Day 14: Travel Day
Welcome
Yesterday we drove from San Francisco to Salt Lake City.
We wanted a chance to catch up on sleep before such a massive driving day so van call was set as a hard 9.30am. At 9.35 we were on the road heading north towards the bay bridge with Jon behind the wheel milking our Sprinter for all its 3 litre common-rail direct injection diesel engine was worth. We were on i80 which leaves San Francisco through Oakland and heads northwest towards Sacramento and then passes above Lake Tahoe.
After driving for an hour it was decided on that we stop for breakfast at a Sprouts just off the highway. I bought myself a punnet of table grapes, two mozzarella sticks, and a tray of Spicy Roll Tuna Sushi.
Soon we passed over the Sierra Nevada mountains and crossed the border into Nevada, a transition marked by the appearance of the splendid casinos and hotels that make Reno the third most popular gambling city in the US.
Approaching Reno.
Passing a huge train in northern Nevada.
We had made it nearly half way across Nevada by the time we stopped for lunch. Jon had completed a massive 6 hr stint behind the wheel and we had traveled 630km.
Lunch stop at Loves.
Gabe trying on one of the many wares available at a Loves gas station.
Tristan now climbed into the driver’s seat and soon was operating the 7G-Tronic Plus transmission for all it was worth, earning the best possible efficiency from the 188hp 6 cylinder diesel.
We continued across the great basin and the the landscapes were vast and spectacular, with endless dry watersheds covered in sun-scorched flora, intermittent small settlements, and the many north-south running mountain ranges that make Nevada the most mountainous state in the country.
📷 Tristan Deck
📷 Tristan Deck
Everything was bathed in a golden light as we passed the Ruby Mountains and descended toward the Utah border. When we finally reached the great Salt Lake Desert the sun was completely gone, replaced by an impenetrable darkness on each side of the highway.
Approaching Wells as the sun begins to set.
As we approached Salt Lake City beacons of light began to spring out of the ground next to the road and seemed to grow in their frequency until they were replaced by lights of buildings marking the edge of the Great Salt Lake and the beginnings of civilisation. It was 11.30pm when we entered the city and completed the 1200km journey, finding our hotel and a well deserved sleep.
