Staying in Baker, Nevada last night was a great choice. Moonset was just after midnight and neither of us wanted to stay up that late. So, we climbed into bed and set an alarm for 12:15 a.m. When it went off, we threw on sweatshirts and headed outside.
As we had hoped, the cloudy skies of earlier in the day had completely cleared. The skies were about as dark as we’ve ever seen. And the stars were spectacular. It’s amazing to think that a show like that is there every night, but we have too much light pollution to see it. There was no good way to take pictures so you’ll have to take my word.
Today we drove from Baker to Salt Lake City. The first nearly 100 miles of the drive were along combined Route 50/Route 6, and this stretch was every bit as lonely as we saw yesterday. Desolate and severe, but beautiful. The road stretched out endlessly in front of Livvy, cutting a black swath through a beige landscape. I think the last two days of driving covered some of the most wonderous areas we’ve crossed.
Today also gave us some clarity on the status of the National Parks. While most staffed facilities are closed (visitor centers, entrance booths, etc.), the parks themselves are open. We already had our cave tour at Wind Cave (next Monday) canceled and our money refunded, though. After a lot of discussion, we decided to continue ahead as planned and visit the parks in South Dakota.
We did, however, make some changes to the itinerary (audible time!). We’ve decided to pare down the number of days in SD. This was not done because of the Parks situation as much as really evaluating what we are able to do and how many days we’ll need. At this point in the trip, 8 weeks today, we don’t feel the need to spend extra days to relax there.
We’re not wishing away the rest of our trip, nor minimizing what’s in store. But there’s something that happens when we turn east. Home starts calling. And that’s a pull that’s hard to resist.
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