Hardcore

The past three riding days weren't the greatest in terms of weather. Wednesday's conditions were some of the worst I've ever ridden in. With one hundred to one hundred and ten kph crosswinds, riding the one hundred and ten kilometres (70 miles) from north of Reno, NV, to just south of Susanville, CA was some of the scariest riding I have ever done. Later on the temperature dropped from a balmy 13C (about 55F) to 5C (40F) and shortly after the whole crappy mixture was complete with rain, sleet and hail for the last 50 km (30 miles) into Klamath Falls, OR. 

Thursday was somewhat better with mixed cloud and sunny patches but for the last part of the ride into Wilsonville, OR, the skies went grey and rain again began to fall. Friday was a bit worse with rain for the last half of the ride to Tacoma, WA, and a traffic jam that lasted for 30 of the last 35 kilometres from south of Olympia, WA. 

The weather showed no mercy for our last day on the road. We started our final leg under cold grey skies and light drizzle until we were near Kelso, WA, when the rain began in earnest.It varied between light to medium in intensity, but it never stopped all the way from Kelso, through Seattle, Everett, Mount Vernon, Bellingham and even to the border. The only dry time of the day we had was on the ferry to Nanaimo where the rain was still falling. The one hundred and seventy kilometres to Campbell River were ridden in steady light rain until the last ten kilometres where it eased off to a light drizzle. Essentially, We rode for 450 km in the rain at about 13C. My leather gear was soaked and is still drying out in the foyer.

Big Red and me. Home after 6117km. I'm wet, cold, & happy to be HOME!

After all of that I think all four of us on this trip can qualify as 'Hardcore' riders. We all bitched and complained about the weather, but there was also a perverse pride in having overcome these conditions and gaining bragging rights about riding in really sh!*%y weather. Nobody call it quits and we all pushed through to the end. Tom even made the three hundred km ride back to Merritt, BC, after we crossed the border. Jim got home with no further rain off the ferry and Garry and I did the one hundred and seventy km in the rain after we got to Vancouver Island.

Still the trip was an experience of a lifetime. I have 6117 km on my trio odometer since we left on June 3rd. I often say that a great trip is one with no close calls, no mechanical problems, no a$$holes and no drama. There were none of the latter two but the first two were present this trip. I was almost run off the road twice by inattentive drivers - one an old guy in a big white Cadillac, and another by a truck driver who abruptly changed lanes as I was trying to pass. The third one was my fault and it's as close to buying the farm as I ever want to get. 

Tom had problems with his fuel pump throughout the trip but he managed to keep his tank more than half full for the trip so it worked out OK for him. I had a major oil leak and had to have the stator replaced because the leak was from the stator plug. When the mechanic at Chester's H-D in Reno, NV, pulled the clutch basket off he found that the previous repair at Barnes H-D in Victoria, BC had been botched and the clutch assembly had to be replaced. Fortunately, it was done under warranty so a US$1530 repair bill cost me US$150. And the service at Chester's was excellent. Justin, the service writer diagnosed the problem immediately when he saw the oil leak.

Garry lost some of his wheel weights so we had to stop in Beaverton, OR, to have that put right. Again, they got him in and on the road in short order.

While we were at Bob Lanphere Honda in Beaverton, a woman rode in on a red Honda CB1100A just like the ones that Jim and I are getting. We tracked her down in the dealership and aked her what she thought of her bike. She gushed about it. It was comfortable, nimble,quick, shed weight as it got up to speed and was just a joy to ride. Jim and I had smiles that just got bigger as she went on, and we are stoked about getting our 2016 CB1100As. 

The sales person at SG Sports in Victoria called Darlene to tell us that our motorcycles will arrive on July 3rd and they will have to be assembles before we can pick them up later. He was extremely pleased with himself because he says that Jim and I will have the only two of these motorcycles in Canada. I think that's pretty awesome.

