Wednesday July 21st - Reno

I'm in Reno.  I'll be home Thursday afternoon.  I'm excited.  It's been such an interesting experience.  It's been fun, tiring, exciting, it's been everything and more that I hoped it would be.  So many new friends - friends that I hope will come visit us in Sebastopol.

Today - I left Selina Utah at 6:00am to avoid the heat of the desert.  The sun was just starting to come up and added a golden morning color to the hills in the background.  There were acres and acres of grasses with waves of yellow mixed with greens.  As I was riding - I knew that this is what I enjoyed the most - the feeling of openness, the smells that change within minutes of each other, patches of coolness mixed with warmth.  I road through pockets of morning air being changing second by second with the warmth of a new day.

About 10 minutes after taking the picture above, I reminded myself of the potential dangers of animals crossing the roads.  This was Elk and deer country.  I spotted a blotch of brown about 100 yards ahead and wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not but I slowed just in time for a "huge," "giant," "monstrous," elk to jump out onto the road right in front of me.  I've seen elk before but this was the largest buck elk with the biggest rack of antlers that would have impaled me and the bike and not even have notice.  I hit the brakes and stopped about 5 feet from where he had just crossed the road.  I looked to the left and there was another large buck.  I wanted to take a picture but wasn't sure if the buck - staring at me - would wait or understand. I road on.

As I was nearing the Nevada State line, I was getting very low on fuel.  I had not passed a car for at least 30 minutes.  As I was "zipping" along, hoping for a gas station, one car in the distance closed in and passed me with flashing lights, made a quick u-turn, (which I'm sure was not legal) and pulled me over,  1 mile before the state line.  Thankfully the officer gave me a ticket because I might not have gotten out of Utah without it.  Any of you that have read my earlier accounts of traveling along deserted highways, at speeds just barley over the speed limits know that the officer must have misinterpreted my intent.

US 50 is a very lonely road.  Stretches of over 100 miles with nothing.  After a little over 120 miles, I came to Eureka, Nevada.  I gassed up and headed out for another stretch of over 100 miles.  Fifty miles on a long straight road can get a little boring but thankfully I knew I had my ticket.  Just at that point I passed a lone tree that caught my eye.  This turned out to be a "shoe tree."

I'm in Reno.  I have some new shoes - different for each foot.  I'll be home tomorrow.


I will probably make 2 more blog entries.   One to conclude the trip and one with my observations.  For those of you that have been reading this for the whole trip - thanks.