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We left bright and early this morning at 6:30 am. The drive went well. Just the normal heavy traffic through the morning commute and the regular battle to maintain uphill speed through the Sierras. At least there was no construction. We made reasonable time and reached Reno by 9:00 am. Wheew! Now that we'd made to the open roads of Nevada, the combat driving phase was over and I was looking forward to setting the cruise control at 70 mph and steering my way to Wells. We stopped at a rest area just west of Winnemucca around 11:00 am and made lunch. It was a short 30 minute stop and then back on the road. I checked the next mileage sign and determined that we were right on schedule and should reach Wells by 2:45 pm. Then the thunder showers started about 30 miles west of Elko. The lightening was spectacular and the rain was pouring in spots, requiring me to slow to 50 mph. The trucks kept flying by at 75 mph, throwing a spray out each side that resembled the discharge of a fire hose. I could have seen just as well with my eyes closed. But fortunately the rain was spotty, only lasting a mile or two before breaking up. Then a few more miles and it would start again. Sometimes less, sometimes more. This continued most of the way to Wells. But good luck, we still arrived in Wells at 2:50. Good!!! Quick stop to pee and then just 68 miles to Jackpot. We should be there by 4:00 (or 5:00 since Jackpot is just across the Mountain Time zone). What are those orange signs? Uh-oh... construction. One lane road. Flagman ahead. Up to 30 minute delay. So we wait. The rain had stopped but it was still threatening to start again at any time. It would spritz now and then while we waited. After a 20 minute wait, it was our turn to go. OK, good. We should still be there by 4:30. Just 15 miles from Jackpot, more orange signs with the same message. About 10 more minutes and we were on our way again. But now it's pouring!!! The lightning stuck the tops of the mountains and the thunder shook the truck. We thought we'd seen pouring earlier around Elko but this was worse. I was only doing 30 mph and still couldn't see much. And now it's not the occasional truck passing me but the constant stream of them traveling the opposite direction on this two lane highway. The hardest rain we'd ever seen before was on our 2001 vacation in Colorado. If this rain didn't surpass it, it was equally as hard and continued right in to Jackpot. I parked right near the office door and Denise made the 20 foot dash to the office. She got us checked in and we headed for space 10. There is no indication that this rain will let up anytime soon. The clerk in the office said the storm was forecast to last another 3 hours. Well crap. I've already been in the truck 11 hours. I'm not waiting another three. And it's only water. I figure the best way to do this would be in the nude as then I would only need a towel when I was through. But since I didn't want to get arrested (I could care less about being laughed at), I settled for removing my shirt and emptying my pockets of all paper products. It didn't take me long to get the trailer jacks down, the electrical hooked up, and the water connected (like I needed more water) but I was still soaked all the way through to my underwear. Maybe 15 minutes tops. But already the rain was subsiding. We decided that there was no way we were going to walk the 200 yards or so to the casino and opted to dry off, put on our pajamas, fix dinner in our trailer, and save the $200 or so we would probably spend in the casino. Right after we settled in, the sun came out. It was a beautiful sunset. |
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