Into the desert...

October 8th, 2017 Day 2: Susanville, California to Mina, Nevada (250 miles)

On Sunday morning I set off for nevada. Some people might consider these drives across the desert regions of America boring, but not me! I love all aspects of changing scenery when I am on a road trip. Be it the lush green forests of Oregon or the arid red dirt and rocks of New Mexico, I find myself feeling truly inspired by the symmetrical patterns and variety that nature reveals in all of its forms as I drive.

 I am also a sucker for old dilapidated sheds, houses and historical buildings which is why I prefer to travel on my own rather than in a caravan with others as I tend to have so many "Stop the car!" moments where I just have to get a photo that it would probably drive anyone traveling with me crazy. Most of these stops also involve getting into chats with admirers of the Hudson as was the case when I doubled back to admire this lovely old church in Doyle. The guy who has been restoring it drove past and was tickled pink to see us parked outside and also stopped for a chat and took some photos.

From Doyle I drove past Reno on the I-80 when suddenly all traffic was being redirected off the highway in a detour that took me so far off the beaten track that I was hoping I wouldn't run out of gas as Doc Hudson only has a 150-mile maximum range.  The GPS kept saying "turn around when possible" and seemed to have no recalculated course for me to follow and there were no signs telling me how to get back to my route.

 So I just continued on the 439 south to Silver Springs where I thankfully found a gas station and a very helpful Nevada Highway Patrolman Trooper Rick O'Dough who not only owned a 1962 shasta but gave me directions to the 95 with the recommendation to fill up again in Hawthorn as it would be 100 miles to the next gas station in Tonopah. I thanked him profusely for the tip and  set off again.

I arrived in Mina at as the sun was setting behind the mountains and pulled into the Sunrise Valley RV Park, and took my leftover pizza to the nearby gazebo where some other RV'ers were also having pizza and introduced myself. People are always genuinely surprised when they find out I am traveling on my own.  You meet so many more people when you travel solo than you would if you were with someone else as you tend to stick together when you're with others whereas I have to be more outgoing and open to meeting strangers if I want to talk to anyone at all while I'm on the road! 

I find that most people are very kind and intrigued and, touch wood, I have never felt uncomfortable with anyone yet, but I always do have my trusty wasp spray on hand if I ever did get into a bad situation.  I would never want to let fear of danger stop me from living life the way I do or feel that I am in more danger just because I am a woman on my own. I trust in the inherent goodness of most people and have been blessed to find that true for me so far.

Loving the road tripping life!