Saturday, September 9, 2006: Bay Area to Elko, NV (222 + 289)

s: So, we pack and set off. It's an easy matter to get out of Sonoma County and onto Interstate 80 eastbound, really only a few hours to cross the top of the San Francisco Bay, bypass Sacramento, and find ourselves climbing up into the Sierra foothills. We'd pre-packed the car and updated our camping checklist, and Laika has a nice hammock-like nest behind the driver's seat and there is room for everything—but only everything and no more—and only when it's all in its place.

Laika is Patient (click any thumbnail image in these pages for a larger view)

Laika is doing well so far--she settles in and sleeps to the hum of 65mph rolling tires on I-80.

I'm really happy with Laika's reaction to the trip. She hasn't shown much joy in car travel in the past, but I'm pretty certain that she'll be happier with us than left behind. So far, so good!

We don't stop till near Donner Pass, where a somewhat scenic rest area provides a good walk and some fresh air.

We're off again soon, and approaching Reno I consult the pages T has printed with info from Dogfriendly.com and find a dog park in shouting distance (well, you may as well whisper—they can't hear you) of the Interstate. We meet a dog named Cosmo and its owners, a man with a Dick Dale T-shirt and guitar tattoos with his daughter. We share some water and make and eat sandwiches from the cooler. Laika gets a bit of a run so we're good for a few more miles.

Dogfriendly.com has proven to be a great source of information. We've got printouts listing hotels, restaurants, and dog parks in the cities we're likely to pass through (be warned, however, not every "dog park" is fenced in...some are simply areas where you're legally allowed to have your dog off-leash).

It works well here to bring along our food and have lunch with what we've packed. But I'm not so sure it worked well on the rest of the trip. More on that later.

Since we've become birders, no highway has been boring, and this holds true even of I-80 crossing Nevada (also, watch the south roadside east of Imlay). It follows the Humboldt River, has a few birds and some interesting mountains in the distance, and the sun sets comfortably behind us.

We sleep in Elko, NV, at a surprisingly expensive Shilo Inn. Again, Dogfriendly.com has listings, and Shilo is simply the first and we are simply tired. We take it.

Sunset through the zoom lens from in front of the $hilo hotel

The Shilo Inn proves to be a great choice. "Affordable Elegance" is usually more elegance than we can afford, but it's a nice treat. Laika is ecstatic to learn that she gets to be up on the bed with us here, because at home the bed is "kitty island" and dogs are strictly forbidden. Unfortunately, she also likes to be in the middle of us, and for the rest of the trip Laika and I have a passive-aggressive battle for the right to cuddle next to Steve. (In truth, she is still part puppy, and I'm also worried about her destroying something in the night, so I'm happy to have her sleeping nearly on top of us so I'll know if she gets up and roams! As it turns out, she doesn't do any midnight damage on the entire trip.)

We end up eating fast-food in our hotel room on this night. It's the easiest option, and we're not wanting to have the same food for dinner as we had for lunch. That's the first problem with trying to pack food along: lack of variety!