Sailing away in Nevada

Let's see- Monday night we stayed a free night at the Redding, CA Holiday Inn...thanks to points.

Tuesday morning we headed for Carson City, Nevada but today we are taking straighter roads with a few curves. It is cold and by the time we leave at 830- it is RAINING AGAIN!! So out comes the rain gear, double up the gloves and head out.

Here I must digress.....so this is the way it goes when getting geared up....
Put on chaps, then jacket and zip it up, then helmet....wait...screwed up...take off helmet and put on scarf over ears, then put on helmet....darn it....take off helmet, take off scarf and put in ear plugs....put on scarf, put on helmet and strap it down....oh MAN....unzip jacket and put on leather face/neck collar and tuck under jacket neck, zip jacket....oh BALLS!!...unzip jacket and TUCK helmet strap into jacket (it is too long and flies around underway)....OK- whew....put on liners, slip hands into gloves and get on bike....SCREWED UP AGAIN....have to unlock the bike...take off gloves, unzip pocket and dig around for keys...SUCCESS!! unlock bike, take liners of out gloves (cannot put hands in them with the liners), put liners on hands, put gloves on hands....start BIKE...but wait....now I have to go to the bathroom....darn the coffee!! When using raingear- it gets even more convoluted...more layers, velcro and zippers. Now I am ready for a nap....and another cup of coffee.

We head for 80 miles to Susanville- easy riding curves and passing lanes. Over the top of the hills we go....it is getting colder and we are over 5000 feet elevation. Now lots of snow in the woods but the roads are clear and dry. Our fingers are only two knuckles frozen today so it is a good day for a ride!! HA!

Just when we start into Susanville- the winds pick up and the temp is at least 50. I have a phone meeting so we stop in a local diner and take up residence. I talk for an hour, warm up the knuckles and we have lunch. Then we leave- SAILING down the road with the wind coming from all directions at us. You can feel the bike slow down due to the wind and then the shift and the bike wants to go into the other lane or the ditch- depending on the gust's direction. We work hard at this ride and the wind blows harder. In the distance we can see a dry lake bed kick up sand and dirt. Luckily we do not have to drive through that area. I see a corridor of trees up ahead and think "great- the wind will not be there"- BOY was I wrong. The trees funneled the wind through the open area and it was worse than ever. The struggle for control was on and I was going to win on this one. Mike and I come up behind a series of RV's/ trailers....not a good place to be. Who knows what will fly off of those things in this wind? We have a passing lane and race past them at about 80 mph. The wind keeps on....finally we arrive Reno. Have a Starbucks break and regroup...then off to Carson City for the night. The wind continues and is still blowing like crazy out there. The locals are sick of the weather here too....it is cold and windy- 50 degrees and what seems like 50 mph. The wind chill continues...

A two day stay in Carson City is needed so we can rest up. Today (Wednesday) we have toured the State of Nevada museums, walked the Capitol grounds, lunched and rode the town a bit.

The wind still blows......but WAIT!!! We walk out of the hotel to go to supper at Red's Old 395 Restaurant...the wind has died down- the trees are standing upright.....and THEN we look to our right.....a huge storm is coming down the hillside into Carson City. Oh well....what the Hell...another day of rain BUT oh no!!! It was sleet combined with rain. We rode to the restaurant, watched the sun come out and came home in the cloudy with "some sun" skies.

Tomorrow- Las Vegas...heard it was warm there???