Winnemucca to Salmon

We headed out of Winnemucca before 8 yesterday morning. It was beginning to spit rain. It had rained off and on during the night, and continued across Nevada. The high desert and mountains, usually dry and pale in August, were much greener than in past years. We saw wild flowers along the side of the road. A surprise to us, and much enjoyed.

We stopped in Jackpot for gas, and a trailer check. The rain had stopped, but the wind was blowing. We traveled with the wind and blowing dust from Wells and across the Idaho state border and on to Shoshone. We slowed down some to give the trailer some purchase on the road, and she trundled along behind the truck.

Arrival and set up at the Riverside RV Park in Bellvue was a relief after the windy day. A bicycle group was enjoying the grassy meadow, with a sea of colored dome tents. We met our friends, Kathy and Steve, and their two darling grandchildren for gourmet pizza in Bellevue. We had a lovely evening, catching up on two years of activities.

This morning, we arose to a very cool day. Temps in the low 40s and rain. I took a photo of the bicycle group headed out. We had never seen port-a-potties loaded onto small trailers, and pulled behind pick ups. We later saw them headed toward Galena Pass, port-a-potties in tow.

Signs assured us that Galena Pass was open. Whew, as we were headed that way. We had driven # 75 several times before, so we had views in our mind’s eye of the breathtaking vistas. Today’s views were of mist kissed mountains, and the road ahead. Some of the mountains had fresh snow on the tops, and the temp at the top of the pass was 39 degrees. As we descended to the valley and Stanley, the temps climbed to a high of 45.

 We had a delightful gourmet lunch in the cafe, and looked in on several places to inquire about buying Russ’ book. All the managers, who make the decisions, were out until Monday. So, we peeked in on the remodeled Stanley Hotel, a historic log building, once owned by our friends in Hailey.

By the time we traveled on to Challis, the rain was reduced to a drizzle, and a very enthusiastic Forest Ranger named Dan, manning the desk at the Yankee Fork Historic Museum, eagerly bought a number of Russ’ books. He was impressed that Russ could use a memory stick to download an invoice, plug it into Dan’s computer, and print it out.

Russ inventoried a weather station at the Challis Airport on our way out of town. As we headed for Salmon, trailing along next to the Salmon River, we kept our eyes to the north, where blue black rain clouds lowered. Most fortunately, they hovered just ahead of us, and we arrived in Salmon and docked in Bob and Alberta’s spacious newly poured cement driveway. It was so nice to join them for a catch up on Salmon and Nevada City.

All is well in our neck of the woods, and we hope that it is well in yours also,
Ellen/ MOM/ Grandma

Comments

[George Rebane]

Great posts Ellen, we enjoy them so much. Keep up the good prose, it is as if we were there with you both.

[Kathy]

It was such a treat to see both of you in Bellevue for pizza. It sounds like your journey to Salmon was uneventful...thank goodness.
Any chance you will be able to stop on your way home? Thank you for dinner and the great visit. Kathy