Reno Day 7: Happy Fourth!

Today has been all about the beer, the blues, and the BBQ (wings, that is).

North Virginia Street is closed from 2nd Street to 6th Street and booths line the streets. Although I wasn't looking very hard, I didn't notice much in the way of different beers, but I certainly saw quite the variety of BBQ (wings, that is), and the blues bands playing all day added to the festival atmosphere. 

Lin left the room sometime before I woke up and we didn't see her for the better part of the day. Donna and I started the day with a champagne brunch at the Flavors! buffet in the Silver Legacy. What a nice way to start the day -- with a good healthy breakfast and a mimosa, followed by a bit of gambling. 

After breakfast, and giving the Silver Legacy back the $20 I'd won the evening before, we headed out to the street fair. 

We started at the south end and slowly worked our way north. It was a perfect day to be outdoors, the temperature was in the mid-70s with just enough overcast to make the day pleasant. By mid-afternoon, some of the booths had run out of crowd favorites -- like sweet potato fries -- so we weren't able to sample some of the offerings that we would have liked. Donna and I sampled the wings from a couple of different places, and other places we would have liked to try had very long lines, so we passed on those in favor of some of the less popular choices. 

All-in-all it was a nice, quiet, relaxing day. We all had a chance to spend time to ourselves and not have to worry about being in a certain place at a certain time. Tomorrow we are riding north and taking a little scenic tour of a little corner of Northern California. Can't wait! 

Reno Day 6: Virginia City

Today we headed for the hills and went to Virginia City to do a little sightseeing. With the heat, the chance of afternoon thunderstorms, and the holiday traffic, we convinced ourselves to rent a car to drive up to the hills instead of riding up. After leaving the city, the road twisted and turned up into the mountains. We stopped to look at the view behind us, and were able to see both Sparks and Reno in the distance. 

The road wound through the mountains and into mining country. We saw mine tailings and collapsed entrances everywhere. The terrain had been pretty much stripped of trees, so mostly we saw scrub brush and sage. Despite the lack of trees, it was a beautiful drive. 

Virginia City has a unique personality. I had visited the area as a teen, and it didn't seem to have changed much. The main street through town is still very steep and narrow. 

The sidewalk is partly concrete and partly a raised wooden walkway, much like you would see in an old western. We saw and talked to people from all over the world. I must have heard at least ten different languages this afternoon. Some of the people we talked to were actually part of the ambiance of the place. One old fella, he calls himself "Stinky", makes his living selling carrots for the tourists to feed to his donkey, Bernadette. 

We took a tour of the Best & Belcher mine. Our tour guide took our group about 400 feet back into the mountain, describing the conditions the miners worked under. Most miners in those days didn't live to see their 30th birthday. One of the more interesting facts about this particular mine, is that it has made more money from the tours than it ever made as a working mine. 

We gambled a little after dinner and I managed to double my money at the Silver Legacy Casino. I'm a very low-stakes gambler, so that probably doesn't mean a whole lot to some folks, but the fact that I came out ahead means that I might gamble more.

Tomorrow we are going to hang out in downtown Reno and check out the Biggest Little City Wing Fest. It's all about the chicken wings. This should be fun. 

Reno Day 5: The Biggest Little City

I have been frustrated with equipment issues this trip. Oh, not with the motorcycle equipment, but with the electronic equipment I brought along. I had decided to travel lighter this time, so instead of packing up the laptop, tablet, reader, and phone, I thought I'd just use my tablet and my phone for all my reading and blogging needs. I should have tried it all out first, but as usual time got away from me and I never got the chance.

The first night on the road, I downloaded the Blogger app onto my tablet, emailed the pictures I took from my phone, and sat down to write about the day. Well, the app seems to think that because a tablet is a mobile device, when you blog using the tablet app, all you can do is keep a running blog. Huh. Well, that's a little dangerous on the motorcycle, so I guess that equipment option is out of the question. So I resorted to my phone. The phone app is a little better than the tablet app, at least I can add a picture -- even if I can't put it where I want it. 

Now that we are in the Biggest Little City, I decided to go shopping. I got a lightweight, low cost laptop to use when we travel and I blog. The trip across town to the nearest Best Buy was an adventure all in itself. Downtown Reno is much like any other city in America during construction season -- cone zones everywhere. So, along with the one-way streets in the downtown area, comes the added pleasure of detours. And it's especially helpful when the detour signs are laying on the ground. Next to the curb. Behind the string of parked cars. Anyway, I found what I was looking for and now I'll be able to do this with less hassle -- I hope. 

So, here we are in Reno, NV, called the Biggest Little City We have a nice room on the 8th floor of the El Dorado Hotel & Casino with a view of workers setting up for the BLC Wings celebration this weekend. 

The first time Donna and I had ever stayed in Reno, we stayed at the Silver Legacy for the Women's National Bowling tournament. Neither of us placed, but we had a blast while we were here. We must have gambled more at the El Dorado than the Silver Legacy that year because we get all kinds of "come visit us" email. Last year we got a complimentary room when we passed through on our way home from the coast. 

