Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Eastward Ho! (Day Twelve)

by Pa Rock
Wagon Master

This evening finds us at a Motel 6 in Winnemucca, Nevada.  For those who have read Armistead Maupin's wonderful Tales of the City, Winnemucca is where Mrs. Madrigal lived as a child - in her mother's house of prostitution.  My first impressions of the town and the motel are positive.

We made our escape from the Bates Bigfoot Motel in Willow Creek, California, early this morning.  It looked as though we were the only paying guests last night, which is probably why the manager had to have ninety dollars for the room.  The light over my bed did not work, which was upsetting because I like to read in bed, and I had to reattach the chain to the toilet mechanism twice during the evening.  I suspect most North American Bigfeet are smart enough to avoid the place.

Today we drove through some breathtaking, evergreen-clad mountains which bordered the Trinity River in northern California.  We were on a twisting, winding road and had to stop numerous (at least three) times due to road repair work.  But those stops gave me time to study the atlas and figure out the shortest route to Reno, Nevada.  All told, we put in 460 miles on the road, about twenty more than yesterday.  Tomorrow we will begin the day on Interstate 80, a very smooth and straight highway that should give us some quick miles.

We must be in Nevada because every gas station houses a casino!   Fortunately, I don't gamble - except for the odd lottery ticket - or I would be tempted to bet the Conestoga and oxen, and if I lost I could console myself by riding on home in style on a Greyhound Stage Coach!

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