So, with this exceptional trip in the books, the Vintage Gentlemen and Garry (who still has three years left before he can join our august group) are already talking about next year's adventure. Whatever it is, it will be sure to be great, and we hope that Kerry will be able do the whole ride with us. He was sorely missed even as the ride was excellent. It is good to be home however, to see Darlene, to enjoy being in my own place, and to soak in the view of Johnson Strait and the Salish Sea from our deck. Not matter how much we see and do, there is nothing that we have seen that is better than that which we have here in Campbell River and on Vancouver Island.  

The Shortest Day

The plan for today was to ride to Paradise H-D, have Garry's front wheel properly balanced, make a quick stop at Beaverton Honda, then make the run up I-5 to Mount Vernon and be ready for the short ride to the border tomorrow morning. Except, that's not how things worked out.

We arrived at Paradise H-D to find that the staff was having their regular Friday morning meeting, so no one was available until almost ten o'clock. The service people took Garry's bike in so Tom, Jim & I rode to Beaverton Honda to check out the goodies there and to look at the classic motorcycles that they have on display. Along with a wide range of Honda motorcycles on display, there were also quite a few BSAs and Triumphs, along with one Norton, and a 1972 CB750 Honda Four.

Two Indian Chiefs

1973 Triumph X-75 Hurricane, one of six hundred produced

1970 Norton Commando

1957 Matchless

1972 Honda CB750K-2

Garry's motorcycle was finally repaired just after noon, so we headed north through Portland without missing any turns and crossing the Columbia River into Washington State. The already threatening skies began to spit rain around the time that we pulled off I-5 near Longview, WA. With the late start from Tigard, we figured that we would hit Seattle by the time rush hour was at its height. When we checked for rooms in Mount Vernon, we found that the cheapest one was running at about one hundred and thirty dollars.

Crossing the Columbia River between Portland, OR & Vancouver, WA.

Our plans changed so we reserved rooms in Tacoma instead. The rain began south of Olympia at about the same time traffic slowed down to a crawl. For seventeen of the next twenty miles it was stop and go with our speed rarely going above twenty mph, (30 kph). It took us almost an hour and a half to make that distance while the rain continued to fall. Despite getting off the road one hundred miles short of our goal, given the weather and the traffic congestion, we made the right choice. 

Tomorrow morning we will need to make up that distance so we plan on an early start with hopes that we get some minimal cooperation from the weather. If we begin early enough, we should be able to beat the heavier traffic that occurs later in the morning. Usually, things clear up north of Everett, WA, and the ride to Canada is usually quite effortless. 

After ten days of flawless weather, we have been subjected to less than perfect conditions for the past three days. Maybe things will begin to change tomorrow, because we are all ready to get home and have a few days off. And we are all ready for a change in the nasty weather we have been experiencing for the past three days.

Downhill & Heading Home

Overnight in Klamath Falls it rained and the temperature dropped to 2C. North of the city snow fell, and in one of the passes To the north there was a six inch snowfall. Outside our room it was very chilly this morning as we prepared to leave for our breakfast stop at MacDonald's. Jim wore his heated vest and he and Garry turned on their heated grips. I pulled out my cold weather gloves, put my rain pants under my chaps and wore my sweatshirt under my vest.

At our stop at MacDonald's I noticed two things. First, in walking by a row of booths I saw three of the four people who were sitting there using their smart phones. Second, a young man had his perhaps three year-old son with him. The child was playing in the play area while the man was on his smart phone. The boy looked at us and smiled, looking to make a connection because his father was ignoring him. It occurred to me that fifteen years from now the man will still have a cell phone. He will not have a son who wants his attention. It was sad to observe this missed opportunity for him to connect to his young son who so obviously wanted to be with his father.

Jim needed oil for his motorcycle so we stopped at the Honda dealership. In several of the dealerships that we have visited, there are relatively few motorcycles, but many ATVs. Many of the communities are rural and four wheeling is big. It is not unusual to see pickup trucks with ATVs in them. With the availability of open land in the west, I suppose that it isn't surprising.

Klamath Falls has a US Air Force base where F-15 pilots are trained so there is a lot of flying. This morning we saw F-15s flying around. The salesman said that it was like having an airshow every day. So, on this trip we have seen the places where the Navy has its TopGun (Fighter Weapons) school and where the US Air Force trains its F-15 pilots. It wasn't planned.

