I loved this post, Sue! I've encountered a few unique rest stops in and around the Great Basin as well. The rest stop at Donner's Pass in the Sierras has a wonderful view and a perfectly grizzly historical marker. Our family once stopped at a cafe on the outskirts of Elko and found Asian-style squat toilets in the bathrooms instead of the typical western toilets.
But my favorite one is a rest stop somewhere between Lovelock and Winnemucca on I-80 (I think) that was facing a biblical plague of Mormon crickets and the critters covered the ground like a carpet. My mom declared nobody was to leave the car, but my little brother was car sick and the rest of us kids wanted to get away from him. We all bolted to the bathroom, the insects parting for us. and took care of our business. Dad followed us and Mom stayed in the car, resolute. We then left, none of us having been bothered in the least by the bugs, except Mom who as we merged onto the highway found two of them suddenly in her lap.
YAK! Mormon crickets! Luckily, for us at least, the plague the lands north of I-80 and are quite spare to the south. I found one while waiting for the Pony Express rider to arrive. For some reason, I felt the strong urge to crush the wee beastie and did so. Then I wondered, with remorse, why I needed to do that. Somewhere in my psyche there must be a little Buddhist berating me for killing something that wasn't threatening me in any way. I hope your Mom doesn't have PTSD from her experience.
BTW, where was the cafe with the "two-footer" toilets? I'm dying of curiosity. When I was in Jerusalem, we stayed in a house in the Old City that rented rooms to young travelers ... kind of like a hostel. Our toilet facility was a two-footer with porcelain foot pads. Hey, how uptown is that?
There’s a two story outhouse behind a hotel in Silver City, Idaho. I never had time to study the engineering that makes it possible, but it’s on my bucket list.
I saw an old windowless Chevy van with “dride meet” hand painted on the side parked in the Donner Summit rest area. I thought the owner lacked in the situational awareness department.
This could be a LONG, ongoing series. I'd buy the book if it were a collection of these. Thanks, Sue. This is close to my heart and NOT simply because it's close to my bladder, as well. Please do more of these.
You're right, Paul, it could be a thick tome. The thing I love about storytelling is that you could tell one story and your audience explodes with their own versions. Had that experience telling "Bloody Fingers" to a bunch of Black adolescent boys at Bosch Baha'i School decades ago. Every one of them had a version to tell. Man, it really broke the ice.
As for a collection of rest stop stories, we're collecting them here on this thread. It's fun to read the comments today. I had no idea this story would go over like it has. Toilets are the ultimate unity factor.
Winnemuca, Nevada. The Flying J is not for the faint of heart. A McDonald’s next door is better. The best is a new Maverick service station on the east side of town.
There’s an okay one off of I-80 and the junction of the road to Las Vegas. Lots of sun fired gravel for the kids to play in. Hope to be the first user after they hose down the place, because I don’t know how the previous twenty users used it without catching some dread disease.
The first rest area after I-84 crosses the Snake River into Idaho is fine, but if you just scored a bale of MaryJane in Oregon, there’s a good chance the Idaho State Police know you have it in you car.
As far as the rest of Idaho, there are a lot of formal rest areas that are decent, and a lot of informal rest areas where you find them. Don’t be shy, but also, don’t be too prideful.
Also, when we went to McDermitt, there was a garishly-painted two-story building that looked like it might be the bordello. A young boy waved to us from the balcony.
What a town. Both city limit signs on one signpost. My brother had car trouble there, so I went to help him. By the time I got there, he was borderline commitable. I have no idea how anyone could staff a bordello there.
I met someone who lived there all their life. I can’t even begin to understand how that is possible.
There is one good thing about that little town in a vast ocean of sagebrush. From Idaho to the Oregon border, the speed limit is 75 or 80. All the way from the Idaho-Oregon border to the Oregon-Nevada border it was 55 mph until just recently. 55mph on a road with about three gentle curves and the country is so open you can see two days into the future. It’s maddening. Then at McDermott, on the Nevada border, the speed limit is back up to Idaho standards.
Just goes to show that some states are stuck in the 70s and the oil embargo forcing 55 mph on western drivers. How many have died in their sleep because of Fed regulations? How's your brother these days? Has he regained his sanity?
He’s still a little off, but he’s gaining ground. It’s only been about 45 years, but an experience like that takes time to heal.
I remember an east coast state where we lived that mandated everything. Life jackets, helmets for everything, etc&etc. Out here, the herd is culled by letting the dumb ones do whatever they want. The more responsibility that is taken away from people to protect their own wellbeing, the less able they are to take care of themselves. It’s like people want the entire country to live in a vast Mom’s basement.
