50 States, 13 Days To Go

Bishop, CA to Henderson, NV 306 Miles "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." ~Andrew Carnegie We left Bishop heading south then (after missing the turn five miles back and turning around) rode up and down Highway 168, on an awesome twisting and turning road. This was a stellar ride because the road wound tightly, much of it requiring second gear, the grades dipped and rolled, and much of the road followed the bottom of a canyon. Excellent. QG didn't worry about falling off into an abyss. We rode sixty miles on that road and saw only six cars. The road climbed to over seven thousand feet elevation, dropped into a valley, climbed again, then a third time, each mountain a bit lower and the turns a bit wider. But a great road nonetheless, and thankfully no snow. We missed it by a few days. As we descended the third mountain, huge green dots dotted the plain. As we approached, they became huge half mile wide circles of alfalfa (we think), with the giant sprinklers making the arcs. What a contrast to the desolate terrain around them. I love the desert. It's wide open and brown, so many consider it a boring wasteland. I enjoy the wide open, expansive feeling and the awesome views from almost everywhere, the mountains, rugged and rocky, look like they were carved with a knife. Have you noticed most car commercials take place in the desert? They are either driving through on a paved road, or screaming across a dry lakebed and the driver throws it into a slide. Just like you'll do when you buy the car, right? Years ago cars drove through forests in the east and stirred up autumn leaves. It rains three inches a year in Las Vegas. We have missed so much bad weather on this trip, but today we hit rain in Vegas. You may think, 'who cares?' but as seldom as it rains, the streets get slick and sketchy. I've spun out two pickup trucks in rain, so with the two wheels pulling the other tow wheels, it kept me on my toes. We stopped at Sam's Cycle Supply to greet Sam (hence the name). I helped him get started six years ago and we've been friends for a long time. You've probably noticed his ad on the blog. Great to see him and the shop still going. And now, home (sort of but not really) at last, Quilter Girl! It was a very scenic ride, the long way but a new way to Vegas. We came into 95 north of Beatty where we stopped for gas and candy at the store there. It was hopping, in a great location 115 miles north of Vegas, a good gas/bathroom stop. It was 137 miles from the last gas the way we came. The restrooms are located at the back of the store so customers walk past the ice cream shop, the Subway store, the beef jerky guy and aisles of all different kinds of candy. Smart marketing! We had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, a favorite of mine. I love the honey BBQ sauce and Kevin tried one of their brats with all sorts of crazy stuff on them including fried pickles. We watched some basketball and relaxed. I think we will sleep tonight. Tomorrow we will see family, do laundry, empty excess stuff from the trailer and repack our suitcases for Hawaii. How fun. QG

4 comments:

Mel said...

QG, You say the brat had fried pickles? Did he say how they were?

Unknown said...

Wait a minute... who called whom a brat?
KP

Mel said...

Kevin, I would NEVER call you a brat because, as we all know, you wouldn't make a good one. In fact, when it comes to brats, you'd make the wurst!

Unknown said...

Uh, thanks. I think.
KP