Dec. 19, 2009

From the corner of Argonaut and Matterhorn. Near Reno, NV
Well the Barker's are on the move again. We aren't in the motorhome this time. We drove the new Lincoln to Scott and Kathleen's. Their guest bedrooms are a fifth wheel. Very nice quarters.
This was the first trip with the new car. We bought a 2010 Lincoln MKT last week. It's a new crossover from Lincoln. I know I swore off Ford ownership after we had a 1988 Lincoln Continental. But with Chrysler or GM I have to pay with taxes for the bailout and the purchase price. At least this way I only pay once. The Lincoln is a little larger than the Cadillac SRX we had for five years. It has a third row of seats which will come in handy when we have the G-people with us.
The drive from Reno was mostly unremarkable. We got up at about 5:30AM and left the house at 7. This after the family Christmas party and cleanup which lasted until about 12:30AM. I went to sleep after trying to learn something about the audio and navigation systems. I woke up at Beatty to the sight of snow all around and it was with us the rest of the way. We gassed up in Hawthorne and I took over driving. North of Schurz and south of Fallon we ran into what looked like fog. Visibility was reduced to less than a quarter mile and only white could be seen looking out the side windows. It wasn't really fog, but water crystals suspended in the air. It is a fairly common phenomenon called Pogonip. The bushes and trees we could see from the road were covered with ice, it looked like a scene from Dr. Zhivago.
The drive from Reno was mostly unremarkable. We got up at about 5:30AM and left the house at 7. This after the family Christmas party and cleanup which lasted until about 12:30AM. I went to sleep after trying to learn something about the audio and navigation systems. I woke up at Beatty to the sight of snow all around and it was with us the rest of the way. We gassed up in Hawthorne and I took over driving. North of Schurz and south of Fallon we ran into what looked like fog. Visibility was reduced to less than a quarter mile and only white could be seen looking out the side windows. It wasn't really fog, but water crystals suspended in the air. It is a fairly common phenomenon called Pogonip. The bushes and trees we could see from the road were covered with ice, it looked like a scene from Dr. Zhivago. The temperature had dropped from 44 in Hawthorne to 26.
When we got to Scott and Kathleen’s there was still a couple of inches of snow on the ground and piles everywhere where roads had been plowed. We will be here until Tuesday. I have to be back in Las Vegas for doctor appointments on the 23rd and 24th.
We had a great evening catching up, we hadn't seen this part of the family since last Thanksgiving.