Today Was A Strange Day

Today was a strange day. We woke in Great Basin National Park in Nevada. What an amazing grand place to visit. We didn’t really do anything there because we have been on a mission to get to Bend Oregon, and trying to escape all the storms out in the Desert Southwest. We woke to rain so, get to boogie was the plan.

We had parked in what looked like a shooting range, although I saw no shells or other people. The ground was made up of fine powdery silt. With the rain we knew what this meant, we have heard stories of people getting stuck in the stuff. It embeds itself in the undercarriage of your car. When it dries it’s like cement. Walking around in it is a mess to, as it builds on itself, becoming thicker and thicker with every step. (Dude had it on his paws. Poor little guy spent a good part of the drive grooming himself. At one point I looked back at him and his dog-bed was covered in balled up bits of dried silt.)

So, I made a very quick breakfast and we got out of there fast. We drove through multiple storms. When there was finally and break in the weather, it seemed like a great time to stop for lunch. We ate. Then we were back on the road. Many times after storms pass the animals like to come out. Today was one of those days. I left in the car and Trey was behind me in the camper. I was weaving to avoid all of the ground critters that were scampering across the street. Back and forth they went. I was driving so carefully when one went under my car. I didn’t feel anything so I was hoping that he escaped death. Then about 30 mins later I saw what I thought was a coyote bound across the road and then another, only the second one stopped right in front of me. It was not a coyote but a massive Jack Rabbit! I slammed on my brakes and so did Dude. The Jack Rabbit escaped unscathed.

 After driving 160 miles further than planned today, because of all the rain and mud puddles that made finding dry-camping nearly impossible.  We pulled over a million times and said “how about here?” “No” “how about here?” “No”. Finally, we settled-in, in front of a BLM sign, almost right off the main highway 95, because we were exhausted and not finding anything without mud puddles that would keep us stuck for a few days.

As I was talking to Trey tonight, I said “I think I nearly hit one of those ground squirrels” his response, “Oh, you did, he was flopping all around, so I put him out of his misery”.                            (I cried a little bit)

That's life on the road, literally...