3-25-05

I made a run through Las Vegas Sunday night as I really didn’t want to try to get through that mess in Monday morning rush hour traffic. I am always amazed at how fast that town is expanding. I hear it is the fastest growing city. The houses are now out all the way to the Mount Charleston turnoff which was twenty or so miles from town when I first went down there. I will have to say that they have a pretty good freeway system if your focus is to get through it and pop out the other side. I made camp just across from the turn off to Mt. Charleston in a place with a nice view of the valley of sin. They sure do spend a lot of money on all those lights. I wonder when it will become too expensive to have all those lights on all night, it seems like such a waste of energy especially after being in Mexico where almost nothing is wasted and the towns didn’t have street lights. They have had lots of rain and at the higher elevations there has been good snow falls all across Nevada. When I got up in the morning and stepped out to take a pee a white bunny rabbit (Easter bunny?) came zooming by as I was standing there. It stopped in a bush not far away and I went to get my camera. I couldn’t find the rabbit so I took this photo of Mount Charleston.

There is a ski area up on top of the mountain and it looks like they got some recient snow up there. The valley floor here is around 2000 ft and I think the mountain is over 10,000. One of my favorite drives is to start at the bottom here and start the climb observing the changing ecology on the way up. It is dry hot desert at the bottom and you finally get into high mountain forests with huge trees.

I drove on up to Indian Springs where friend Tom lives. I thought I would check my email as I was getting a good signal in front of his house. I was parked behind one of his cars while I worked on the computer. I noticed him come out of his house and look at me, and  turn and head back into his house. It looked like he was going to get a gun  and  run me off so I yelled at him that I was an American and harmless. He didn’t recognize my outfit especially with all the shit I now have tied to the top. He said he thought someone had dumped a load of shit in his driveway when he looked out the window. I had a short visit with Tom and headed up the road to Beatty where I checked out the wifi hot spot at the library (it’s still hot!).

I made it to Goldfield and checked in with Marsha and husband John. Marsh had a surprise for me, a stack of mail from two Christmases ago! She is the retired Postmaster and found my mail that had been saved for me. It was great to get a CD from Anna with lots of  photos and a letter from Amy and Chris with photos and drawings from the kids. It was Christmas March in the desert.

I made it over to Ken’s place in Silver Peak. The drive way was full of vehicles but we moved one up a little and made room for lil Red. The next day I jacked up Red and I put it in gear and tried to see which axel was the one that was clicking. When I turned the wheel all the way to the left the left axel clicked loudly but when I turned the wheel to the right it was silent. I thought the right axel was the one that was going out but we figured I was wrong.  I finally got the old axel out (a tight fit) and found that the ball joint at the bottom was shot as well. Ken ordered two new ball joints as the other one was going out too and they would be in the next day.
 

Getting the new axel in was a lot more work than one of my friends said it would be (aint is always that way?). The ten minutes job turned out to be half a day. To be fair, part of that day was when Ken had to go up to his mountain place and retrieve the new ½’ belt sander that runs on air. It was just the tool we needed to turn down the journal on the new axel so it would slip fit into the old bearings. Ken took off about a half thousandth and with lots of pounding and grunting we finally got it in far enough to get the nut on and pull it the rest of the way in. The next day we went in to Tonopah and got the ball joints, major sticker shock! After getting the new ball joint in I took it for a test drive. Humm, we replaced the wrong axel!!!! Oh well, I now have a replacement axel that is proven to be ok and only clicks when the front end is jacked up. When I get home I will probably just change out the axel and put in a new ball joint and see how it goes. The old axel will then be turning in the opposite direction and may just give it new life.

I always enjoy my time in Silver Peak. The state highway dead ends at the town so there is no through traffic. Friends that see me will stop in the highway and  visit while any traffic just goes around. The highway is a nice paved place to work if needed as well. Ken is going to sue the pants off of the town deputy so that little jerk keeps his distance. There are a few town dogs running loose and with the mining company paying good wages, there is money in town unlike a lot of these desert towns like Goldfield and Tonopah. When Ken and I were going through Tonopah, Ken counted 31 stores that were empty. I think that it would have been easier to count the stores that were open or occupied.

I left Silver Peak and took that paved highway out of town and over to Tonopah so I could check and see if  I could hook up to the Verizon cell phone and download my email.  I didn’t have any luck as I guess they have digital service but not a computer friendly system. I found a new computer store behind the gas station that let me hook up my laptop and download my mail, which took about  two minutes. I asked what I owed him and when he said two dollars ought to do it, I thought  of Mexico where I was able to use their lines for less than  that for an  hour. I had been checking going into town for a wifi signal without luck and figured that since the town was almost dead there wouldn’t be a signal. On my way out of town I casually checked and found a nice little hot spot in front  of a gift shop, so I guess I gave up too soon.

It was nice to get back  to Goldfield  and get into my little cabin. It was a little chilly inside but it  was a nice day out in the sun. I took  a little walk around camp here and all looks in order. There isn’t much of value to steal anymore. A neighbor hit me up for an old wash tub and  I was able to grab one from my tin pile. When I bought these lots from the county thirty some years ago there was a small tin pile already here. over the years I have added to it and now it is a nice size.

3-26-05

It looks like the weather is sort of stabilizing in MT so I am going to make my way north today. It has been nice to hang out in my cabin but I am anxious to get back to my main camp and get my motorcycles on the road again. Where I am writing this are two Harley’s dressers parked next to me, a man and wife with gray hair and black leathers. There  are a lot of snow birds heading north too so I guess it is time to go.