tp:  Today we drove.  12 Hours.  It was great.  Highlights included stopping in Reno.  We ate at Mel’s American Diner.  Mel’s is famous for being featured in American Graffiti.  The food was tasty and we had service with a smile, and she was hot!  Evan wants me to say how amazing the french fries were, but I’m not going to.  Reno was pretty dead, at least on the streets.  Mel’s was attached a hotel / casino, like everything else in Nevada.  Literally every stop we made for gas or bathroom related things had a casino inside.  It think it would be safe to say that every exit in NV at least has one casino, if not more.  Other than that we drove all day, and finally arrived in Salt Lake at midnight thirty.  I was psyched because we actually got to stop in and stay with my cousin Ben.  We were originally planning on heading further north in CA, but by deciding to head almost directly east from San Francisco we are now able to stop and see some more friends and relatives.  Ben lives in a gated apartment community, kinda like the one Don and Nancy live in.  It seems like a nice community.  Ben was more than hospitable and made us chicken and rice despite the late hour.  Evan went to bed since he was tired and trying fight off an oncoming cold.  Ben and I stayed up for a little bit and watched some trailer park boys.  Then I crashed on the couch.  The end.