Thursday
morning we woke to cooler weather and decided we would take Hwy 50 across the
states of Utah and Nevada. It was a bit closer mileage wise, basically two
lanes with fewer towns, but through some really desolate and beautiful country,
with our evening’s goal of Great Basin National Park just over the Nevada state
line. About this time gasoline was going
up and our MPG was going down so we had to plan our stops carefully. We met
some other “Burners” at one of the gas stops and learned as much as we could
from them. They told us about a little road stand in Utah to buy different
melons and we stocked up on some of the best tasting melons we have ever had. One
more thing marked of the grocery list for BM (Burning Man).
Above is a banjo BBQ the other "Burners" were towing.
The bottom is their other trailer in their caravan.
Great Basin
park gave us another picturesque camping site where we were visited by a whole
flocks of turkeys wandering through. Had a moment of homesickness…and we were
getting tired of driving…but the next morning we started our final day of less
than 300 miles from Reno. We were hoping for a nice Friday night out with our
niece Kelly that finally involved GOOD Mexican and the long sought after
Margarita—maybe even a bit of slot play.
Food options
had been sparse so after passing the last town before we hit Reno 200 miles
away we decided to pull off the side of the hwy 50 just west of Eurika, NV
about 7 miles. I was going to make sandwiches. Then it all started with “Houston-we
have a problem”.
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I had heard
this phrase years earlier about two years after we had bought our brand new 2008
trailer while we were sitting in it in a desolate spot in western Texas. So time
for a bit of a flash back…
We were
parked in an RV park and in the middle of the night we heard this strange
noise. The next morning Stacy came in and said…”Houston—we have a problem…”. A
main underneath spring had broken on our trailer—just while we were sitting
there! In spite of having AAA+ towing we
ended up having to drive the trailer into the Dallas area where we found an RV
repair place and ended up having to leave our trailer for two weeks. The saving
grace in this big adventure was that we had our BFF Nancy to stay with so we
ended up spending our Thanksgiving with her and our Texas friends. That part
was a nice thing…
The repair
place ended up getting the wrong part, tried to install it and then having to
do it all over again. Keep in mind our trailer should still be under warranty
but it still ended up costing us over $700. After a long 2+ weeks, we finally
picked up our “fixed” trailer and I asked them if there is anything I should
get checked once I get home. The repair guy said “You might want to get your
wheel bearings packed again” Not sure why they didn’t just do it at the time
but I figured I could get it done at home.
But of course 70 miles north of
Dallas, in Oklahoma, our trailer is spitting out wheel bearings all over the
highway…so another tow and $300 in Oklahoma finally got us home. Since that has
happened we have had tire wear issues with our back axle. So while we were
sitting west of Eurika and Stacy told me that a wheel bearing was going out and
our tire was almost falling off…the “Houston issue” it started a new adventure.
The good news
is that the trailer was parked in a parking area next to the highway—albeit the
“loneliest road in the US”. The bad news is that we had no phone reception. So
we unhooked the trailer, took off the tire, and headed back towards town to try
to get phone reception. Just outside of town we met a trooper who had just
pulled someone over in the town’s speed trap and we asked him about repair
possibilities. He directed us to a tire shop that he said was our only local
possibility. Of course when we got there they were closed on Friday! But we did
finally have phone reception, so we called AAA for a possible tow up to Elko
about 120 miles away—and waited. They never called us back…
So we headed
back into town after googling how to pack wheel bearings and hoping someone in
town had them. The miracle was that the town did have a small auto parts store
which had a very nice lady in it. She started calling around and basically
begged a guy to try to fix it. We were told it was going to cost us $300 but we
had few choices. So after a couple of more trips he basically packed the wheel
at the auto parts store, they couldn’t find a cap that would work so in spite
of the $300 price tag he still finished it off in duck tape, but at least it
should get us to Reno. We headed out back out to our trailer with a sense of
relief and I did a minor celebration with my Denver purchase since Stacy was
driving. As our luck would have it about that time we were passing through the
local speed trap we had commented about earlier—a 35 MPH sign at the beginning
of a steep hill out of town and a quarter of a mile away it hits 55. You naturally
want to build up speed as you go up the hill—especially in a big truck. Of
course our minds were on other things and feeling happy we were getting it all
figured out but when we met the sheriff and he turned around and turned on his
lights it certainly darkened our day. He
got her for 53 right before the 55 sign. But of course he smelled Denver and I
was busted.
The good
news is that Stacy didn’t get a speeding ticket…but they did ticket me and
confiscate a very, very small pinch of pot and pipe I had in the truck. The good news is that most of it was in our
trailer. In spite of them almost being apologetic for busting me they handed me
a $720 ticket at the end of it all. So for those keeping tally that is over
$1000 in just a few short hours and we hadn’t even hit the slot machines…
They did
tell me to contact the court and tell our story and often the court will be
very accommodating and lower the fine or even offer community service between
the different state departments. I have until November to try to convince them
to lower the fine. He took pictures and even wrote “very, very small amount”.
So we will see how that all falls out but there is some irony that after 58
years I get busted for the very first time and it’s LEGAL pot. As a side
note—for all those that want the different states to pick what is legal in
their state instead of federally—we end up with this sort of thing
happening. The only thing it does is add
another form of revenue…You pay when you buy, you pay when the next state takes
it away…but I have become much more careful. It was still a real drag and a
stupid way to get caught.
So we
finally arrive in Reno pretty beat up but mobile and fortunately Kelly had a
place in her neighborhood where we could park the trailer for the weekend while
we did our final preparations. So we got parked and comfortable and then had a
great Mexican dinner—Kelly’s treat.
Saturday was
designated as the gas and water day. We also finally met Gianni, our final
player in our BM adventure. He is Kelly’s best friend and planning on pitching
his tent next to us. He is going in on the pleasures of the gas for air
conditioning and plans on sharing our gourmet meals. So we filled our $250
worth of gas cans—rather a rude awakening for the young people who were now in
charge of the buying, and filled our 150 gallons of assorted water containers.
By now we were seeing the weight in the truck and I will admit our 2000 mile
trip home and what could happen is always in the back of my mind due to our
beginning. But with the new rack on the back of the trailer counter balancing
once we got hooked up we pulled pretty good.
Saturday
night found us on the strip of Reno eating Vietnamese food and losing our token
$27 between the two of us on penny slots. When in Rome…
Yes we had a 100 gallon horse tank in our truck bed with a bladder in it. It worked Great TIM!
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