Okay, where did I leave off yesterday? I tried to stop where we spent the night, but I think I goofed. We only slept for about five and a half hours, and were on the road well before first light. I think I ended with the dawn snowstorm rather than right before the stop. The Mr guessed that the timestamps were weird and some stuff was out of order because we crossed time zones right around stopping time. It makes as much sense as anything to me, so I will accept it and move on.
On that note, Day Two:
I was really digging the barren landscape in northern Nevada. I haven't quite put my finger on why. It called to me. I could imagine having a ranch there.
Like I said, barren loveliness.
For reals, isn't it pretty?
Neither of us had ever been to Winnemucca before, and it made us giggle. It's a fun name to say. While he wasn't looking, while he was getting gas or something, I turned on my mobile hotspot so I could secretly download the Johnny Cash song that opens with a mention of it, and as we drove up on town, I cued it up. "If you're goin' to Winnemucca, Mack, with me you can ride..."
Yep. Was funny to me the second time too.
My favorite weird road sign I ever saw was in a lonely backwoods in Scotland. It said, "Keep Our Glen Clean. No Dumping." This paired nicely with that. (Two guesses what Mr S-P's first name is...)
We were making excellent time, and the weather was suddenly beautiful. We took a detour ahead of Reno to see Pyramid Lake. I wrote about it at the time, if you want a full explanation.
"She's a beaut, ain't she, Clark?" Not sure whether you can tell, but near the back, on the bottom, the muffler for the generator threw a bolt. It was hanging down at a bad angle. Not long after I took this picture, the Mr was underneath, pulling it off and tossing it in the under-bus storage so it didn't fall off on the highway. The generator was loud as a Harley when we tested it the next day. Hopefully the new owner can get it reattached.
The Pyramid Lake museum was interesting. Lots of beadwork, lots of decorative basket cradles (I forget exactly what they are called -- baby backpacks), and lots of stuff about Burning Man.
The irrigated homesteads didn't work so well. It was too much effort to treat the highly alkaline water. If it's indeed the same inland sea that once covered Fort Irwin down in California, then I bet if I read more, I'd find there was also arsenic in it. We weren't allowed to drink the regular tap water at Irwin.
The fish are extinct now. The art remains.
I had him pull over a couple times, so I could hop out and take quick pictures.
From there we drove the back route to Sparks and Reno.
Blurry, but he pointed vaguely in that direction and said Donner Pass was somewhere out there.
Donner Summit.
If only the windshield hadn't been filthy so often. It couldn't be helped, though.
It took multiple tries to show how enormous and impressive the redwoods were.
It was humbling. And this scenic route we were on eventually pointed nose down, and we lost 3000 feet of elevation in the blink of an eye, or so it felt. It was like being on a wooden roller coaster. Probably safe, but with just enough uncertainty to be thrilling. And then the vegetation suddenly changed.
Day Three:
From snow and redwoods to sun and palm trees. It was a shock, but kind of fun. It's been a while for me.
I would say that I miss palm trees, except for the fact they throw so little shade, and they live where it's too hot and sunny for me to exist without shade.
Once we parked for breakfast in Chico (parallel parking a 30 foot RV - that man IS MacGyver), I sighed longingly over a huge privacy fence made of oleanders. For sure I miss those. There were camellias and rhododendrons too. I love warm climate flowers.
Everywhere I looked in Chico, there were evenly spaced rows of cypress trees. I don't understand the rows, but I love the look.
After breakfast, we headed for the Red Cross camp at the fairgrounds. I'll pick up there tomorrow.
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