With the weather the way it was we decided to head west where the weather was warmer, rather than remain east of the mountains where it was colder. We took Oregon State Highway 66 between Klamath Falls and Ashland, OR, so we could hit the warmer weather sooner. Highway 66 is a secondary highway that threads its way through the mountains for more than sixty miles. It is a fantastic motorcycle highway and we enjoyed riding it this morning. Coincidentally, Jim and I rode this same highway on our Norton Commandos when we attended the International Norton Owners' Association rally in July, 2014. It was different riding the Harley than it was the Norton.

Highway 66 to Ashland, OR.

At the end of the road we found a Starbucks where we stopped for a coffee before heading north on I-5. At the first rest stop, Garry mentioned that he had lost some wheel weights so his front end wasn't rolling smoothly. We made the decision to head to Doyle H-D in Goshen, OR, just south of Eugene. The shop wasn't able to work on his bike because it was almost the end of their work day.

When I pulled into a parking space the man who was parked there commented on my motorcycle. We had a good conversation about riding and bikes among other things. Pat  and his sweetheart Gerry were at the dealership to buy a 2008 H-D Road King. While we were taking a break, he was doing the deal  and as we were leaving we heard a bell ringing inside the showroom.  Pat had closed the deal and the bell was the signal that a motorcycle had been sold. I honked my bike horn & when Pat waved I gave him a thumbs up.

Pat and his sweetheart, Gerry, Goshen, OR.

As we rode north on I-5 I glanced to my right and saw dark heavy clouds that looked threatening. Thes clouds were over the highways that we would have had to take to get to I-5. Had we not taken Highway 66 this morning, we quite probably would have been hit by rain, or possibly snow in the higher passes. Sometimes you get graphic proof that you have made the right decision. This was one of those times.

Since Garry couldn't get his bile fixed today, we made the run up to Wilsonville, OR, so we could get an early start tomorrow and get to Paradise H-D in Tigard, just south of Portland. the ninety-five miles passed quite quickly and we rolled into the motel at about 6:30 after riding 563 kilometres today.

Before we walked to the restaurant for dinner, Jim showed up with his fancy pants again. The light was better and I took some photos. We debated having him walk behind us on the way to the restaurant. When my friend Richard saw a picture of the pants he wanted to know if the store where Jim bought them sold men's clothes too.

Jim's fancy pants

Last time we were here we discovered The Beer Station, a place where the owners have more than twenty-four local craft beers on tap. People can bring food or order in while they have a beer. It is good to see that the couple is making a go of it because it seems like a great idea. 

Tomorrow we plan on stopping at the H-D shop in Tigard, south of Portland,  so Garry can get his front wheel adjusted. We will also go to the Honda dealership as well because Jim wants to go there. Then it will be on to Mount Vernon for the last night of our trip. The big problem will be how to get through Seattle without being caught in a traffic jam. I hope we can figure that one out.

The Longest Ride

 After a week of sweltering heat, the weather has now taken an opposite turn. It was cool and windy in Reno this morning but generally bearable. We weren't able to get an early start on the day's ride because my motorcycle was still in the shop so we had a relaxed breakfast at the buffet. While I was leaving a gentleman with a 101st Airborne hat on remarked on my shirt saying that it was good that I was riding an American built machine. He then asked if I has served but I told him that because I was a Canadian I hadn't been in any of the services.

Tom sees the elephant

The main attraction of the Silver Legacy Casino

Machines on the casino floor.

This guy was there with his grandson and he said that he and the other men in the restaurant who were wearing 101st insignia were having a battalion reunion for soldiers who had served in Vietnam. He mentioned that sixteen of the men who would be about my age were no longer with them. It was quite sad. It is amazing to me that so many of these men seem to be defined by their membership in a branch of the US military and by their service in various wars in different parts of the world. I suppose that it is natural given that the experience would have been one of the formative experiences of their lives. I think it is wonderful that these men have maintained their connection after almost fifty years.

