in Nevada December [last year, now] the ground was still frozen but the air still enough

for a walk around the ponds

before loading up and leaving for what proved to be considerably colder climes.

Gerlach not shown; south into the glare of Fernley, Fallon and

east through

Dixie Valley, well after which we lunched just off the highway

as a semi pulling two empty flatbeds sloshed and rattled by on the gravel road to Antelope

then, for us, the ever-uninviting Austin, Eureka [not shown] and

Ely.

East of Ely

the day ended with the feedlot smells and not great food of Delta, Utah, famous for its wintry

cold, Christmas lights and the Topaz Internment Camp Museum .

By morning in the 6:45 dark an unanticipated snowfall was well underway and continued unto

Scipio, with low skies and intermittent flurries all the way to Green River [breakfast not shown].  Delta Colorado had its murals and derelict Mercs, Montrose gas and a fortuitous repair to the

windshield washers.  Gunnison reservoir was predictably cold…we pushed on over Monarch

without incident to Salida, The Loyal Duke Motel [named for a famous Local Dog], an excellent

excess of tapas and moules et frites at The Fritz [named for a “little spotted dog” – in Salida it’s dogs all the way down] on a night of extreme windchill, the remainder of which was spent watching a moving PBS documentary about the hitherto unknown-to-us Rex Ray as dry snow dusted the Duke’s parking lot.  Friday morning we foraged for food in the somewhat depleted Safeway and then, disappointed to find yet another former breakfast resource gone belly up,

continued the canine theme at the Brown Dog for a minimal bite as our black-spotted white one suffered in the truck before a relatively easy trip down the Arkansas to Cotopaxi, south through drifting non-sticking snow and, briefly out from under the cloud, the Gardner Post Office.

Said wan sunlight didn’t last but

by noon we’d navigated the perpetual Excess of Subarus at the entrance to Libre

and were down the driveway

to warm the house and unload.

The next morning it was eight degrees outside at seven, but the sun returned [shown subsequently] for two days…seems we’d brought our Nevada Mud with us.

 

That was then; THIS is the New Year, 2019;  Happy Hopeful New Year to All!