4-9-2010

Back in Camp

Old Route 66. This was a really funky stretch that was very narrow and twisty. It is hard to imagine that in its day (when I was a youngster) it was THE major link between coasts. You sure couldn't get highway trucks over it now  pulling two trailers.  

I made it up to Goldfield and finally got the doors opened to my shed. This little 1973 VW 'Thing' has been in here twenty five + years. I had bought it and gave it to my mother I remembered her as saying that she had always wanted a convertible. It turned out that she was afraid to drive it as someone could just 'reach in and steal her purse'. My dad drove it around for a couple of years and then they finally gave it back. i never did drive it much as I had another one that I drove a quarter million miles before finally selling it. They were made in Mexico and are just tougher than hell and  made for rough old dirt roads. Sort of a Dual Sport car like my GS motorcycles. 
I grabbed a set of aftermarket spoke wheels I had gathered up over the years and loaded them up to take to Reno. 

The next morning I woke up to a pretty good layer of snow. This photo is taken after about half of it had melted off. It is quite a change from Arizona but my little cabin has a wood stove and I still have a nice pile of firewood. 

Off i headed north and came into Tonopah.  It still is a dirt bag of a town and on the skids as usual after a mining boom. Rumors are that it will Boom again shortly, but then I have heard that same story for years. 

A distant view of the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

I think this was going through Yerrington. It is a field of garlic that is breaking dormancy and coming up nicely. When we farmed down in Fish Lake Valley, Nevada we grew 44 different varieties of garlic. It sure is a nice crop for desert conditions. You plant the clove (seed) piece in the fall and it over winters. In early spring it comes up way before weeds do and if there is almost any rain in the spring at all you might not have to irrigate them very much. They are ready to harvest early summer too so that gives more time to other vegetable crops that are needy then. 

I made it to Steamboat, Nevada (which they incorporated into Reno) to my friend Jacks place. Jacks family goes way back in the history of Virginia City, NV and Jack is  a history buff. I invited him to come with me down to Sacramento, California where they were having the Western States Token Auction. It isn't very far over the Donner pass to Sacramento. Jack was a little suspecious of me taking  his photo as I was driving along through the snow over the mountain. I can tell you Jack, it is  a lot safer than the ones I take while riding my motorcycle.    

A nice little dab of  snow up over the pass. 

The token auction as very interesting and I got to talk with a few of the major token collectors. I have yet to make a decision on what I will do with it. 

Back in Reno I picked up my wheels for my Thing and happened to see this Whole Foods Market. I have heard about them but never have been in one before. AMAZING store for sure but a little on the pricey side. 
I took this pic at a Whole Foods Market in  Reno. These fellow are cut out of solid rock. 

I headed on back down to Goldfield and happened to see this nice display. I just love the Nevada desert and something like this gives me goose bumps. I think it  was especially displayed for me to entice me back.....

I had to make a quick side trip over to look into Fish Lake Valley. i didnt  go all the way in but it was nice to see that the White Mountains are still there and they seem to have a nice blanket of snow. That is boundary peak which is just a tad under Mount Whitney in height at 14K + feet. My farm was right at 5,000 feet in the valley below. 

Here I am all hooked up and ready to roll with my little train. It was a little bit of a bitch getting a permit for towing Orange Julius (the vw thing's name) but having lived in the county and paid taxes for forty years helped. Now it was going to be fun seeing if I could get down the road without another ticket for being a public threat.....

Man, I love these Nevada roads. 

Getting close to home I stopped in to see Gordon. I met him on the way south when I had trouble with the Pod's wheels and axel on the way south. He had told me that he had wagons and horses and invited me down to see them. When I stopped this time he was in the middle of repairing a freezeproof hydrant so I hung out and helped until that  project was finished. He has one of those new plastic covered hoop barns for protecting his wagons and stagecoach as well as a place to work with his horses in the winter. Gordon takes one wagon down to the Custer Battle reenactment. 

iron tires for his horses. The big ones are for the team that pulls the wagons. 

Ah, back in camp....... 

I cut up my licorice into smaller pieces and put them in the sun to dry out and get hard. I like licorice that way. 
It had been cold for a few days before I got home, I think the web said the high was 28 degrees. When I walked in the doghouse it was 55 degrees. I turned on a little electric heater and  it didn't take long to get it up to 72 degrees.
I love this little doghouse with the sun steaming  in......life it good. 

I called up the coin certification folks that I had dropped my token off at in Denver. They sent  it in its new plastic home. The token is now certified authentic as well as graded AU50 which I understand it really good. 

I found a camera that had been misplaced and downloaded the photos. This was last summer as I was using the broken pieces of concrete to make a walkway up to the doghouse. 

A picture of Mark and I just finishing off a pizza.... 

I thought that was interesting picture as I was organizing a party for Mark as he was just about to come back  from his trip down to Mexico and other south land adventures.

The robins came back about a week ago and looking outside I see the first Meadowlark. Spring must be going to come after all.

I organized a little Welcome Home party for Mark. Friends offered to bring elk steaks and burgers for the roasting and I was able to get some really nice burger buns made up special for me by the new bakery in town that they built where there was a major fire last year that took out a half block down town. It is just so nice to see someone put some money into downtown while most of the big money is being put out on the Miracle half mile out by Wal-Mart, burger chain,  bullshit out by the freeway. Scott from the health food storecame  with a huge wonderful  salad and Carla Muggli sent a cake with Roger. I was really pleased to have Marks mom come as she is one of my favorite ranch ladies. We had a good crowd and even if it turned out a little breezy it wasn't that bad and  inside it was very nice. Lots of food and a few beers were downed. Mark brought his laptop computer and put on a slide show for us. It was really nice to see a different motorcycle trip covering some  of the same ground I have been over. He sure seemed to have had a wonderful trip/adventure down in Mexico. I have an idea he  will be going down again and maybe even further south next time.