studio apartment seen above. I was surprised to learn that the kitchen is actually in a closet instead of being a separate room or even a section of the the main room. There is a big walk-in closet, though. And the apartment is in a neighborhood that I already like quite a lot. After we unloaded the truck I was dismayed to see that my belongings pretty much filled the room, but after the shelves were in place and boxes were emptied it actually turned out to be a very cozy and livable space - made possible by Agent Wilkes’ uncanny organization and unpacking skills.
Here are some “after” shots…
My building:
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I’m playing catch-up here because I didn’t have much internet access towards the end of the trip and here in Oakland I’m relying on internet from Gaylords’ Coffee on Piedmont Ave.
Wendover
Can anyone explain these gigantic tires? It’s hard to imagine what kind of vehicle requires them, but they are a fairly common thing to see on the highway in Colorado.
Day 4 consisted of fairly casual drive from one end of Nevada to the other - from Wendover to Reno. This was a big weekend in Nevada for car freaks - Speed Week in Wendover and the salt flats and Hot August Nights in Reno. Speed Week seems to be about fast cars of all shapes and sizes. Agent Wilkes was quite smitten by the rusted-out jalopy style favored by a racing club from Salt Lake City called The Steel Junkies. We had brunch in the same casino as some of this co-ed crew and admired their salt-covered rides in the parking lot. I’ll have to wait for photos from Agent Wilkes because I failed to take any, although you can see one of the racers parked to the right of the Penske here:
Hot August Nights is a very different type of event in that it is a giant classic car show. Reno was overrun with muscle cars and other perfectly restored classics. Out motel clerk told us that some people enter their cars every year for 10 years before they are allowed into the show.
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Day 3 brought us through Colorado on I-70, up into Wyoming in I-25 and down into Utah on I-80. We woke up and began the day in a weird “town” in Colorado called Limon.
Wyoming was windy and a little scary once we started to get low on gas. There were long stretches without ANY sign of civilization. We planned to take it a little easier today and not drive late into the night, especially considering the windy mountain driving in these states. We also changed our planned arrival date to the 12th rather than the 11th.
Our plan was to stay in or around Salt Lake. Please, if you are ever driving West through this stretch and you think you might want to stop in Salt Lake - STOP BEFORE YOU GET TO THE CITY. Get a room in one of the cheap hotels you see off I-80 before the descent into the Salt Lake area, because the only thing you’ll find in the city are overpriced hotels around the airport. Then once you are on the other side you have an hour and a half of NOTHING - just salt flats that seem to emit dust laden with drowsiness drugs into the air at night. We hit the lake at sundown, found one hotel with no vacancies, and then drove all the way to Wendover at the Nevada border. There were signs along the way warning drivers against driving while drowsy, but also providing no place to stop or sleep.
Anyway, Day 3 ended up being a little longer than expected, but we made it to Nevada.
Filed by chuck j at 12:43 am under travel
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It was 110 degrees in Missouri.
Agent Wilkes is skeptical about the new “Iced Coffee” at McDonalds. Rightfully so. We were unable to detect any actual coffee content in this beverage. Lots of white stuff and sweet stuff, though.
Today was all Missouri and Kansas. Then more Kansas. And then some more Kansas. And then some Colorado late at night.
Filed by chuck j at 9:10 am under travel
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