First we drove across SD. Not anything exciting because we've done it numerous times. The second day, however, we crossed Wyoming. There was no direct route to CA so we chose a somewhat scenic route that allowed us to arrive on time. This is Highway 16 in Wyoming....
The atlas told us that it was paved... it was very, very wrong! It was 50+ miles long but being the adventurous people we are we took the road less traveled. (We also may have thought that it would get better after a while...not).
About 15 miles into the trip we saw something blocking the road ahead of us....
It was a cattle drive! And much bigger than we first anticipated. This is probably only a 4th of the whole herd that these people were moving. We weren't sure what we were going to do so we drove up and they waved us through with a "Good morning!" and a strange look as if to say: "What in the world are these crazy people doing out here?!" It was funny. So we pressed on!
We successfully navigated the cattle drive and pushed on into the mountains in front of us. It was really pretty but it was clear that the road was traveled by few. (I stopped taking pictures for a while and had to hang on to my seat, so the best part really isn't here.)
The road finally leveled out and we were in a huge valley with mountains in the distance on both sides. We made it to the next paved road and were on schedule. We drove through Utah and saw the Great Salt Lake and the Salt Flats and Bonneville Speedway...
The last light of the day was spent driving through Nevada's mountains.
We drove to Elko, NV, by that night. We still haven't figured out why Elko exists or has so many non-casino hotels, but it was a decent town to spend the night in.
The drive was beautiful....
Little did we know that the pass we took had been open for only a few days and there was still a lot of snow up there and it started to snow while we were on our way up. It was CRAZY and I figured out that I'm not a fan of 25% grades on a road slick with an inch of snowy slush on it.
By the time we made it off the mountain we were glad to see the golden hills of California, even if it wasn't especially warm.
We arrived in Oakdale, CA, around 6p.m. on Saturday and were very happy to have made it. We grabbed the last hotel at the Best Western, went out for supper and drove around to see where some family friends live. We went to church and out to lunch with them on Sunday (if ever in Oakdale, CA, go to Botecelli's! It's amazing!!). Then we drove around California and then up to Sacramento. My parents flew out on Monday morning and I drove myself to Hilmar!
My first day of work was great! I moved a LOT of cows around because they sold some today and the hoof trimmer was here. On a 2150 cow dairy, there are a lot of cows that need their hooves trimmed. There are also around 25 pens to keep track of... I'm still getting the hang of where they are. Never again will I rely on the signs at home to keep track of 9 pens. Working with Jerseys is definitely interesting. I worked with all ages today and didn't get a leg swung at me once! That wouldn't happen with the awesome crossbreds we have back in NW IA, but it's nice to think that I may have a better chance at returning home in one piece. : )
Their system is different and will take some time to get used to but I'm loving it here already. There's even corn growing south of the dairy, so I don't feel so displaced, lol.
Anyway, more to come in the days to come!!
No comments:
Post a Comment