When we started our adventure on the big open highways and bi-ways and where-in-the-heck-are-we-ways, we did not know what to expect. Of course we had a plan. We were going to see the whole United States, stay in out of the way campgrounds and have tons of fun. Well we have had tons of fun. We have seen a few different states, but things turned out a bit differently then we thought. Our main goal when we first left Gilchrist, Oregon on that glorious July day was to get to El Paso Texas to see my oldest son, our daughter-in-law and two beautiful grand children. We had camped for about a week on the Big Deschutes River so we could finish up a few things and say good-bye to friends and family. Had a good time then decided it was time to take the big step and head out. The morning we were leaving we arose early and started packing things up to head out. I went to put our big slide out in and just heard a loud knocking noise, what the heck? Phil checked it out and the pin that holds the mechanism together had sheared off some how. Well he was able to rig it together and actually the way he fixed it was magical, we have not had a problem with it since. (knock on wood) With a quick stop at the La Pine NAPA to trade in our fifth wheel batteries for new ones because they arced and wouldn't hold a charge, we headed down Hwy 31. We were full of excitement. Now to give you a hint of things to come I, armed with my road atlas was our GPS system. (we changed that after a while) Anyway we got to Lakeview, Oregon and had a decision 395 into California or 140 into Nevada. Hmmm I of course chose 140 into Nevada. It was a narrow twisty road that went through a river canyon. There was no turning around and we had to take up our lane plus half the other at times to make the curves. Not to mention we could only drive about 30-35 miles an hour. Of course we kept our spirits up for the first part, after all this was the adventure we were after. Well hours later we were getting tired and white knuckled. Not a thing in sight. We grinned and bared it, made it to Winnamucca very tired. Stayed at a casino truck stop. It was nice. We had dinner and played some slots. Had a couple drinks and knew tomorrow would be better. But my atlas and I had a road trip to Virginia City Planned.....
Read about the road to Virginia City next
Read about the road to Virginia City next
Story Time 2
I had heard nothing but fun things about Virginia City, Nevada. Since we were in the area I didn't want to leave without seeing it. We woke in Winnemucca the day was already getting hot. Went and got a bite to eat then set out on our new day of adventure. Headed down the highway I was taking pictures from the truck got some real good ones. Every thing was going well it was just hotter then we were use to but we actually were enjoying the nice warm temps, after all we were now "snowbirds." I had our route all planned out and it looked like smooth sailing. Unknown to us there are two routes into Virginia City, I of course picked the worse one. We made our turnoff and started heading up hill, the road got very steep and narrow. Our truck did not like this steep climb and protested by overheating. Luckily (yes we do have some luck) there was a scenic pull out. We took up most of it but tried to stay out of the way. We looked at each other and thought now what? I got our book out of the glove box and started looking up what to do about over heating. The book said to idle the engine for a while with the heater going. So we did. It was probably over 90 degrees by now, it was hot! We got out of the truck to have a look around. Got to looking at the road and all we saw was it winding all through the mountain above us. Great. Decided the best thing to do was turn around. Easier said then done. There was no room and cars (no trucks, Rv's, or trailers were seen on this hill, except ours) were zooming by. We talked to one couple and they said yes we still had a lot of climbing to go. We waited 2 hours to cool down and decided the only way to get out of there was up. Went for it and the truck started heating up right away. about 100 yards ahead was a great big turn around. Hooray! We hooped and hollered and thanked our (lucky?) stars. We stopped and unwound a little because we knew we were getting off the hill. It was a great feeling. Turned around, went to Carson City and got a spot at a park at a casino. After talking to some different people we found out there was another road that all the trucks take when they do their deliveries. We drove by it the next day. Phil said we could go but I did not even want to try. I have not been to Virginia City to this day. We did get the over heating problem fixed though. Next stop Tonopah.
