Equinox - the driver's driver

An homage to a driver's driver .... Jim G, who was the subject of our video earlier, was also outfitting himself in white RSR over the weekend, and he looked very good in the drivers seat !!

falling water pics

some more falling water shots. Above is a view of the guesthouse.
On a path from the guesthouse to the main house, is a statue of ...
the main part of the house ... the living room
part of the art collection, of which central and south american art is most prominent
One of the classic house poses

After Badlands; thru Minnesota, Wisonsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio

My beautiful co-driver, spelling me for a while
Entering Minnesota and its crappy roads
Lovely Wisconsin
Entering Chicago

Comiskey Park, home of White Sox

Badlands National Park and other sundry stiff

more badlands areas
beautiful open terrain
blue skies everywhere.

Below is some video of the area

leaving Custer SD

Local landscape so that he can have space and house ...
Typcial Badlands shot
More money shots
Some more shots

Passing 2,999 miles for the trip in SD and about to hit 3,000 .... another milestone

Crazy Horse park

The gates at Crazy Horse park
The 50th anniversary of work starting on the Crazy Horse memorial, with the head finished.
a native tent, inside the museum, at the crazy horse site
Beads at the gift shop

Mt Rushmore .. more ....

The view from the parking lot at Mt Rushmore, of the South Dakota countryside
The pathway up to the monument
Paul, Ringo, John and George
Whoops, wrong direction ... gps on finger was slightly out of whack

Babes, and myself, in photo taken by crazy lady

cowboys

had to get some pics of cowboys, out on the range, this time in Utah, by the salt flats.. Great skies out here. And for those of you unfamiliar with technology in general, clicking on any photo open it up in full size, and is really the only way to see these in all their glory. Nikki took some great shots, and it would be a shame if all you saw was in stamp size format.
more cowboy stuff
this is obviously not from an episode of "the Virginian"

Here was arriving in Salt Lake City with the snowcapped mountains looking, and a SouthWest airlines flight about to land.

Past Ely, and via Salt Lake City

As you will begin to see, we have changed our route. Following Susan's recommendation we took Route 50, and it was fab. Well worth it. They we called the Yellowstone Park road advisory number. They advised of bad weather, and of needing snow tires. This was just when we were due to hit the park. We also had intended to enter the park from the South entrance, through Grand Teton and then Yellowstone, per Bob Aines' recommendation, but due to inclement weather, we decided to avoid all this, and drive through Wyoming along the foothills of the rockies. First part of the journey was via Salt Lake City. the salt flats are amazing. Otherworldly.
Here we are driving along a straight road, with salt flats on either side.
The salt flats we spoke of.
Myself and Nikki could only guess that this large sign, along the main road in I-80 into Salt Lake, was a remnant of the Winter Olympics, of a few years ago. Very colorful and weird cojones.

Ely Nevada and surroundings

outside of Ely, on the open road, with the clouds forming looking shadows
more open road in Nevada.
They do not care much for Senate Majority Leader, and NV democratic senator, Harry Reid !
Ely railway station, now a museum

The B&B and the smoker for BBQ restaurant

Ely, NV to Lander, Wy

Well, last we wrote, we stayed in Ely NV, on Rt 50, loneliest road in America. The B&B we stayed at was called the Steptoe Valley Inn. It was great, each room had a balcony, it was a former bordello apparently (in a past life back in the 1880's or so). The people were really nice, and they owned/ran a bbq restaurant next door. they actually have the B&B up for sale, so if anyone wants to buy a B&B in move-in condition, in a western nevada town, here you go (http://www.steptoevalleyinn.com). Some shots of the town in olden days can be seen above
The interior front part of the inn. Tall ceilings.
Chatting with the owner (myself with my back to you, and owner in white top on right).
Exterior of inn
The BBQ restaurant they own, next door, with train decorated smoker.

toward Ely, NV

Carson City, where some long lost cousin of my buddy, Bill Gottschalk in Michigan, is moving to greener pastures.
Carson City casino. One of several million casino's all across Nevada.
Nice building, restored to a fine state.
Fabulous scenery as we took Route 50, the loneliest highway apparently, according to local lore. Straight roads where speeds in excess of ..... high speeds ... are apparently possible.
a fellow traveller. We thought that we were tough driving across the desert in an old car. This dude is even tougher. Doing it by bike. The whole route 50 thing, came from a recommendation that we got in SFO. The previous owner of our car was Harold Williams, and his wife Susan. Susan told me that the best trip she ever took by road, was Rt 50 up to Salt Lake City. Seeing that we were taking an interstate, I-80, it seemed like a shame to miss out on a great route. So we followed Susan's advice and were glad.
Thank you Susan. You were right. It is a fabulous road.
Here is some video, to prove the point ... enjoy ...