Road Tripping with Ozzie - 2

Writing is Tiring Work

   Sagebrush and salt flats. No wonder the pioneers were in a hurry to get to the mountains and down into California. This is the farthest east I’ve ever been and so far I am underwhelmed. Nevada is drier than dog kibble.

   The gate was ajar this morning so we slipped out and started padding east. This motor home is the real deal. Lots of places to flop when the scenery outside the window gets tiresome. The floor is laminate and cool, which is all an Alaskan Malamute  can ask.

   The first part of the day was old hat for scenery. We rolled though Sacramento and up the Sierras. We travel that route often to Lake Tahoe and skiing in winter. I got a bit excited today when I got to stare across a valley and see the mountainside where I was born.  

  After that, the road was all downhill. The freeway dividers near Sacramento were bursting with colour from the oleanders and other flowering bushes. They were replaced by the mountain pines, but then on the Sierra downside we saw scraggly trees blending into browned out mountains pocked by craggy outcroppings that looked like huge chunks of broken chocolate.

   Then at Reno the sprawling desert. Miles and miles of it, interrupted only by tired mountains worn down like the teeth of aged bison.

   We parked for the night in an RV campground in Winnemucca, which is named for a Paiute chief who was wearing only one moccasin when he met some prospectors looking for gold. The prospectors began calling him wannamucha, which means one moccasin and the name stuck.

   Chief Winnemucca and his daughter Sarah travelled widely in the 1870s and early 1880s bringing attention to the plight of their people. Sarah became a lecturer and author of two books: Life Among the Paiutes (1882) and Solution to the Indian Problem.

   This area also is known as the chukkar partridge capital of America. We haven’t seen any because any bird out today would be blown east faster than a four-engine jet. Big winds raising dust here as the sun sets.

   Monday high winds raised a huge dust storm near this RV park. They caused a 27-vehicle pileup and one person was killed.

Ready to Roll East

Checking Out the Driver

Relaxing in Winnemucca

(P.S. I didn't want to mention this, however . . . It was really upsetting when we stopped at Donner Lake. This is where a group of pioneers perished in the snows en route to California. They starved to death. During the ordeal, they ate Cash, the family dog. I really hate that story).

OZ