I woke up with a little face sticking out from under the blankets. So cute, but also reminded me of the gremlins characters.
I hated to move her but we needed to get going. Morning was breaking and we had to make up some miles. I scurried about, getting the coffee going, taking Tad for a walk, and preparing some breakfast. We had yogurt, bananas, and granola. Since we are getting close to home we need to eat the food we have. The Wendover Airfield Museum is on the border of Utah and Nevada. Just a few hundred feet from Nevada. You could tell because the usual landscape of flat terrain for an airport gave way to a towering casino complete with glitzy lights alternating and announcing the excitement that you might find inside. The Casino would have been a cheap place to eat no doubt.
As we embarked, I decided to lie down and get a little rest so that I could take over driving at some point and make some tracks. Kasey had a little trouble finding the freeway entrance. I guess Google maps was not awake yet either, I think she provided vital information about 15 seconds too late. Otherwise, the day began as others had recently, hitting the highway through unpopulated areas and scenery to keep your mind occupied.
Somewhere near Golconda, NV the traffic slowed in both lanes and Kasey slowed to nearly a stop. I woke to hear a regular ticking sound. I wasn't sure where it was coming from and tried to determine where it was coming from using the process of elimination. Eventually I opened the window that is on the drivers side of the motorhome just above the back tire. You know, the one that had break work and new tires put on. There was no one next to us and I ascertained that Kasey was in the fast lane but doing about 30mph in traffic. I got up to go tell him that something was making a ticking sound and it was coming from us outside, but I thought I should pee first. While in the restroom, the ticking sound was replaced by a final click and the sound of metal rolling away.
Since he could not hear me the first time I said it, I made my way toward Kasey to inform him that I suspect that we just lost our hubcap. With no where to pull over and nearly a half mile already travelled we could do nothing to retrieve it. I dropped a pin on the google maps and called the Les Schwab to explain that we would be needing a new hub cap when we got home. A very nice and apologetic employee indicated that he would be sure to record the information so we would not have to explain the event.
We had no idea where we were going to spend the night. I took over driving while Kasey slept and we made our way through northern Nevada. Somewhere north of Winnemucca, we needed to turn left toward Denio. The road was completely straight for miles. We stopped in Denio to change drivers and continue toward Lakeview. We could have stopped at a campground that we had been to before, Virgin Valley in Nevada, but we thought since it was about 2 pm, we should continue onward. We saw a scenic waterfall next to the road and stopped to take a picture. The downgrade at Doherty mountain has been mentioned before and others consider it the scariest road, probably due to no guardrails and steep dropoff.
As we travelled toward Lakeview, we saw prescribed burns along the hillsides. I thought we could hook up with Nathan, Catherine Paul's son who lives in Lakeview, and works for the Oregon Department of Forestry on the wildfire suppression and fire fighting. But he didn't answer the texts and we didn't now if he was even in town. Turns out he was in the field tending to some prescribed burns.
We stopped at the Lakeview Fairgrounds to dump our septic at their new dump station. It is $10, which seems to be a bit high, but we got it done and would not need to do that tomorrow.
Still no word from Nahan so we headed out and I started checking possible camping spots on iOverlander and there was one listed about a half hour outside of Lakeview. Tad was getting antsy and we asked him to wait several times. We should have listened to him. When we pulled off, the spot was open, and close to the road. Not really our ideal spot. We decided to proceed a little further on the forest service road. It was paved and fairly level so I thought it was promising. By now Tad was panting excessively and looking uncomfortable. We will let you out soon, buddy I told him. Well about a mile down the road, he could no longer wait. Emergency! Luckily no traffic and for the first time, I let him out the front door instead of the back door. Luckily, the offending material was on top of a carpet we lay across the floor.
I took off to be with Tad while he ran and squatted every few minutes until he no longer was squatting. Meanwhile Kasey had the unenviable job of cleaning the interior disaster. Which really turned out to be minor. In my meandering with Tad, I spotted a perfect camping location. So you see, it all works out.
Comment was able to wonder in this nice spot. We saw one vehicle the rest of the evening.
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