I took a cab to Chester's Harley-Davidson to pick up my bike which had been in the shop for repairs. The stator plug was leaking then the mechanic found that there were issues with the clutch that had been installed last fall, less than 5500 kilometres ago. The people at Chester's were terrific, especially Justin, doing a large repair job with no notice and getting me back on the road in under twenty-four hours. Fortunately, the majority of the costs was covered by the Extended Service Plan that I bought for just such occasions.

As we left Reno it was somewhat windy, but withing fifteen kilometres we were faced with horrendous cross winds. For more than one hundred kilometres we were tossed about by sixty to seventy mile per hour crosswinds. At sixty miles per hour, it was a tense experience, especially when meeting large trucks. South of Susanville the wind eased but as we climbed the pass to the north the temperature began to drop.

The weather that we had just passed through

Sandstorm on Honey Lake

By the time we were seventy miles south of Klamath Falls it was about forty degrees F (5C) with strong winds. Closer to Klamath Falls it began to rain in combination with the wind and cold and as we went further north the rain became heavier and it was mixed with sleet and hail. Garry and I have open faced helmets for our faces were quite numb when we reached the city. Today's ride was probably one of the most miserable, if not the most miserable motorcycle rides of my life.

Into the rain & sleet

The final insult to the day was losing Jim. When we left the gas station, he didn't follow us and we didn't discover that until we pulled into a restaurant up the road. Garry went looking for him where we came from while Tom and I waited on the sidewalk in case he rode by. I headed to the Starbucks store to see if he had gone there. No luck. On my way back I saw him ahead of me and he turned in to the parking lot. We were reunited. In summary, while Tom waited and Garry and I were searching for him, Jim was sitting in MacDonald's enjoying a hot coffee. However, all is well and we were reunited.

We found a motel in Klamath Falls and immediately turned the heat up to 75F, partially to warm up, and partly to dry my wet jeans. The temperature here is supposed to drop to 2C overnight with a high of 13C tomorrow,so we have decided to make a run to I-5 where it will be warmer. I'm not sure I can face another two hundred and fifty miles of winter temperatures again tomorrow. This is the kind of weather Kerry Hill would appreciate. The rest of us, not so much.

Bowling & Hitting It Big

The day started off beautifully with hardly a cloud in the sky. I took photos from our sixteenth floor window in the Circus Circus hotel, To start off our day, Garry, Jim and I found a Starbucks to get our morning caffeine fix. As we found seats we me three guys from Eatonville, WA, near the foot of Mount Rainier. One of the men was somewhat older than our group and he had two guys that looked to be in their late thirties or early forties. They were on a trip to California and Yosemite Park. It turned out that the older guy was the father, and the fourth rider was one of his grandsons.

View from our hotel window

The group are riding Harleys and they have ten of them in their family. The older guy and his wife both ride three wheelers, his sons ride Road Kings and the grandson rides a CVO Breakout. There's a lot on money in bikes in that family. 

When one of the guys saw Jim's t-shirt with the AMF logo on it, he commented, "So you're a bowler." referring to AMF's business in making bowling equipment. He offered to show Jim where they were having a bowling tournament. The ragging continued for some time, and in this vein the comment, "It gives new meaning to the expression, 'Rolling down the road.'" It was all in good fun though. The crew mentioned that they would be riding up to Virginia City and area and that they hoped they would run into us there.

Jim's Poster.

The plan today was to ride to Chester's H-D in Reno, then carry on to Virginia City and Carson City. My motorcycle has been leaking oil so I had the service people at Chester's look at it. The took it in for a diagnostic check up and discovered that it needed a serious repair. I encouraged the guys to go ahead and do the ride. As it was I spent almost five hours waiting to see if the work could be done.

While I was there I met Ben, a twenty-two year veteran of the US Army with two tours in Afghanistan. We talked about riding because I have no common experience with his service. He had been on the road for a month and has a wide knowledge of the highways around Reno. He now lives in Lebanon, OR, a small town that Garry and I rode through on our return from Sturgis last year.

Ben & his motorcycle

Detail of Ben's air cleaner.

The dealership finally received approval from the Extended Service Plan people to do the necessary work so I returned to the Circus Circus at almost four o'clock after having ridden a grand total of less than four kilometres today. Justin at the dealership called me to let me know that my motorcycle should be ready to go early tomorrow, so we should be able to make it to Klamath Falls, OR, tomorrow.

