On the Road: Nevada

I left Cedar City, drove straight west into Nevada and after an hour turned directly north to Ely. It was one of the most scenic roads I've been on, in spite of it being Nevada, with 100 miles of mountains to the west and the east, very little traffic, sunshine...all making for good early morning travel. I bought a hot dog for breakfast at the convenience store where I started north...just a plain old-fashioned hot dog with onions, pickle relish and catsup. A sweet-looking Shih Tzu came up to my car with me like she wanted to come along (or maybe it wasn't a Shih Tzu but it was a dog I wouldn't expect to see there.)

I came upon carrion in the road with ravens lifting off at the last possible minute but also one large bird. I was 90% certain it was a Golden Eagle, just not 100%, and by the time I could slow down and stop (remember, I was usually driving 75 mph and road margins were variable, although often I could and did stop in the middle of the road since the traffic was that sparse), it had flown too far to ID.

Ely seemed a rather dreary town with no visible aesthetic qualities...a working man's town with bars and casinos and old hotels.

I headed west on "The Loneliest Road in America" which is US50. I went over seven passes and then would drop down to desert again. The landscape became drier with very few homesteads, ranches, towns...and only occasional minor roads leading off to the north and south. I found a country music station on the radio and listened to songs with lyrics like "Tequila makes her clothes fall off.." or "She thinks my tractor is sexy...." and the music was appropriate for the mood on this road in this state. But then the DJ mentioned the "storm...coming this way...looks like it is currently in Eureka..." which was exactly where I was headed. I looked to the northwest; jeez...there WAS significant cloud cover. For awhile I skirted the edge of it convincing myself I would just miss it which was wishful thinking. The few towns were all about 75 miles apart but US50 does have occasional traffic and I had enough stuff in the car to survive should I get stranded, but still....

After Eureka, I was headed to Austin and the temperature began to drop and the sun began to disappear...and bits of snow started blowing in the strong wind, at first only sideways across the road which remained dry. BUT, as I headed up the pass before Austin, the temp dropped a degree every minute and got to 22 and the snow was sticking and I was swearing, figuring I would have to stay in Austin. It was only noon and the few motels didn't exactly meet my criteria which isn't even all that demanding. I had Birkies on and stepped out into a couple of inches of snow, so I changed to wool socks and tennis shoes and went into the gas station where three gentleman of various ages briefly looked me up and down when I inquired about the road west. They told me it would be fine..."it isn't sticking..." so I went on and it WAS sticking off and on for about 25 miles, but then generally was OK. Lonely, for sure, but OK. I felt reprieved and drove and drove and drove, even briefly seeing the sun. The clouds were dramatic and made the trip all part of the adventure. There was almost nothing indicative of humans along the road (except the highway itself) but it wasn't what I would call boring, though most people would and did when I was asked about my travels (at the motel that night and a Starbucks I happened upon near Reno....).

I only saw a few flocks of twittery birds and stopped once to see what they were: Snow Buntings. I turned around to take a photo of a tree with 1000 shoes on the branches and wondered if this spot was perhaps near Burning Man. (It wasn't; I just googled it...)

I got near Reno mid afternoon, stopped for gas and saw a Starbucks across the street. It was an OASIS! I got an chicken salad sandwich for my dinner later on, coffee and a salted caramel bar. Remember, Deborah, you first told me about these in Holland one birding day marathon? So I was happy, eating zuzu, drinking good coffee again.

I did the interstate for a little bit and then took US 395 north to Susanville, another road with the snow-covered Sierras on the left, and the high dry desert to the east. The sun was out and I had survived Nevada but this 600-mile day was really too much.

I stopped for the night in Susanville, California, ate my Starbuck's sandwich and worked for 4 hours.