Alrighty then! First we found the mailing place and mailed off our dirty clothes and purchases at Laughlin to ourself. When we left Kingman it was a gorgeous day! I took pictures of flowering cacti at the gas station. The ride to Vegas was pretty. The little flowers that I'd never seen before were along both sides of the road. We ate lunch in Vegas at the same place we ate on the way down. The ride to Tonopah was nice - saw a few bikers going our way. One other one from Oregon. Spent the night at the Clown motel again. Found a different (better) place to eat. As we neared Battle Mountain, the trip was nice, but the sky started to look weird. We didn't know what it was. Pretty soon the wind started and we figured out it was a dust storm. We gassed up in Battle Mountain and turn west toward Winnemucca! Were we in for a ride! The wind was so bad I could hardly keep my bobbing head still! The only respite we received was when a truck passed us and held the wind off for a few seconds! I've never been in that before and do not want to do it again! It was a LOOOONG 60 miles! The police were stopping traffic in Winnemucca and wouldn't let trailers (or bikes) go north, so we holed up in the motel after buying peanuts and pop. The KFC was right next door so I bought take out there. There were some other Natives there so we had a little visit. Turns out they were related to one of our neighbors. The neighbor is someone I don't know well so I told her this lady said hi and she knew exactly who I had seen!
The ride became, maybe not worse, but not much better. We awoke to snow all around us (again). It was 23 degrees F and we headed out - one of us could wait another day, but one of us could not. We froze! No other idiots were out on the road with us! At Denio, I again begged and pleaded to stay the night but it fell on deaf (literally) ears. On we went north and west after gassing up, Oregon or Bust! I can still feel how numbingly cold I was! I could hardly move! The driver asked me if I saw that antelope we almost hit and I didn't even care! Finally, we arrived in Burns and remarked at how warm it was. When we saw a thermometer, it was 40 degrees F!
Again my pleas to stay the night we ignored. I don't remember much after that except we did make it home safe and sound! It was a trip to remember but not one I want to do again. I'd love to go to the River Run again, but the weather makes me hesitant!
We talked to a friend in Parker, AZ today, April 26, 2009. He said it is a miserable 104 degrees there right now. We probably couldn't handle that so here we sit in 50 something weather killing weeds!
Sooooo, we had every right to worry about you two!! I remember seeing all the great pics you took of the bikes and all. What a memorable trip! So glad you went and made it home alive!!
ReplyDelete