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Wednesday, 6-25-08, Middlegate Station, Nevada
Today everyone rode but Sarah and Mama. We got a pretty early start, around 7 am. The weather was calm in the morning and there was little traffic on "The lonliest highway in America", Highway 50 east of Fallon. We stopped once and backtracked to see if we could catch any of the fish that were in a shallow ditch, carp. No luck. The smoke in the air from the California fires weakened the sun's rays, so we kept relatively cool. After around 25 miles east of Fallon, we started a gradual climb over the first pass. From now on, we will be in mountainous terrain until mid Colorado. Everyone did pretty well and no one walked. The ride down the pass was thrilling. Adriana and I hit our top speed to date -- 46 mph. Towards the end of the day, we were drying up a little bit, at least I was. I couldn't get enough liquids; all I wanted to do was drink, which I did. We finally arrived at Middlegate Station, Nevada around 3 pm. What a neat place! Lots of interesting photo ops of Western decor around the place, carriages, old cars, saloon front, western furniture, outhouses. The people who run the place are great. Free tenting and showers. The kids can use the pool. Horseshoes, basketball, laundry, and the biggest hamburger this side of the Mississippi. Friendly, down to earth atmosphere. Right now I'm typing this blog on the owner's computer and he's nowhere to be found. No problem. His only instructions: Don't move anything around on my desk. This place gives America a good name.
Another cross-country cyclist, Jacob ?, came today from Carson City, over 100 miles. He's going across quickly, in about a month. Nice guy, Air Force Academy grad, wants to eventually be a missionary. The kids went swimming and played basketball. Adriana and Becky have written almost 100 pages in their journals. I hope they don't loose them. They will be great to read later. 49 miles.

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Tuesday, 6-24-08, Fallon Fairgrounds Campground, Nevada
Today we got a pretty late start. On top of that, we had to go to Carson City to get my briefcase. We also stopped at the thrift store to get some shorts for a few of us, good buys. Then we went to the store and bought some food for lunch which we ate at the park. Finally we drove back to Fallon where our bikes were waiting for us at the Gunns' house. After visiting with them, we left about 6 Pm. We pedaled into town to look for a place to put our tent. After I got directions to the Fairgrounds, I saw one of Willie's old wrestling rivals, Colin Merkeley. We talked for awhile. Then another wrestling rival of Paul's, Frank De Bragga shows up. They were pretty impressed we were going across the country, couldn't believe it. After saying goodbye, we headed up to the fairground camping area. It was starting to get dark by the time we got everything set up. It was only $5.00 to stay, which included hot showers, so it was good. The sky was still smokey from the fires in California. We only rode 8 miles today.

19

Monday, 6-23-08, Rodriguez’ house, Lovelock, Nevada
Well, we decided to stay another day so that we could visit more and rest. We got up kind of late and had a tasty bacon and egg breakfast before picking up the boys at Drew’s house. I discovered that I had accidentally left my briefcase in the Carson City Library, so I will have to pick it up tomorrow, a waste of time and money. Then we waited for Tracy Knisley to arrive so we could all drive to where her family was harvesting the hay. The whole family works together; Dan does whatever is necessary and directs the others, Tracy, his wife, drives the swather, Leighton, 16, drives the chopper, Wade, 15, drives the bailer, and Austin, 10, drives the truck. They all harmoniously work together to complete the job. Great Christian testimony and encouragement! We had a great time eating and visiting with our friends. When we came back, we all went to the public pool for a swim. Later in the day, Shannon Jenson and his son Jared came by and we had a nice visit. We have seen quite a few of our old Lovelock friends in the last couple of days. It was nice.

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Sunday, 6-22-08, Rodriguez’ house, Lovelock, Nevada (our old hometown)
After we had said our goodbyes and were packing up, our old friends from Lovelock, the Rodriguez family, drove up. They had come to see us. How nice! They escorted us to a local church. Then afterwards we drove to Lovelock to spend the night with them. Our bikes remained in Fallon at the Gunn’s house (our other friends) awaiting our return to continue the journey. Jorge and Chela were great hosts and we had a great big barbecue dinner with other friend who arrived later. Willie and Paul spent the night with their friend Drew and his family. They’re the ones who have our dog Daisy while we are on this trip. Daisy was glad to see us. All in all, it was a great day to rest. I was tired from the day before and felt like I needed the rest. 11 miles.