The guys returned from their ride around 5:30 and we decided to go to the Eldorado Hotel for their dinner buffet. After dinner I played the slots for a while. I was down to my last seven dollars of money that I was going to play when I hit a jackpot of five hundred and eleven dollars. Along with the seven dollars I had in the machine, the total came to $518.13. That is the most money I have ever won. I was quite pleased. I didn't even play another spin but cashed out and walked quickly back to my room with my gains. I didn't run because the only two things I run for are beer, and to save my life.

My winnings - $518!

The lucky machine (without the winning screen)

This afternoon I received some one dollar bills and when I looked at one of them it was quite extraordinay. It was dated 1935, and under the ONE DOLLAR note there was a further one which stated 'IN SILVER PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND'. I wonder if I took this bill in if I could get one dollar's worth of silver at 1935 prices. The bill isn't in great shape after eighty-one years, but it is still a keeper.

1935 one dollar bill

ONE DOLLAR IN SILVER PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND

Although the guys had a good day, mine was sort of wasted although the win made it worthwhile. Tomorrow we start heading home. I hope the weather improves both here and at home because I certainly hope that we don't have to finish this trip with terrible weather.

Trains & A Lonely Road

This is a smaller hotel but the lobby has some great stuff in it, including a great eagle sculpture and several motorcycles. The decor is somewhat discordant but the items were both worth seeing.

1971 Honda CB750 chopper. 

1948 Indian Chief

Eagle sculpture in the Prospector Hotel lobby, Ely, NV

I love seeing old steam locomotives, and in Ely, NV, the Northern Nevada Railway runs a 1909 2-8-0 Consolidation locomotive and passenger cars which date from the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s. The railway does rail tours for people who want to experience a train ride as it was almost one hundred years ago. Tom and I rode to the station where we met Ron Taylor who is a volunteer with the railway. Ron is an encyclopedia of railway knowledge. He started his volunteering working on the track crew and he eventually became an engineer and ran 93, the Nevada Northern Railway locomotive.

Tom & Ron with 93

Ron in front of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum.

We waited until the engineer was ready to move from the yard to the station to begin the tour. Listening to this beast and watching it makes it seem like it is a living creature. It was a real bonus to see this locomotive and to talk to Ron who told us many tales of the railway. The video below may give you a sense of what we experienced.

The Beast awakens!

We left Ely and headed out on Highway 50, 'The Loneliest Road in America' for the 325 mile run to Reno, NV. The ride was uneventful, as we passed through small towns named Eureka and Austin. We stopped in both of these places to refuel before continuing on. It seems that many of these towns share a common story. they were established in the 1860s, there was a mineral find, usually silver, copper, or lead , a mine developed and the time boomed sometimes having large public buildings erected, then the mine played, out, people left, and the town went into decline. This is the story of Pioche, Ely, Eureka, and Austin. Austin has three churches alone as well as a courthouse, but now has only about two hundred residents. 

Jackson House 1877, Eureka, NV

The Eureka Sentinel Building which housed the newspaper of the same name, had an interesting story. It was owned by three generations of a family and in 1944 it was taken over by a man who had worked at the paper since 1894. He published the paper until 1960. Two days after publishing the final issue, he died. He had worked for the paper for sixty-six of its eighty-one year existence. The building is now the Eureka Museum.

Nevada Sentinel Building 1879

Ore carts, Eureka, NV

Jackson House and Eureka Opera House

Eureka City Hall, 1879

The country between Eureka and Austin, NV.

It was lunch time when we arrived in Austin so we stopped at a restaurant with a yellow Model A Ford parked in front of it. When I crossed the street to take a photo I saw a huge' Trump Make America Great Again' banner hanging from the front. Needless to say, I decided to eat at the other restaurant in town. The old Ford sure looked great though.

Model A Ford

The restaurant that I wouldn't eat in.

main street of Austin, NV.

