October 14-November 11, 2021. 400TX.

I was gone 28 days. The car ran fine. The weather was good. I slept well. I ate well. I drank a couple of cups of coffee a day and read books. I did get the camera out once in a while. The first image above was created in the town of McDermitt, Oregon. The trailer had just been unhitched by a woman who was leaving it in the parking lot. She was crying. She had bought it that morning and realized after driving a few miles that it was in no fit condition to reside in. Things were breaking as she went. She asked if I could help. I was trying to get to California in a couple of days, and I would not get involved. She was going to try to get her money back. I walked away, filled up with gas, and left.

Much of the time, I traveled on I-95. I came upon the town of Schurz. It is part of the Walker Indian Reservation. I did not see anyone, but I did use the facilities. The restrooms are part of an outdoor facility used for the Pinenut Festival that occurs every September. I parked under some Cottonwoods and made lunch.

Time to get acquainted with Hawthorne, the home of the Worlds largest ammunition depot. I drove through slowly past homes and businesses but could not get inspired to get out the camera; I went to the end of the residential section of town and parked. Apart from the city, this is a very lonely country. The sign gave me the impetus to get back to the highway and travel on. On the way out of town, I noticed a police officer following. Perhaps someone had called about a suspicious character driving an equally suspicious old car. As I crossed the city limits, the car turned around.

A few miles past Mina, I found a place to sleep. I went up about a mile on a dirt road near I-95 and State Highway 360. That is what I did on most days. As the afternoon progressed, I would start looking for a place to sleep. The nights in Nevada are cold, so I would be in bed between 7 and 8 PM. The following day I was heading for Lone Pine, California.

This is Marc and Isabel. They are doctors, and they live in the Yukon, the westernmost of Canada’s three territories. They are bike touring, and I met them outside the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center in Lone Pine, California. I was heading in the direction of Death Valley, and they were also. There are a couple of mountain passes between Owens Valley, the Panamint Valley, and Death Valley. These are very difficult for cyclists to cross. I needed the company, and they offered to pay for the gas, so we loaded the bikes on top of the car, and off we went. We ended up in Stovepipe Wells a couple of hours later. The campsite was closed, so they booked a hotel room, and I traveled back to the Panamint Valley to disperse camp near the Panamint Dunes.