Twin Falls Idaho-19 May

Today started out well.  I received a free double latter at Starbucks shortly after leaving winnemucca, because the barista made me a hot drink rather than an iced one.  I wonder if that would have happened back in California?  People seem less more relaxed and less in such a hurry here.  I don't recall hearing a horn honked in anger since I left the Bay Area.  It's nice and peaceful without honking.
Driving east on 80 can be a bit boring.  The road is obsessively straight for long periods of time, although the mountains tops were covered with snow and incredibly beautiful.

I was happily cruising along at a nice clip and out of nowhere (or so it seemed) a Nevada Highway Patrolman was flashing his lights and yelling through his blow horn to pull over to the side of the road.  He asked me if I knew how fast I was driving (I said no) and he said 89 mph.  Really?  I had no idea.  Then he asked me if there was a reason I was driving so fast (only 14 miles over the speed limit) and I said no-that I was just happy to be on my trip!  The truth was that I was tired of being in Nevada. He took all my paperwork and disappeared into his car.  And I waited...

           busted in Wells, Nevada

He finally came back and handed me a $235 ticket and told me to enjoy my travels but to please slow down.  He warned me that the ticket turns black in the sun and the heat, and I need to be careful with it or it will "disappear".  I told him to have a nice day and drove at a comfortable speed of 70 mph until I got out of Nevada.

I was lamenting that there were few safe shoulders along the road to pull onto and take some photos when I hit a road construction site and was stopped for 30 minutes along a particularly beautiful stretch of highway.  I took full advantage of it:

 

  

It was thrilling to cross the Nevada State line and drive into Idaho!  The steep mountains of Nevada gave way to soft rolling hills and the beginning of agricultural land.    45 miles from Jackpot, NV to Twin Fall, ID- and a world of difference.  The weather was 75 degrees when I drove into Twin Falls and for the first time since I left home, I got to turn on the air conditioning!

I found a wonderful place to eat.  It is where all the locals hang out.  Breakfast is served all day long.  My kind of place:

  

  

It is very clear that I am not in California any longer: