5/25/12 – Rough day, today. A long day with lots of trials and tribulations along the way. We had planned an early start, because our drive to Winnemucca, NV was more than 7 hours long. But we had some condo business to attend to before we could hit the road. We finally left Maraposa at 8:45 with Yosemite in the clouds behind us.

We drove for about 40 minutes down and out of the mountains and as soon as we got onto the highway, we had a sick dog. Beamer threw up in the back seat and we had to take an exit and clean it up and make him another comfortable bed. Once we got going again, Beamer got quite insistent that we attend to him and I knew he was not feeling well. I guessed that he had to take an unplanned potty break. I was right. We got off the highway once again and he had diarrhea. I guess the rocking and rolling up and down the mountains yesterday was a bit too much for him. After he took care of business, we were on our way, once again. And he fell restfully asleep.

The temperature this morning was in the 40's, and as we began to climb the altitude to cross the mountains on our way to Nevada, the temperature began dropping and dropping. And we saw a caution sign warning us of unstable weather and possible snow!! I didn’t believe it, but was I wrong! And the word for today is SNOW. Soon we were in the thick of it. The temperature dropped to 31 degrees, and we found ourselves driving through heavy snow fall, on this winding road through the mountains. It was not accumulating on the road, thankfully, but it was turning the grass white and collecting on the branches of the pine trees and it looked like Christmas trees to me. I was getting nervous and Steve kept saying "Come on, Jack, you’re from Maine!!!! You know snow!"  But at that moment, I didn’t feel like a seasoned snow traveler. I was freaking out. And I texted my sister-in-law in Maine, and she was ROFLOL. But her attitude calmed me down and we got through it. We eventually reached the peak and started down the other side and the temps began to rise. But wait. Not so soon. There was yet another peak ahead of us and it started all over again. I was never so happy to be back down to 1000 ft. elevation.

So, on to Winnemucca. Where? Winnemucca? Well, it was the right distance, in an otherwise little inhabited wasteland of desert in Nevada on I-80. And the scenery was just okay. After spending several days in lush tree covered mountains, these seemed bland and uninteresting. Many shades of tan and brown, treeless hills and low level mountains off in the distance, lots of sage brush and sometimes none at all. I only took a few photos, from the inside of the car. I found it difficult to be inspired.

When we crossed into Nevada, the first thing I saw was a gas station with a casino. Where we know “Stop and Shop” and “Gas and Go”, they apparently know “Stop and Slots”. (My term, not theirs.) Nevada is a different kind of place.

After 8 ½ hours on the road, we finally reached our destination, hopeful for a good rest. We find our hotel and drive into the parking lot, and it is FILLED with motorcycles and bikers. Yep. No one told us. There is a biker convention in this little town this weekend. And for the first 2 hours that we were here, while we were trying to make plans for the next two days, there was a steady rumble in the air, sometimes on the road outside, sometimes in our parking lot right outside our room. And when they were not on their bikes, they were outside their rooms yelling across the way to their biker friends. I am not sure we are going to sleep well tonight. But after this day, I sure hope the fatigue wins over the noise. Many of them are middle aged, so perhaps they will need their beauty sleep, too. If not, a good night’s rest will have to wait until Salt Lake CIty, tomorrow night.