So Many Revolutions

Hi All
I'm in Wells, Nevada. Four Hundred and some miles left to go until Sacramento.
Neil and I went out for a spectacular Italian dinner on Wednesday as well as shopping for a plate for me to replace the one I broke. Thursday he came 11 miles west with me before heading south. We parted at a gas station with hugs and jokes and two miles later I started to miss him (although I could go a lot slower without him) like crazy cakes.

Up till now our Idaho had been along rivers and lush and fertile but as I headed south along the Raft Valley it became more and more to resemble arid Wyoming. That night I stayed in a highway rest area (but knew enough to put garbage cans over the appropriate sprinklers for the inevitable 5 AM watering). Colleen phoned and that helped a lot with missing Neil.

The next day (Fri.) I headed for City of Rocks (so named by the 49'ers since many of these phantasmagorical shapes could be imagined to be buildings or people). It is magical. I stayed in the state park and my neighbour who was there rock climbing brought me over a frosty lager while I was cooking dinner - how absolutely splendid.

Saturday I said farewell to City of Rocks, but the only way out necessitated gravel so although I have been avoiding gravel (clumsy me and road rash), this time there was no option. 28 miles later I kissed the pavement of Hwy n81. From there it is 2 miles to the Utah border and Pacific Time (yes I have crossed 2 time changes, and by bike). There was nothing between City of Rocks and Park Valley, so I had to plan to go all day with the water I had. I ran out just before Park Valley but knocked on doors of houses until I got water (and a suggestion to stay beside the deserted Rodeo Grounds where there was water and inadvertently, I suppose, an unlocked washroom - Heaven).

The next day was the same lack of towns, except this time it was 69 miles and I would cross the top of the Great Salt Desert - how cool is that. Luckily a guy passing on a dirt bike gave me a cold coke - ah! I got to Montello in Nevada around supper, set up in the park next to the Cowboy Bar and Cafe, ate, and then went to the Cafe to do crosswords and watch the local nightlife (of which there was little).

This morning I had breakfast at the Cafe with Candice who is a gold prospector. But instead of a burro she had a Broncho, instead of "gosh darn" she spoke of anticlines and overburden, instead of whisky for breakfast she had coffee. Where is the romance in that. Then onward but only 50 miles today because I had to climb a range (I figured the big hill was a 5% incline for 4 miles which will never get me the spotted jersey but is still a mighty big pile of dirt to pedal up.

Now I am in Wells at an RV Park where I will try out my new sleeping bag. I was freezing as it got colder because my "Space Blanket" (mylar film with a reflective coat) was condensing onto the bag and I was getting damp - yuck so I went to the local hardware store and purchased $29.95 worth of comfort although the load of my poor bike gets higher and higher - soon I'll need rear view mirrors. BUT - Now I have mattress and bag - comfy.

From a biker's point of view, the scenery the last few days has been little changing. Scenes like the one of miles of fence covered on one side by tumbleweeds, or of dust devils playing in the sage stay with me. The weather has been awesome with some unfortunate turns of wind by which I mean right in my face. I suspect I would be enjoying it more if I was fitter and less sore, but all in all my ability to move forward has surpassed my expectations.

Got to go - Library closing
Laurence
ps Laura - I scored Celestial Seasonings mixed box - yummy
ps Rachel - Isn't it funny we have the identical model bikes (and yet Neil didn't invite you along)?
ps Colleen, can you give me Maria's phone number in case she wants to meet for coffee?
ps Alain - on the way to Park Valley an enormous storm began gathering over the Grouse Mountains north of me as I went west. I could see in the masses of black cloud sheets of rain and vivid slashes of lightening but couldn't get a handle on it's direction - so I just pedalled as hard as I could and hoped. One more time the storm nipped my heels and then passed behind me until that night on the eastern horizon the entire skyline would light up although the thunder could not be heard. Some lucky.
ps Neil - on Sunday at lunch I looked up and saw a contrail. I wondered if it was you cozy at 30,000 ft. looking down on me and remembering all the adequate times (haha) we had.
ps Irene and Patrick where are you?
ps Ray, much of the scenery is like southern Chile.
ps sorry no pics, I'm out of time
L