Certainly is getting there. Meanwhile, (and I'm not campaigning here) it was interesting to read that K. Harris told Oprah she owned a gun and would shoot any intruder in her house. She later regretted saying that. I wish I could tell her she said exactly what a lot of people would want to hear ... that she gets the whole "right to defend yourself and loved ones." Maybe somebody will whisper in her ear it's okay to tell the truth about such things.
My goodness, a veritable compendium of rest stops. I do like the Maverick's. Someone seems to be available to clean them fairly often. Maybe. Never been to the Flying J's, but all those semis???? I was impressed once while waiting in line in the ladies (there's ALWAYS a line in the ladies). The woman in front of me drove a semi with her husband so she undoubtedly needed to go really bad. Instead, she kept letting others go before her. I finally had to push her into a stall. "It's your turn, girlfriend!" Talk about "tank" control. She told me it was an acquired skill.
Oh, the things I miss about traveling! Thanks for the unusual travelogue centered around some of the most important place we visit . Thoroughly enjoyable, especially the cow and bull signs.
Thank you, Fran. Traveling is the way we stay alive, yet can be replaced to some degree by reading stories or watching YouTubes. You just don't get the smells, tastes, or feelings on your fingertips. Yesterday as we came home from a Sunday drive, my husband seemed more tired that usual and eager to get home. I said, "I guess we no longer have the stamina for these little jaunts." He said, "Yeah, I think so." It was heart-breaking actually. I guess I'll have to go alone although I've had incidents recently that have made me more afraid to go without my 'bodyguard.'
My husband has never liked to drive, so we haven't traveled together by road in many years. For a while, I took my own road trips. I can still drive, but choose not to, as it is so hard to get to the car, schlep the walker in, drive somewhere and get the walker out. ... And then I can't walk more than a few blocks.
So until I find a friend who wants to travel by car or train, I'm at home with memories, streaming video and YouTube.
So far, I'm in the "cane stage" for long walking, so I grok what you're saying. At least you and have have road trip memories. A lot of people don't bother to get away from the TV. And some of our nomad videos are spectacular.
A very unusual topic, Sue -- and unexpectedly fun and interesting. So much light-hearted information about " rest stops". Damn if there's not a story everywhere!
Take a gander at Jason McBride's comment for his stories about Great Basin restrooms. Like I said. It's a universal experience. We could hold an online campfire story session here.
I loved this post, Sue! I've encountered a few unique rest stops in and around the Great Basin as well. The rest stop at Donner's Pass in the Sierras has a wonderful view and a perfectly grizzly historical marker. Our family once stopped at a cafe on the outskirts of Elko and found Asian-style squat toilets in the bathrooms instead of the typical western toilets.
But my favorite one is a rest stop somewhere between Lovelock and Winnemucca on I-80 (I think) that was facing a biblical plague of Mormon crickets and the critters covered the ground like a carpet. My mom declared nobody was to leave the car, but my little brother was car sick and the rest of us kids wanted to get away from him. We all bolted to the bathroom, the insects parting for us. and took care of our business. Dad followed us and Mom stayed in the car, resolute. We then left, none of us having been bothered in the least by the bugs, except Mom who as we merged onto the highway found two of them suddenly in her lap.
YAK! Mormon crickets! Luckily, for us at least, the plague the lands north of I-80 and are quite spare to the south. I found one while waiting for the Pony Express rider to arrive. For some reason, I felt the strong urge to crush the wee beastie and did so. Then I wondered, with remorse, why I needed to do that. Somewhere in my psyche there must be a little Buddhist berating me for killing something that wasn't threatening me in any way. I hope your Mom doesn't have PTSD from her experience.
BTW, where was the cafe with the "two-footer" toilets? I'm dying of curiosity. When I was in Jerusalem, we stayed in a house in the Old City that rented rooms to young travelers ... kind of like a hostel. Our toilet facility was a two-footer with porcelain foot pads. Hey, how uptown is that?
There’s a two story outhouse behind a hotel in Silver City, Idaho. I never had time to study the engineering that makes it possible, but it’s on my bucket list.
I saw an old windowless Chevy van with “dride meet” hand painted on the side parked in the Donner Summit rest area. I thought the owner lacked in the situational awareness department.
ROFLMAO!!!
This could be a LONG, ongoing series. I'd buy the book if it were a collection of these. Thanks, Sue. This is close to my heart and NOT simply because it's close to my bladder, as well. Please do more of these.
You're right, Paul, it could be a thick tome. The thing I love about storytelling is that you could tell one story and your audience explodes with their own versions. Had that experience telling "Bloody Fingers" to a bunch of Black adolescent boys at Bosch Baha'i School decades ago. Every one of them had a version to tell. Man, it really broke the ice.
As for a collection of rest stop stories, we're collecting them here on this thread. It's fun to read the comments today. I had no idea this story would go over like it has. Toilets are the ultimate unity factor.
Jordan Valley, Oregon. Nice little coffee shop on the west side of town. Avoid the minimart.