17

Saturday, 6-21-08 (longest day), RV campground 5 miles west of Fallon, Nevada
It was a pretty warm night, too warm for most of us for sleeping. We woke up to the sun beating down on the tent and the heat chasing us out. It took a while to organize all the stuff I bought. We weren’t in a hurry though because it was hot and we were only planning on going to Dayton, around 15 miles away. So we went for one last swim in the pool. I gave Vicky and Johnny swimming lessons. At the end, Vicky actually swam the length of the pool. When we left we decided to go to the library to update the blog, read, and get out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. There was a chess club meeting and playing there so I played a few games (won 2, lost 1) before ordering the next section of maps from Adventure Cycling. I wrote down General Delivery, Pueblo, Colorado as my mailing address so that I could pick them up in a few weeks when we arrive, God willing. We finally left around 3 pm. The wind was with us and we were making real good time. In less than one hour we reached Dayon. I got my first flat in the front tire. The wind was really howling, so we rested and got out of the wind. By the time I fixed it, it was around 4:30. We debated whether we should go to Lake Lahaunton about 30 miles away or just camp there in Dayton. We checked out the campground and decided to go ahead to the next one. Since the wind was at our backs, we averaged between 20-25 mph, and reached a top downhill speed of 37 mph. It seemed like we were almost keeping up with the cars traveling at 45 mph. It was a lot of fun, thrilling, and allowed us to make it all the way to Fallon, where we stayed at the nearest RV park. It was kind of expensive, $47, when they added charges for extra people. We met a nice generous Christian couple, Mark and Donna Avery, from Greenville, Indiana, only 20 miles from where Uncle Paul and Uncle Herman live in Salem.
They were touring the country by motorcycle. We’ll plan to contact them when we arrive there. 62 miles.

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Friday, 6-20-08, Comstock RV Resort, near Carson City, Nevada
It was pretty cold last night at 7,500 feet elevation, but we all did fine. We got on the road and pedaled up about 14 miles before we reached the summit, Carson Pass, 8,574 feet. I was pleased with the way we handled the mountains. We pedaled the whole way and didn’t make too many stops. The way down was great -- twenty miles of almost continual coasting (and mild braking). The weather and view were great and the traffic wasn’t too bad, so we made the border between California and Nevada by around 5:30 pm. We had a slight tailwind and reached the campground near Carson City around 7:30 pm. It was a great riding day. I went to a nearby Costco for supplies and the kids swam in the pool. I came back with 4 pizzas (I got one free plus 7 churros they were going to throw out because they were closing). Most of us took showers before going to bed. 58 miles.

15

Thursday, 6-19-08, Platte Campground, Silver Lake, CA
Mama and Mike made us a great big breakfast, delicious, which got us off to a great start. They drove us to the intersection of Hwy. 88 and the Mormon Emigrant Trail. It was a beautiful ride. After saying goodbye, we rode uphill about 5 miles before coming to Silver Lake. What a beautiful sight. We decided we wanted to camp there, so we coasted our way down to the lake and found a campsite. We had a good time there playing horseshoes and hiking part way around the lake. We made a homemade fishing pole and bought some bait, but no luck. We also met Lauri and Jerry -- two other cyclists there who were going to Virginia along the same route as us. They weren’t spending the night and only came to eat at the restaurant which was closed, so I drove them back to the main road so that they could continue their journey. We roasted marshmallows and had a late night game of horseshoes before going to bed. 8 miles.

15

Thursday, 6-19-08, Platte Campground, Silver Lake, CA
Mama and Mike made us a great big breakfast, delicious, which got us off to a great start. They drove us to the intersection of Hwy. 88 and the Mormon Emigrant Trail. It was a beautiful ride. After saying goodbye, we rode uphill about 5 miles before coming to Silver Lake. What a beautiful sight. We decided we wanted to camp there, so we coasted our way down to the lake and found a campsite. We had a good time there playing horseshoes and hiking part way around the lake. We made a homemade fishing pole and bought some bait, but no luck. We also met Lauri and Jerry -- two other cyclists there who were going to Virginia along the same route as us. They weren’t spending the night and only came to eat at the restaurant which was closed, so I drove them back to the main road so that they could continue their journey. We roasted marshmallows and had a late night game of horseshoes before going to bed. 8 miles.