McDonalds is the enemy.
Trip Start
Nov 06, 2009
1
8
Trip End
Nov 17, 2009
Truckee, California
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Our breakfast quest apparently set the tone for the day:
Around day 6-7 we became overwhelmed with constantly eating in restaurants, since most of the food was much richer than normal-home cooked fare. So, in the mornings we started stopping for coffee as we left.
As it turns out, this morning I had a really big craving for a Starbucks breakfast sandwich (before you pass judgment know this: they. are. delicious. (That's why i had a craving)). But there's only one I like. It's the reduced fat turkey bacon. The reduced fat part isn't what makes it awesome; its the delicious english muffin-like bread, the egg, the cheddar cheese, and turkey bacon combo that gets me.
Fortuitously enough our hotel was adjacent to a Starbucks, and not a tiny little psuedo-starbucks stand, but a full scale one with tons of cushy seats and a huge drink bar. You'd think, or at least I did, that a normal-sized starbucks would have breakfast sandwich-making capabilities. We're both wrong on that count.
One mocha latte and no sandwich later, I climbed into the car determined to find a some sort of deli, bagel place or breakfast making-starbucks. While I wasn't fully aware of the starkness of the NV landscape I did have some notion we'd be driving through more or less NOTHING for pretty much the entire day. I wasn't about to send myself through that driving limbo on an empty stomach....
Apparently, Salt Lake City had other plans. After 30 minutes of driving around we found a drive-thru starbucks. By this point I was convinced that divine intervention had prevailed and delivered me my turkey bacon sandwich. I was wrong, in the end I was stuck with a nasty focaccia bacon-y creation that in no way made up for the sandwich I was craving. It wasn't going to be my day for food....
We spent almost the entire day driving through NV. It was super boring. We'd finished our last book on tape during Day 9 and the surroundings were incredibly stark. Somewhere near the UT- NV border I almost got us into trouble by getting the gas tank down to about 11 miles left- an indication of the landscape to come. So far during our previsous days' drive there were never any dangerously long stretches of driving without a gas station or town. Day 10 was tons of nothingness.
Around lunch time we passed through a relatively large patch of civilization with a big gas/ rest stop and a few places to eat. I was deterred by a sign notifying me that picking up hitchhikers was prohibited because of the proximity to the local prison. Yup, I'm a wuss. Aware that we were unlikely to find another stop for some time I took my chances and drove on. Basically I was setting myself up.
We'd been pretty good at avoiding MacDonald's so far on the trip. Mostly because who would choose to eat there when there are other options? After 45 more minutes of driving, left with no other options and little indication that there might be another place to stop within a short distance, we conceded defeat.
I'm pretty sure that I had my first big mac there, and if I have to wait 23 more years until the next it wouldn't be too soon. The eating part of the big mac was pretty unmemorable but after about 30 minutes back in the car the excruciating stomach pain I was feeling was more than memorable. Freshly Zantac-ed I settled in for an afternoon of discomfort.
Reaching Reno didn't come soon enough. In Reno I dropped off JV at his hotel for the night and drove the last 30 min to my new house alone. It was an uneventful last drive although very beautiful because it was through the mountains. With the sun glaring in my eyes, heading due west I reached the house exhausted and burnt out of driving.
Our trip had lasted a longer than planned, but none of it (except that big mac) was regrettable. I got to see huge portions of the US and visit some friends and family I wouldn't have had occasion to see otherwise. Now its on the the next adventure.
