The road was long and straight.  And empty.  Northern Nevada is pretty desolate at 5:00 in the morning.  I hadn’t seen any other headlights for what seemed like hours.  Dawn was starting to show itself over the hills and the landscape was finally revealing itself.  There aren’t towns along lots of I-80, only decrepit houses.  Almost every exit advertises its lack of services like gas and food.

Dave drove, he had been for hours.  We switched off every tank of gas and he was nearing the end of his turn.  He gets distracted when he drives; he wishes he could just stare out the window and take it all in.  He hates having to concentrate on the road when it’s the landscape that is screaming for his full attention.

Dan sat shotgun, passed out.  His turn was next.  He always claimed that he never could fall totally asleep in the car.  He snored a lot for someone not sleeping.