At the restaurant we met a man who I think all four of us would like to emulate. He is seventy-nine years old, rides a Victory motorcycle, and has been on the road for a month, riding all the way to Maine to visit family, all the while putting ten thousand miles on his motorcycle. He is riding to Alaska in July with a fried. The only thing I don't want to emulate is riding the Victory.

The man & his Victory

The Loneliest Road in America.between Austin & Fallon, NV

The Loneliest Road in America

Along the 'Loneliest Road'.

The scenery on this stage of our tour is different from the previous stages with wide vistas, low sage brush and mountains in the distance. We rode over several passes one at an altitude of 7600 feet. As we approached Fallon we stopped at a large sand dune which was formed by the sands of old Lake Lahotan. The Indians say the dune is like a rattlesnake and when the wind is blowing just right they can hear it sing.

 The Rattlesnake sand dune

We rode past a naval test range which is connected with Naval Air Station Fallon. We hears jets but couldn't spot them. On the way in to Fallon, we rode across a dry lake bed that looks white from a distance, but is a dirty brown close up.We found a Starbucks in Fallon and enjoyed really good coffee for the first time since yesterday morning.

Dry lake bed near Fallon, NV

 Dry lake bed & mountain near Fallon, NV

It was a fifty mile run in to Reno, but outside of Fallon the wind picked up and for the remainder of the ride we were buffeted by side winds. It isn't the greatest way to ride, but we made it to Reno safely after almost 540 kilometres. At a rest stop we saw an Amtrak train with about ten cars. I can only imagine where it was going but it was great to see a passenger train.

We are in Reno and have decided to stay for two nights, just to catch our wind. We have been riding quite hard for the past eleven days. Tomorrow we are planning to visit the H-D dealer, ride up to Virginia City, carry on to Carson City, then ride along Lake Tahoe before we ride the Santa Maria Pass back to Reno. Then we'll get serious about getting home.

A Rant & Cooling Down

Warning: Rant Alert

We awoke to the news this morning that there had been a mass murder in a club in Orlando Florida. The initial reports had the numbers at twenty dead and many wounded. The figures were later revised to fifty dead and fifty-three wounded. Throughout the news reporting, the perpetrator of this atrocity was referred to as the 'shooter'. He was more than that. He was a murderer, pure and simple. He murdered fifty innocent people who were doing nothing more than having a good time on a Saturday night. He also attempted to murder fifty-three others during his spree.

A young man in the breakfast room at the hotel was commiserating about the tragedy of it all when I responded with the comment, "Are you surprised? This guy was able to buy a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun with large capacity magazines, even though he had been investigated by the FBI.?"

He responded with the comment, "Now they'll try to take away our rights." I suspect that he was talking about his Second Amendment right to bear arms and that 'they' would try to stop him from owning guns. Since then I have thought about the fact that this murderer's 'right' to own weapons with high capacity magazines trumped the rights of fifty people to their right to life, and they certainly no longer have the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The fifty-three who survived to this point will be imprisoned by the memories of the terror of that night, for the rest of their lives.

It seems to me that the original intent of the Second Amendment is tied up with the phrase "...a well-regulated militia...". This murderer was not a member of a militia or even the National Guard and other than personal desire, there was no valid reason for him to have a rifle that is the civilian model of rifle that was designed for the US military and originally became the M-16. The rifle that this murderer used had a greater capacity to inflict injury than the rifles that any soldier in World War II had available to them.

It and the handgun, a semi-automatic pistol have no other real purpose other than to kill people, and yesterday we saw how effective they could be. One hundred and three lives have been directly affected forever, while those who know and love them will also bear the burden, in some part, of this tragedy as well. All for what? The 'right' of one person to own something that has the capacity to kill people when in the wrong hands We regulate, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, the right to drive vehicles, the right to belong to professions, and even the right to free speech. But somehow it is anathema to even suggest that the ownership and use rifles and handguns be regulated in any fashion whatsoever.

The immediate reaction is typical. The murderer - I refuse to call him the 'shooter', will be called deranged or mentally ill, as if the problem is an individual's mental health, rather than the easily and widespread ability of these weapons under the guise of a 'right' in the Constitution that the framers never intended, but which has been created in the last twenty-five or so years by the gun manufacturers and their mouthpiece, the NRA, along with some conservative appointees to the Supreme Court, one of whom recently died.

