Some Days Are Diamonds................

and, as the song goes, some days are stone.

It was bound to happen.  Our carefully planned trip went awry today.  Joan had questionned the 425 mile length of this leg from Reno to Boise -- the longest day of the trip -- I explained that:

1.  There was no real stop available between these two points

and

2.  Averaging 70 miles per hour which we have been out west, we would be in Boise by 2 pm or so.

Trusting completely in my planning skills, we set out.  (Big Mistake.)

We started out well on I 80 to Winnemucca and when we stopped to gas up, we saw a casino across the street and decided to take one last shot at the slot machines before leaving Nevada.  It didn't take longer than 1/2 hour to lose our $10.  (We are really big spenders!)

Back in the car, we headed north on  US 95.  We were still in Nevada when we ran into one of those flagmen who stopped us for 1/2 hour.  As with the earlier incident a few days ago, this was another blemish on the Nevada Road Works Department.  When we were finally able to proceed, we were curious to see what work they were doing and were astonished to see that they were totally repaving a road that was already in perfect condition.  Maybe this is part of the stimulas package from Washington to the states........once again, Washington at its finest!

Part of our trip took us through the corner of Oregon where we immediately encountered a 55 mile per hour speed limit.  While US 95 is the same in both states as far as terrain and congestion (or lack thereof) the only explanation we could come up with is that Oregon (a more liberal state) is still abiding by Jimmy Carter's target of 55 miles per hour.

Since there were only two lanes -- one in each direction -- it was difficult to pass and we crept our way for the next 200 miles till we hit Idaho.

A sign on the roadside reminded us to put our watches ahead an hour, as we crossed into Mountain time.  We finally arrived at our hotel at 6:30 pm just in time to enjoy our free dinner which ends at 7 pm.  Homewood Suites rules!

Overall, a very relaxing day......NOT!!!  We did see some magnificent scenery......once again, nothing in front or back, nor to the right or left of us but empty land!  How big is the USA?????????????????????