Reno Day 11: Homeward Bound

We started pretty early this morning. I was up around 6:30-ish and got right to making sure that everything was packed and ready to go. Donna and I had reached our data plan limit, so we had turned our phones off yesterday so we wouldn't go over (we probably did anyway, but we tried to minimize the charges). As soon as I turned my phone on, I got a text message from our neighbor to call her ASAP, so I did. I woke her up (sorry Pam).

The news wasn't good. It seems we had a visitor in the last couple of days -- of the four-legged variety. It must have been a small-ish bear to fit through the dog-door, but he helped himself to our refrigerator and freezer, and some of the cupboards. He didn't scratch up the cabinets or floors, and he was kind enough to puke and crap outside and not in the house. 

  

I think next year we'll be looking for a house sitter. 

It's been an eventful day. We did our major packing last night and were ready this morning, all we had to do was stow our night clothes and pack the bikes. A call to the Bell Desk took care of clearing out our room, then we went to breakfast. 

After breakfast came the chore of packing the bikes. As usual, it took us about 20 minutes to pack the bikes and make sure everything was secure for the highway. Our trip home is on I-80, so we hit the highway. We made really good time in the morning. Some time in the mid-afternoon, we caught up with the storm front we had been watching all morning. 

As we got closer to the front, the wind -- which was already strong -- really started whipping up. And it changed direction. It had been blowing us around from the north, but when it changed from a southerly to a northerly wind -- about 2 miles west of Battle Mountain, NV -- it did so with a vengeance, and added a stinging rain to boot.

What had been a stiff wind turned into a fury. We had to slow to almost a crawl and at one point I was almost lifted off the seat of my bike by the helmet. I had to pull over to cinch it down more, and by then the wind was so bad, I could hardly hold my bike upright -- with the kickstand down. I was afraid to get off the bike for fear that the wind would blow it over and into the interstate, and me along with it. 

After a nice Nevada State Patrolman stopped to make sure we weren't having mechanical problems, the wind eased just enough that we were able to make it to one of the gas stations in Battle Mountain. By the time we finished fueling the bikes and got back on the highway, the wind had eased to manageable levels. It was still windy, but not like the 9th level of hell. 

We only made it as far as Elko, NV, but by the time we arrived, we were pretty well beat up tired by the wind. Tomorrow is another day, we plan to get an early start and try to reach Green River, WY -- we'll see. It will depend largely on the weather.