McDermott, Nevada - The casino closed and the grocery store is hit and miss.
Orovada, Nevada. Try to hang in there until Winnemmuca. https://www.nevadarestareas.com/us95-nv-orovada-rest-area/
Winnemuca, Nevada. The Flying J is not for the faint of heart. A McDonald’s next door is better. The best is a new Maverick service station on the east side of town.
There’s an okay one off of I-80 and the junction of the road to Las Vegas. Lots of sun fired gravel for the kids to play in. Hope to be the first user after they hose down the place, because I don’t know how the previous twenty users used it without catching some dread disease.
The first rest area after I-84 crosses the Snake River into Idaho is fine, but if you just scored a bale of MaryJane in Oregon, there’s a good chance the Idaho State Police know you have it in you car.
As far as the rest of Idaho, there are a lot of formal rest areas that are decent, and a lot of informal rest areas where you find them. Don’t be shy, but also, don’t be too prideful.
Also, when we went to McDermitt, there was a garishly-painted two-story building that looked like it might be the bordello. A young boy waved to us from the balcony.
What a town. Both city limit signs on one signpost. My brother had car trouble there, so I went to help him. By the time I got there, he was borderline commitable. I have no idea how anyone could staff a bordello there.
I met someone who lived there all their life. I can’t even begin to understand how that is possible.
There is one good thing about that little town in a vast ocean of sagebrush. From Idaho to the Oregon border, the speed limit is 75 or 80. All the way from the Idaho-Oregon border to the Oregon-Nevada border it was 55 mph until just recently. 55mph on a road with about three gentle curves and the country is so open you can see two days into the future. It’s maddening. Then at McDermott, on the Nevada border, the speed limit is back up to Idaho standards.
Just goes to show that some states are stuck in the 70s and the oil embargo forcing 55 mph on western drivers. How many have died in their sleep because of Fed regulations? How's your brother these days? Has he regained his sanity?
He’s still a little off, but he’s gaining ground. It’s only been about 45 years, but an experience like that takes time to heal.
I remember an east coast state where we lived that mandated everything. Life jackets, helmets for everything, etc&etc. Out here, the herd is culled by letting the dumb ones do whatever they want. The more responsibility that is taken away from people to protect their own wellbeing, the less able they are to take care of themselves. It’s like people want the entire country to live in a vast Mom’s basement.
Certainly is getting there. Meanwhile, (and I'm not campaigning here) it was interesting to read that K. Harris told Oprah she owned a gun and would shoot any intruder in her house. She later regretted saying that. I wish I could tell her she said exactly what a lot of people would want to hear ... that she gets the whole "right to defend yourself and loved ones." Maybe somebody will whisper in her ear it's okay to tell the truth about such things.
My goodness, a veritable compendium of rest stops. I do like the Maverick's. Someone seems to be available to clean them fairly often. Maybe. Never been to the Flying J's, but all those semis???? I was impressed once while waiting in line in the ladies (there's ALWAYS a line in the ladies). The woman in front of me drove a semi with her husband so she undoubtedly needed to go really bad. Instead, she kept letting others go before her. I finally had to push her into a stall. "It's your turn, girlfriend!" Talk about "tank" control. She told me it was an acquired skill.
So much material! So many characters. Nothing goes to "waste" for writers.
Very true. Our lives are our stock in trade.
Oh, the things I miss about traveling! Thanks for the unusual travelogue centered around some of the most important place we visit . Thoroughly enjoyable, especially the cow and bull signs.
Thank you, Fran. Traveling is the way we stay alive, yet can be replaced to some degree by reading stories or watching YouTubes. You just don't get the smells, tastes, or feelings on your fingertips. Yesterday as we came home from a Sunday drive, my husband seemed more tired that usual and eager to get home. I said, "I guess we no longer have the stamina for these little jaunts." He said, "Yeah, I think so." It was heart-breaking actually. I guess I'll have to go alone although I've had incidents recently that have made me more afraid to go without my 'bodyguard.'
My husband has never liked to drive, so we haven't traveled together by road in many years. For a while, I took my own road trips. I can still drive, but choose not to, as it is so hard to get to the car, schlep the walker in, drive somewhere and get the walker out. ... And then I can't walk more than a few blocks.
So until I find a friend who wants to travel by car or train, I'm at home with memories, streaming video and YouTube.
So far, I'm in the "cane stage" for long walking, so I grok what you're saying. At least you and have have road trip memories. A lot of people don't bother to get away from the TV. And some of our nomad videos are spectacular.
A very unusual topic, Sue -- and unexpectedly fun and interesting. So much light-hearted information about " rest stops". Damn if there's not a story everywhere!
Take a gander at Jason McBride's comment for his stories about Great Basin restrooms. Like I said. It's a universal experience. We could hold an online campfire story session here.