Nevada Counties - Days 5 & 6

I awoke before 5:00 a.m. and turned on the radio to find that it was already 81 degrees.  I knew it was time to “get out of Dodge” so I ate a couple of left over chicken tenders and finished packing.

Next I tackled the ordeal of finding and hauling my gear to my motorcycle.  I couldn’t jump from the 3^rd level to the 2^nd as I had done the previous evening because my bags wouldn’t fit through the bars.  After much wandering around and asking directions I finally made it to the right level but at a different door from which I had originally entered.  I found a security guard on a bicycle and explained to him that I had parked my motorcycle opposite some numbered storage doors but that didn’t seem to ring a bell with him.  However, after a little more wandering around I found it.  I loaded up, fired up my bike and was never so glad to hit the streets. 

The Nevada Counties Cache was located at the owner’s residence in southeast Las Vegas.  It was several miles away but my 6:00 a.m. start helped with the traffic problem.  I eventually located the very nice residential neighborhood and he had said the cache was located in front of a glass brick window beneath a fiberglass rock.  The coordinates took me to a house with a glass brick window and a rock in front of it.  However, upon closer examination it wasn’t a fiberglass and there was no cache under it.  Looking around I observed that almost all the houses had glass brick windows with rocks in front of them.  Fortunately, I had the address and found the right house across the street and down from where the coordinates took me.  It’s a good thing too because this fiberglass rock was behind a hedge and you couldn’t even see it from the street.  I signed the log book and was soon happily on my way.

 

I had the opportunity to get several more caches in Clark County but the one I remember best is the one I didn’t find.  It was almost a quarter mile off the highway and required a climb to the top of a mesa.  It was a nice hike through the desert and I saw some lizards and plants that I had never seen before.  I looked for quite a while on top of the mesa and one level down but finally had to give up.

I had no disasters this day although I did have one more DNF that was disappointing since I had climbed up several levels of cliffs hunting for it.  There was little traffic, the wind wasn’t bad and some of the roads were pretty interesting.  After logging caches in the only remaining county, White Pine, I felt a great sense of relief.  I arrived in Eureka around 4:00 p.m. with 322 miles for the day.

Eureka reminded me of a ghost town with people still living there.  The houses and buildings were old and many businesses were closed.  However, Eureka is the county seat of Eureka County and it appeared the town was trying to hold on.  They were preparing for a car show the coming weekend and there were some little art galleries and a museum trying to promote tourism.  I had dinner at a decent restaurant (the only one in town) across the street from my motel.  Ironically, this was the only place I stayed where there were no vacancies.

 

I got my usual early start the next morning and headed north getting a few caches in Eureka and Elko Counties even though I already had logged some in those counties.  I always like to Geocache on motorcycle trips because it forces me to take breaks and keeps me fresh.

My plan was to spend the night with son Clint in Gooding.  As I got to Wells, NV, and then on in to Idaho I was in the wind once more.  At Twin Falls where I turned west toward Gooding it was a stiff head wind and I was on the Interstate again.  I reached Clint’s place in mid afternoon after having traveled 328 miles but he wasn’t due home from work until six.  As this was my first opportunity to access a computer since I was at Milo’s I spent the time posting all the caches I had done and getting through my accumulated e-mail.

We had a great supper of tortillas that Clint and Elisha had prepared and relaxed around the tv for a while.  We didn’t stay up too late as Clint leaves for work a little after 6:00 a.m.  (To be continued)  M/W