Friday, May 3, 2019

Let's Play True or False

Here I am parked, NOT at the Baptist Church RV Park.  It's a long story.
I left Sparks in good spirits as I was reminded I was NOT in California any more.  Double and triple trailers passed me like I was standing still.  The best part?  The roads were fabulous!!
This is the loneliest road in the world, Highway 50 East.  It's one of the reasons I was so nervous about this trip.  

True or false ..... my computer map said it was 170 miles to Austin Nevada (when it could even FIND Austin Nevada) with a time of 7 hours 49 minutes.  Yikes!!  I'm thinking this is just going to be a horrible road. 
FALSE.  The road was long, straight and smooth as a baby's bottom.  How could I be so lucky.  Yes, it was 170 miles, but it only took me 3-1/2 hours.
Along the salt fields, or caleche, someone had gathered up thousands of rocks and laid out the Preamble to the constitution.  All I could really read without stopping was "in order to form a more perfect union".  Pretty cool!!!
True or False.  The Pony Express came right through here with mail for California.  TRUE, since there were several signs along the way telling me so.  I wonder if they went cross country or if they actually followed a wagon trail?
True or False.  The best place to put a town would be in the semi-flat lands of this valley.  
That would be FALSE.  Rather, lets build the town in the middle of those very high mountains up there.  A beautiful sight, to say the least!!  On the entire 170 mile trip, there was only one truck going my direction.  Everyone else, maybe one car every 20 minutes, was going the opposite direction.
Suddenly, the road turned narrow and extremely curvy with an uphill grade of probably 12%.  At last ... the town ... squished right in the middle of a very narrow canyon.  

True or False.  This is a living ghost town where I'm going to spend the night.  I could feel my camera calling to me.  It's going to be a GREAT afternoon.

That would be FALSE.  I slowly made my way through town, only to find all of the streets go up steep hills and are barely wide enough for one Toyota pickup.  Wait ..... I see the RV park, and according to the map, there is another road with a very wide U-turn.  I can make it!!!  

Also FALSE.  There was barely enough room to make a U-turn in my Jeep.  The rig was not going there.  
Now what?  I guess I just keep on driving.

True or False.  From Austin to Ely, it's only 140 miles, but again the internet (and this time my phone) are both telling me it's over 5 hours to get there.  I actually don't have the answer to that one, since about 5 miles out of town, there was a very large wide spot in the road where I stopped.  

One of our group had said they would be dry camping there.  It's 12:30.  I'll just wait for them.  I really didn't want an 8 hour driving day.  

For local entertainment, the State tried to load up this grader and haul it away.  It was just a tad bit too long and the driver refused to move it.  Unload the grader, load up a pavement machine.
Truthfully, I should have thrown caution to the wind and kept driving.  The other two rigs showed up at 4:30.  At least I had company while parked at over 7,000 feet in elevation.  

True or False.  The internet said it was going to be 27 degrees.  

TRUE.  We are a tad bit on the chilly side, trying not to use the heater too much and keep our batteries above the panic mark.  I'll let you know how today's drive goes.







14 comments:

  1. Most of those programs allow for driving from point "A" to point "B" not allowing for stops for fuel, food or nature. Another thing are road conditions like how narrow roads and streets are.
    Be Safe keeping warm and Enjoy your convoy with your friends.

    It's about time.

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    1. And I've found most are for cars, not motorhomes. Still, it's WAY off as far as time. I deleted that app. LOL

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  2. Sometimes those things happen, but at least you are there for the night with company, try to keep warm and have a safe drive tomorrow. Sometime you just never know what lies ahead.

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  3. Aha, I see there was much more to the story than what you wrote on Facebook!

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    1. Yes indeed Carol ... it's always fun to wing it!!

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  4. Everyday is an adventure for you. I love it! Never heard of Austin but looks like a cute town to check out in the summer. Safe Travels....Elva Shannon

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    1. This whole Hwy 50 is a great place to visit. So much interesting history around here.

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  5. I love Hwy 50...in fact, we were on it during some of our trip in Kansas on Monday. Only thing you need to do is WATCH the speed in Ely, especially headed west when you are going down steep hill and they drop the speed down very quick. My mom got a ticket there years ago...still a speed trap.

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    1. I saw a couple of Sheriff cars hanging out and I understand they have an eye in the sky also. And lots of 25 mph speed limits! LOL

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  6. Your a brave lady to drive your motor home in places like that. I always worry all the time if there is room to maneuver around to get gas , to get parked or just plain get . Safe travels .Vern in Boise

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    1. Vern ... I worry about the same thing, but have learned to do major closeups of my fuel stations on the map before I get there so I know exactly how to enter. It's been a big help.

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  7. Nice in some ways to have good highways and no traffic BUT that is only if you don't need help along the way. I'm sure that elevation would make for cooler temperatures. Heck, we're warmer than that!!
    Ha ha. Safe drive today, Nancy.

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    1. It's beautiful relaxing driving with no traffic, but SO many elevation changes. Actually the weather could not be more perfect.

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