Day 17. Out of Oregon

I'm glad to be out of Oregon. It's an interesting state, but it has a few odd things going for it. There are no self-service gas stations. No matter where you go, someone comes out to start the pump, and hand you the nozzle. The other odd thing is the 55 mph speed limit. Even in wide open areas, with no human population, it's still 55 mph.


We left Hines, Oregon on Hwy. 20 and connected with 201.



We entered Idaho and took 95 all the way to Grangeville. The last 30 miles were miserable. We were stuck in 100 degree heat, stopped in road construction, with no shade. They had only one lane open. They were putting down oil and gravel and the gravel was thick and hard to drive on. The traffic was moving only 10 to 20 mph. When we finally did get moving, the temp never dropped below 99. It was a tough day to ride.

I didn't take very many pictures, because after a while one state begins to look like the other. Sagebrush looks the same everywhere.

We did find a nice section of Hwy 95 that runs along the Little Salmon River.


Here's one for you dear....


We stayed at the Grangeville Super 8. We walked across the street to the Palenque Mexcican Restaurant for dinner.

Day 16. NV to CA to OR

This morning, we started out with a breakfast at Denny's. Then it was time to hit road. We went up Hwy. 395 and crossed into California.


We stopped at the Honey Lake Rest Area. Nice place. California must have spent a ton of money on it. Lots on cast concrete tables with the CalTran logo on them. The restrooms were staffed even on a Sunday. The place was spotless.


The rest stop over looks Honey Lake, which is a dry lake.


A little further up Hwy. 395, we stopped in Susanville for a couple of pictures.



In Ravendale we found another shoe tree...



The view to the north, just before Likely, CA.



The Modoc County Courthouse in Alturas, CA.


We crossed into Oregon.



We had lunch at the Burger Queen in Lakeview, OR. Then we continued up Hwy. 395, past the Albert Rim.



At Albert Lake, I took off my glasses to take a picture of John, using his camera. I took the picture, got back on my bike and we drove off. I didn't notice that I didn't have my glasses on for over 2 hours...Duh! There's no way I was going to drive the 4+ hours round trip to try and find them.

Hwy. 395 in Oregon has a whole lot of nothing... except wind and heat.


We stopped for the night at the Best Western Inn, in Hines, Oregon. We both used the pool and hot tub.

Day 15. Highway 50, Cool Start - Hot Finish.

Today's job, travel Hwy 50 across Nevada. The reason, complete "The Official Hwy 50 Survival Guide".



The route across is mostly devoid of humans, but abundant in desert flora and fauna. The distances traveled are long. Our first leg was 78 miles from Ely to Eureka. In Eureka, we stopped to get the book stamped and take a few pictures.



The Eureka County Court House.


The Eureka Opera House.


The Stage of the Opera House.



Between Eureka and Austin is 70 miles of desert. We stopped in Austin for gas and to get the book stamped again.

Here's a Hwy. 50 sign.


From Austin to the next town, Fallon, is 112 miles. You are truly in the middle of nowhere out there. The next 8 pictures are a 360 degree panorama shot of what the area typically looks like.









Outside of Austin, half way to Fallon, there's a "shoe tree"...





Also between Austin and Fallon, we got to watch Navy fighter planes make a low level, high speed run across the highway, drop practice bombs and flares, then make their get a way. By the time you saw the planes coming, it was too late to try to get a picture. You couldn't hear it until it was past you. It was very cool to see!!

We Stopped in Fallon for gas and lunch at Quiznos, where we met a young guy from Poland. He was on a 5 week vacation and driving around the USA. He had tried to start in New York, but had difficulty getting a motorcycle and insurance. He had to start in Chicago, where he had friends that helped him with buying a motorcycle.
We got the guide stamped and continued to Fernly. By the time we got to Frenly it was nearly 100 degrees. We got the last stamp in Fernly and headed to Reno.

In Reno, the first stop was the UPS store. We shipped all the camping gear back to my house. The last stop was Days Inn.

We're going to try for California and Oregon tomorrow.

Day 14. Change of Plans and More Trains

Last night, we decided that we would change plans again. We wanted to stay in Ely one more day to ride the train. So after a great breakfast of American fries with chorizo, peppers, onions and scrambled eggs at the Silver State, we went back to the hotel. We did laundry, and moved into another room. Around 1400, we went down to the Nevada Northern Railway Museum and purchased tickets and took the tour of their grounds.



We got to walk through the engine shop and watch them fire up the 1910 locomotive that would be pulling the train, #93.



The Museum is a working museum. They have a nice collection of rolling stock. Nearly 70 cars from the early 1900's.




After the tour, they drove the locomotive out of the shop and connected it to the train.




The completed train was a locomotive, it's tender, 2 Pullmans, an open car with bench seats, and a caboose.



The train ride is a little under 2 hours and takes you through town and out towards the copper mine. It runs past the legal brothels in town.





The train runs through 2 short tunnels.






At the end of the line, the turn the train around in a "Y". From there you can see trucks from the copper mine.



The museum also has an area where they do a re-enactment of a train robbery.



After the train ride we went for dinner at La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant. Both John and I ate way too much. The portions are huge. After that we went back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we'll head west.