Travels with Happy

On the road again…
Loaded with a week's worth of unread newspapers and two dozen books, plenty of wine, the last of the garden's tomatoes and a big bag of grapes from our bountiful arbor, Happy took to the road again with us as happy passengers. This time we're heading east to see the west before the snow flies.
The first day proved to be record mileage for us: over 500 miles through the seemingly endless landscape of Nevada. Mile after mile of high desert scrub, punctuated by subdivisions that have sprouted like mushrooms after rain – a real estate boom that's led to staggering foreclosures in today's market.
Still the traditional opportunities for sin abound, from gambling in gas stations to the siren calls of the Mustang and Pussycat Ranches, where truckers are always welcome.
We bunked down in Elko, once not more than a wide spot in the road, now fitted out with an impressive number of sprawling malls and drive-through Starbucks. A remnant of the area's Basque sheep herding community remains in the Nevada Dinner House, a nearly century-old establishment that began as a hotel on the other side of the tracks. Purchased in later years by Italians, it still serves hearty Basque family-style dinners. Next door to Elko's rowdy bowling alley and around the corner from the Stumble Inn bar, it draws a full house of locals and passers-through: beefy guys in muscle shirts, ranchers who remove their cowboy hats at the door, truckers who don't, couples trying to converse above the din of the dining hall. Seventeen bucks will get you lamb shanks, along with the family-style sides that accompany each dinner: a huge tureen of vegetable soup, salad, a bowl of spaghetti, a platter of french fries and a fresh vegetable side, along with house-made bread. That's what you'd get if you got there early, or knew enough to reserve the shanks with the chatty hostess multitasking in the bar. The popular lamb was gone by the time we ordered, so Terry contented himself with all the sides. I was delighted with the filet mignon "small plate" – a full serving by Napa Valley standards and, at $8, easily the best beef I've had in years. We washed it all down with a full-to-the-rim glass of (chilled) no-name Cabernet for $4.
Moving into Idaho the following day, we drove through a series of incredibly scenic tableaux – the dramatic canyon and rushing waterfall of Twin Falls, rolling farm land of endless corn, golden wheat stubble and sod-roofed potato storage barns. One moment the sun was blinding, the next lightening would split a leaden sky in the distance. We saw prong-horned antelope, red barns that reminded me of the Midwest and huge machines harvesting potatoes under whipped-cream clouds in a pewter sky.
Skirting the rushing Snake River we climbed over Teton Pass to descend into a panoramic valley framed by a double rainbow, whose arch led us to Victor and the scenic campground where we are tonight. Hot showers, a good dinner with a nice bottle of Petite Sirah and rain pattering on the roof will induce blissful sleep. Click for pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/happytwo.mcwilliams/1WestTripNevadaIdaho#