Nevada Winds

We said good-bye to Utah and the Flats as climbed into Nevada.

Our first stop was the Pequop Truck stop. Importantly, it had "facilities."

We had high hopes that the wind would stop once we climbed this mountain, but as we descended into the the arid flatlands, we realized it wasn't to be.

Cool winds blew in off distant mountains, buffeting the U-Haul truck we drove. 

By "buffeting" I mean "slammed" We could seldom drove the speed limit. Fear gripped us when an eighteen wheeler passed hoping it would get by before another gust blew the truk into our laps.  We watched several blow clear off the road.  Most big trucks went slower than us.

    Tumbleweeds, wild horses, cowboys riding the range and a road runner are on my list of what I want to see when I travel out west.  I can finally mark "tumbleweeds" off that list. As I post this photo, it is as hard now as it was then not to sing "See the Tum-ble-ing, Tumbleweeds" song by either Gene Autry, written by Bob Nolan from the movie of the same name.  (I bet my sister started singing it as soon as she read that.)

   Lunch found us in Elko Nevada. Elko is a mining area but, historically it has always been on a main east-west travel route.  Jeff and I quickly drove through the casino-laden main strip of town. We made a stop at Sherman Station which looked interesting.  It was also the Chamber of Commerce, promising information and a gift store.  It was closed. I have found that for some reason there are a lot of closed tourist information centers. Many seem like they were "good ideas" without the funds to keep them going. We walked around, peeked in the windows and drove on.  I think the photo, below, is the stage coach station, though it could be the blacksmith shop.

Below is a photo from an Elko NV web site. Sherman Station

Now, this isn't big news to you westerners, but to us in the eastern US and the rest of the world, it is interesting that most towns or counties have an initial on the side of a nearby mountain.  Hence, the "E" below is for Elko.  I guess here in the Appalachians, our mountains are so close and up on each other that we can never get far enough back to read a whole letter.  (Some hollows have that same problem just trying to see the sun.)

Have I mentioned that the wind never stopped. 

Rare blog photo of Nellie. She's holding her shirt down to keep the wind from undressing her.

I drove awhile to let Jeff try to sleep a little.  At one time he awoke as a few cars passed us, "Man, those cars are going fast."  My reply was, "Well, they may not going as fast as it appears." I was only driving 45 miles per hour. Have I mention it was windy?

There were plenty of wind warnings on the road.

We stopped at a rest-stop to change drivers and whatever else people do at rest-stops.  I couldn't get my door open against the wind.  Jeff helped me, though it was for his own good.  He is pretty thin.  Luckily for him, I am not.  Can you picture him hanging on to me with both hands while his feet are flying up in the air?  Have you seen that climax moment in the movie Twister?  Well, it wasn't quite that bad but that is the way it comes up in my mind.  

Crows hovered before being flipped sideways.
We were so tired.
Finally the sun began to set and the wind stopped.  We were still tired but very thankful.

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