The desert is deserted. I don’t know if we call the desert the desert because it’s deserted, or if we call something deserted because it’s like a desert, but these sandy, barren wastelands are almost completely empty. Every once in a while we pass a small shack of a home with 23 cars outside, 22 of which are old and clearly not running. The other car is usually a brand new SUV. Seriously, this pattern repeated itself dozens of times in 400 miles. These people also seem to have loads and loads of other miscellaneous junk around their homes. Maybe it just stands out more because there are no trees to hide the junk like there would be in Indiana or Tennessee. It’s hard to tell for sure.

And here’s something cool. The towns in the desert all seem to have their initials emblazoned on a nearby mountain. Here’s a shot from Battle Mountain, Nevada. Pow!

OK, there were a few flowers here and there, and they were photo-ready. There was actually one stretch of road where the entire median was solid Black-eyed Susans for miles and miles.

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The weirdest thing that we came across as we crossed the desert in Nevada was that casinos are everywhere. They’re in truck stops, convenience stores, and grocery stores.

We stopped in one particular casino that had a Taco Bell inside and played a single nickel slot machine. This is the only gambling I’ve ever done, and we lost. I guess I just don’t have the knack, so I’m done with gambling.

The desert along I-80 pretty much turns off like a switch when you reach Reno (911). Everything turns green, and then, when you cross into California just a few miles later, the sky turns blue and all of the other cars on the road immediately accelerate to 90 miles per hour. Things don’t really slow down on the interstate in California until you run into a wreck or a grass fire or something.

At the end of our 12-hour road warrior day we landed in Petaluma, California, which is a ritzy suburb north of San Francisco. It’s right next to Napa, which is 100% rolling hills packed with vineyards. Very pretty, and probably, very expensive. Petaluma, though, is really just outside the city, so we’re camping there and we’ll drive into town for lunch with Jenny’s grandmother and the rehearsal dinner. We’ll get back to you on that.