Gasoline Prices

Within 50 miles out of Las Vegas the gas prices had gone up on average of 25 cents per gallon. The same is true for California regardless of whether the town is small, where prices usually seem to be higher, or falls into the category of a city, such as Sacramento. Once in Oregon and Washington the prices immediately went down on the same average as they went up, 25 cents per gallon.

A Most Shocking Discovery
It is unlawful to pump your own gas in the states of Oregon and New Jersey. So when you stop to get gas don’t get out of the car. Just stay in your car and wait for someone to ask you what kind of gas you want and how much.

Money Saving Tip
Some gas stations, mainly the ones in rural areas, charge about 10 cents less per gallon if you pay cash.

Two Tools for Finding Gas Prices Online

• Kim Komando discusses a widget download in her “Cool, Useful, Fun Freebie” article, Keep Track of Rising Gas Prices.
• GasBuddy.com is another useful tool that doesn’t require any downloads. Just select your state from the map, type in your zip code, and, presto magic; gas stations with names, street addresses, and prices pop up.

And of course, there’s many more online resources you can find with a simple search in your favorite search engine.

Shoes Grow on Trees

I can’t wait to get out of Reno. It’s my second day of driving and it would sure be nice to see some green and experience some cooler weather.

 

Money Grows On Trees

Child: Mom, can I have a new bicycle?
Mother: Money doesn’t grow on trees.

Many of us are familiar with that saying. But has anyone heard that shoes really do grow on trees?

On my way towards Susanville, just outside of Reno, I see the most fun sight – a tree full of shoes hanging from all the branches. It’s not just a couple of shoes, buts lots and lots of shoes.

I looked it up on the Web and found there’s more than one tree that grows shoes.

Bookofjoe writes:

RoadsideAmerican.com offers “A round-up on Shoe Trees, where hundreds of discarded sneakers and other footwear are tossed. The shoe tree blooms with polymer beauty.”

They note, “More have been sighted in Nordman, Idaho; Milltown, Indiana; Hodgdon, Maine; Atlanta and Owosso, Michigan; Lyndonville, New York; and elsewhere.”

 

You can see a guy named Frank standing next to the Shoe Tree in Reno, view and read more about Shoe Trees on RoadSideAmerica.com and read Charlie LeDuff’s New York Times article on BookofJoe’s blog.

A Scary Night in Reno

The first night of the my trip was unnerving. Instead of staying in a KOA campground in Reno I had made reservations for a Hotel 6 room. Situated at a freeway exit, it was easy to find. They gave me a second floor, corner room in the back of the complex.

There was plenty of parking so I parked in an open area against the bushes. Having an old vacuum cleaner, cleaning supplies, a rolled up rug, and some other miscellaneous items in the bed of the truck, I didn’t want to park in a place that would suggest, “please take whatever you want from the truck bed.” If any of the stuff was taken it would have been more of a dissapointment in human nature as opposed to a loss.

Going up to my room I notice some guys watching me from two hotel rooms with the doors wide open. It crosses my mind that they’re just taking in the fresh air of this nice cool night. As I’m struggling with the key to my room one of the guys heads towards me asking if I need help. “NO,” I quickly say. Now I’m on high alert.

I get into my room and notice the strong stale smell. Yuck! It’s clean though. Back out at the truck while gathering the remaining items I need for the night, some guy, by himself, in a Town Car or Cadillac or something backs in and just sits there with the drivers window rolled down. What’s he doing? Then he gets out of the car, walks toward the back where the trunk meets the bushes and urinates. Major YUCK! Then a van with two people backs in and they sit there. They seem to know the guy in the car. Are they dealing drugs or what?

Once in my room again, I’m feeling really uneasy. I can report this at the hotel check-in desk. But what is she going to do? Instead I go back down to the car so I can move it to a different place. The guy from the Lincoln/Cadillac car approaches me looking for a cigarette. Acck! I drive around the parking lot but unfortunately there aren’t any spots that look better/safer. So I park it right under the door of my room between two cars that look like they’re owned by average people needing a place to stay for the night.

Tomorrow I head towards Susanville, California.
It’s 11:30 and I finally sleep.

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could . . .
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

That Darn Drive

So I’m on 95, driving from Las Vegas to Reno and it’s late. I have to make decent time and notice the speed limit is 70 mph. It should take about 6 hours to arrive in Reno. The open desert, untainted by human consumption is it’s usual beautiful self. The road quickly turns to a two lane highway. Passing by Indian Springs for my first time, it has the feel of a small town, kind of nice with it’s lack of congestion and miles of buildings and strip malls.

Worry slowly sets in because I don’t see any road signs that tell me the distance to Reno. Could I be on the wrong road? No. I should have brought a map. After all I do have maps for California, Oregon, and Washington. But who would have thought I’d need a map to tell me how to get from Las Vegas to Reno. My gosh, they are the largest cities in the state. The roads should definitely be marked for Reno. It probably took about 150 to 200 miles before I saw a sign saying that I’m headed towards Reno. Ugh! That teaches me to always have a map.

Now it’s time to pass a large semi on this narrow two lane highway. I’m already doing 70 mph. That means there needs to be plenty of open road for a pass without killing myself or anyone else. Dang, I have to do 80 mph to pass. After a few times I get used to passing and it’s okay.

Tonopah’s okay too! I see old historical buildings that I’ve seen in RJ newspaper clippings and promotional literature contained in the Nevada State Museum.

I get out of Tonopah and don’t find a highway sign. I turn back to town, review the road signs and find that highway 6 is also highway 95. Yeah, I’m still on the right path. After about 50 miles a sign posts the distance to Reno. What’s with Nevada’s highway signs? They’re virtually nonexistent!

Wow! Walker Lake in Hawthorne, Nevada is beautiful!

Past Hawthorne, the sun has just gone down and I see some road signs. Neither says anything about Reno. There’s an alternate route and a regular route, each pointing to different towns. I take the regular route and start to worry, again, when I see a sign that tells the distance to Winnemucca but not to Reno! Feeling lost, I turn around and drive back to the signs. Which way do I go? I know, call someone on my cell and they’ll tell me. Ugh! No cell service out here in no man’s land! Okay, turn on the cars flashers and wave at a trucker driving by. Yeah! He stops and tells me that both roads go to Reno but the alternate route is the longer one.

It’s 10:30 at night and I finally make it to Reno! That’ll teach me to always have a map.

Leaving Las Vegas

Well, I didn’t get out of Las Vegas until 2:30 pm. What was I doing all day? Cleaning, touch-up painting, packing, getting rid of food that spoils, getting addresses for places to stay in towns along the way, overnighting keys via the USPS, getting gas in the car, etc., etc. I wanted to be in Reno by the same night. I also wanted to stop at the Nevada State Museum to say goodbye – no chance.