The title refers to a song that an old time singer named Hank Snow used to sing. In it he sings a list of places he has been and among them is a place called Winnemucca. Three years ago Garry and I rode through Winnemucca on our way to Reno, NV. This time we planned on staying.
Today was a day of desert riding on I-80. The desert is quite empty except for the occasional small town or rest stop. This part of America is in many ways much like it was a hundred and fifty years ago. The one thing that seems to be constant is the railroad which runs close to the Interstate for miles and miles.
View from I-80 between Battle Mountain and Winnemucca, NV
Still, this land has a strange attraction despite its brown landscape suffocating summer heat and frigid winter temperatures. It is hard to imagine how hard the first people, either indigenous or white, had to work to survive. There is very little to support human life here.
From Wendover, UT, to Winnemucca, NV
As we passed through Wells, NV, we passed a fireman setting up an Emergency sign on the highway. Slightly further along on an off ramp we saw the reason why. A Budget van had rear ended a semi and it looked like the top of the cab had been sheared off and even the part that overhangs the cab was crushed. Garry said he saw another vehicle behind the van and it may have been rear ended into the semi. Whatever happened it looked very serious.
The temperature again must have topped one hundred degrees F. Riding day after day in those temperatures saps your energy and it is extremely important to stay hydrated. When we arrived in Winnemucca we were ready to call it a day.
It was one of those days where the main point was to get to where we need to be for the next day. On Friday the plan was to ride to Bend, OR, a distance of more than 600 kilometres. This ride is one on the most difficult stages of out trip, but it gets us closer to home.
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