Right wing politicians will respond typically. They will first say the murderer was deranged or mentally ill. That puts the onus on the individual, rather than on a system that allows the unchecked proliferaton of these weapons in a society that already has one gun for each citizen.Then, when pressed to take action to deal with the recurring problem of mass murders, will say that it is too early and emotions are running too high all the while offering their 'prayers and thought's' to the families of the victims as if their prayers and thought make any difference to those families. then they will continue to do as they have always done, wait until this tragedy leaves the public consciousness, only to be replaced by the next 'shiny object'. And nothing changes. If the murder of twenty grades one and two children at Sandy Hook wasn't enough to force change, what is?

When President Obama calls for some regulation of firearms he will be accused of being a dictator who wants to confiscate everyone's guns. Meanwhile, the 'ammosexuals' will see in this conversation the necessity to buy even more guns before they can't get them any longer, and gun and ammunition sales will spike, pleasing the large gun and ammunition manufacturers, and giving the NRA a further reason to exist while they funnel large amounts of money to legislators who do their best to block any meaningful change. What happened in Orlando, at Virginia Tech, in Aurora, Co, and in so many other place will continue to happen unabated. There have been one hundred and thirty-four mass murders in the US in 2016. This is a national tragedy. And I'm writing this as a Canadian who loves the United States but who is deeply troubled by what is happening in this' last best hope for humanity'. End of rant.

Or ride today began in a very leisurely fashion. Our task today was to ride from St. George, UT, to Ely, NV, a distance of about 260 miles (about 425 km) without stopping for attractions. As is our wont, we stopped at the nearest Starbucks before leaving St. George. And as it was yesterday, the Starbucks was tucked away and almost impossible to find, but we prevailed and successfully located it so we could have our morning start me up.

Then it was on to the road. All things considered, the scenery was once a gain great. Different but great, with colourful rock formations near St. George, but as we rode north we ran through farm country with hay being mowed and baled and fields full of Angus cattle. 

Soon, however, we climbed about 6000 feet and the land opened up, alternating between short stubby pines and open country covered with sagebrush. In one section we could smell the delightful aroma of alfalfa, sagebrush and pine as we rode.

Garry & Jim checking for snakes in the rocks.

Roadside rest stop

We stopped at the town of Pioche, which was established as a silver mining town in the 1860s. according to an article on the town it was 'badder than Tombstone, badder than Dodge City and the rest.' The cemetery has a 'murderers row' which has more than 100 graves, mostly unmarked. It is fenced off from the graves of the respectable people. The remains of the old mine are above the town and a tramline with ore cars still hangs above the town and crosses Highway 93. From a high of about 8000 in the mining days, to a population of 900 now, Pioche, NV, probably qualifies as a ghost town.

Ore car from the tramline

Remainder of the silver mine pithead

Pioche, NV, main street

Pioche, NV, main street

We carried on toward Ely without any major interruptions except for the occasional rest stop. After turning on to Highway 50, 'The Loneliest Road in America' we topped the pass at more than 7600 feet. As we approached Ely we saw dark storm clouds as we had previously before the turn to Highway 50. This time though, there were several lightning strikes so we pulled into a gas station to refuel, found our hotel and got off the road, just before a light rain began. 

Storm clouds in the distance

Along the highway

Storm clouds

After a late lunch I went into the casino to try my luck, and it was good today. I walked out of the casino with one hundred and ten dollars more than I went in with. A good day for me.

My winnings!

As I downloaded my video for the day, I found that my camera is having  problem. It shoots video, goes into stop action made, then returns to video. I have contacted GoPro, but I expect that I'll have to pay to have it repaired and the cost will probably be more than it is worth. That part is not so good. So, it looks like there might not be much video for the remainder of the trip unless something miraculous occurs.

Tomorrow, on to Reno, NV,a riding day of about 325 miles (550 km). The weather is supposed to be goos, in the high 70s without rain so it should be a good day. Now if that GoPro would just work properly.