We're still talking about what we want to do tomorrow, so stay tuned. 

Reno Day 4: The Loneliest Highway in America

Our goal this morning was to hit the highway fairly early to try to beat the heat. We failed. The plan was to gas up and grab a quick bite at the local Mickey-D's and be on the road before 10. Well, that didn't work out as planned. It was well after 10:30 by the time we started the ride west.

Luckily, the weather was pretty mild (all things considered) in the morning, so we slathered on the sunblock and pointed the bikes toward Austin, NV. As usual this trip, the morning temperatures were comfortable and the ride was pleasant.

By the time we stopped for lunch in Austin, the desert oven had preheated, and my arms had been baked a very nice shade of red -- despite the bottle of sunscreen that I had applied. So, I donned my mesh jacket.

When we reached Fallon, NV, the temperatures had soared to 105° -- again. As luck would have it, we rode through Fallon during rush hour traffic. Did I mention that it was 105°? Yeah, it was that kind ride through town.

We were close to spent by the time we reached I-80 and the last 30 miles of the day. Three days of 100°+ temperatures had us pretty drained, but the road had one more adventure to throw at us -- rain, and lots of it.

The temperature dropped about 30 degrees in a matter of minutes. It was a welcome relief from the heat, but the deluge made the ride through the pass into Sparks very tense.

Tomorrow is a rest day. We will hang out in downtown Reno and take some time to gamble. Wish us luck.

Reno Day 3: Hot and Nasty

Today's ride started much like the rest of the week -- cool for the first hour or so, then the furnace started. I couldn't drink enough water. Every time we stopped, I  filled my water bottle and within 30 mins I had drained it dry.

The temperatures soared to around 105°, with very little wind but the occasional gust. Overall, it was a hot, nasty, and tedious ride. Until we found the weather front about an hour out of Ely, NV. The cloud cover that accompanied the front cooled the ride considerably.

We watched the clouds, heard the thunder, and barely beat the rain drops to our KOA Kamping Kabin. We barely had enough time to get our gear off the bikes before drops fell. We waited out the little rain that fell, and hopped back on the bikes to go to the Hotel Nevada in downtown Ely for food and a little gambling.

Reno Day 2: The Heat is On

We started the day with a terrific breakfast at a little place in downtown Craig called the Cool Water Grille. The breakfast was fabulous. And as much as I hate to say it, was much better than Vern's yesterday.

After filling our bellies and then our gas tanks, we hit the rowdy road, once again riding west. The weather was cool but not cold, a perfect morning ride. A few hours later, all that changed.

The temperatures soared to the upper 90s and cool morning air was a thing of the past. At one of our gas stops, we found the Bedrock Depot and sat in the air conditioning eating ice cream.

As the day progressed,  so did the temperatures. At one point, somewhere in Utah, we passed at time & temperature sign that read 100°. Yikes, that's hot. But as is usual in the afternoon, less than an hour later we had to pull off the side of the road to put on our rain gear. It was a welcome change from the heat, but the rain slowed us down.

We turned south onto Hwy 189 in Heber City and rode through Provo Canyon. What an awesome ride! I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area.

As usual, a 5-hour car trip took this intrepid group more than 8 hours. But we are in this for the journey, not the destination.

We reached our hotel around 6:30-ish, and settled in for the night. Tomorrow we ride from Provo, UT, to Ely, NV. Wednesday we tackle the Loneliest Highway. We're looking forward to it.

Reno Day 1: On the Road Again

Lin, Donna, and I left for Lake Tahoe/Reno today.

We left early (by our standards) and started the trip with our usual visit to Vern's Place in LaPorte. With a solid breakfast under our belts, we took off up the Poudre Canyon for the first leg of the journey. We want to give a big shoutout to Angel and Shiela for escorting us to the Mishiwaka.

The ride up the Poudre Canyon was phenominal. The temperatures were just about perfect, and the traffic going up the canyon was almost non-existant. Traffic coming down the canyon was a whole 'nuther story. About an hour later, we stopped to say hi to Connie at Archer's Poudre River Resort and let go of the coffee we'd had with breakfast. Then it was over Cameron Pass and the long ride to US Hwy 40 West and our first stop in Craig, CO.

Riding through the winding canyon and in the meandering stream in high mountain valley west of Cameron Pass, I begin to feel a calm that I hadn't felt in months. Wind screaming past my ears, gritty air hitting my face, a twitch of the hips one way and then the other to negotiate a curve, invoke a feeling of flying.

By this time, the sky was clouding up and the temperatures were getting a bit schitzophrenic. We added jacket liners then a dozen miles later took them off, only to stop again before Rabbit Ears Pass to add a layer. By the time we reached Steamboat Springs, it had warmed up significantly, so we stopped to gear down (again) and grab a bite to eat before continuing on to our KOA Kamping Kabin in Craig.

Now, I had some cool pictures ready to upload with this post, but for some reason this app (I'm using my tablet, we tried to save room and weight and not bring a laptop) has a problem uploading saved files and it won't let me select any pictures from my gallery. So, pictures to follow.