It's true, the show this week is about logs, & I'll talk about that tomorrow, instead I want to report that I had my doubts about something which, over twenty-five years later, I have discovered that my memory wasn't in fact faulty. & yes, it's about that picture above.
In 1995 I visited a friend in San Francisco. I drove, & dropped off in Utah my friend Lauren, who had been my girlfriend, although I'm not sure if we were dating at the time. Another friend of mine, Abbie, worked as a park ranger at Arches National Park, & Lauren was going to stay there with her & camp & do her own thing. I drove the (let me check) nearly 1000 miles in a single day. Well, sort of. I got tired & slept at a rest stop in Reno. That's a mere 700 miles.
The route I took was through the middle of Nevada, & I decided the night before the trip that course by looking at maps. These were the days before GPS. I didn't want to have to go up to a major highway (which would be I-80), & anyway it seemed a more direct route. I could gas up in Ely, & then refill the tank again in Reno, & not be gouged by inflated prices in tiny towns along the way (one of which was amusingly called Austin).
When I got to Ely, I had been on the road already quite a while, & was a bit loopy. 400 miles, traversing the entire state of Utah. The beauty was sometimes overwhelming. & after I got gas in Ely, & headed for Reno, I saw this sign. The sign in the picture. It says:
Nevada Hwy 50 The Loneliest Road In America
& you know what? I actually stopped the car to take a picture. & I was right next to a state trooper, who got out & told me to get back in the car. He asked me what I was doing. I said I was taking a picture of the sign. He asked me why. I said because I was charmed by it. He repeated you are charmed by it. He asked me if I might be drunk or high. I said no sir. He said where are you heading. I said Reno sir. He said best be on your way then.
There is, I believe, a half-assed picture of the sign somewhere, taken by a cheap camera from too far away, badly backlit because it was nearing sundown. I had gotten out to get a better picture. But the state trooper freaked me out. I just got in the car & went.
Today I was talking to someone & we were talking about traveling across the country & he mentioned driving from Oregon to Nevada & I thought about that road & I wondered if I could find the sign on Googli Maps. & I did! & I saved the picture.
For a long time I wondered if I had dreamed that sign. It did not repeat as you drove along. & the road was lonely. For miles I felt I was the only human alive in all the world. But I did misremember the sign, almost immediately - I told people it said "The Loneliest Highway In America."
But I'm glad to report it was much more ambitious. & I think it still might be a contender for the title, if in fact it hasn't already won it.
No comments:
Post a Comment