First of November 2025 we were out the door with the usual motel bagels and down the road

twenty minutes to the lower reaches of Lone Mountain for breakfasts, back on 50 again by

8:28 only to be brought up short for some twenty minutes less than an hour later although

unlike the Western Slope there were no false detours, only the wait, the pilot car and, shortly

thereafter, the inevitably cautious navigation through awful Austin, Unfriendliest Town on

the Loneliest Road, and out the other side until I pulled off on a mining road just shy

of Sand Mountain to stretch, water the dogs and let Linda drive.

Sand Mountain, first warm Saturday in November, was full to overflowing with motorized

recreationalists but we soon soon reached Civilization, bewildering in its signage.

L. lasted as far as Fernley where gas was hard to negotiate [I opted out] and Raley’s had

the best remnant Halloween stuff as well as what groceries we’d need for a week on the desert. Gas was more easily available on the rez in Wadsworth as was a quiet lunch spot

overlooking the Lake after which L. drove us to Gerlach while I monitored, sans clock, the Map

as the Scenery rolled by.

Across the tracks, the Gerlach Post Office for symmetry and on to Wall Spring,

yellow in the fall of the year, the fall of the nation being temporarily ignored* but the strangely

unseasonable heat was noted…and celebrated with the last Beer [Negro Modelo] of Summer on the porch once most of the unloading was done.

*[I’ve been assiduously ignoring Those Assholes’ Daily Doings because…why not? Nonetheless one thing that stands out is that the International Court considers using denial of food as a weapon of war to be a War Crime.  Not that Trumpco gives a hoot about being held accountable for any kind of crime but, jeez…does MAGAtMike Johnson?  Naaah…like Netanyahu none of them even recognize International Laws and anyway everyone knows that to criminalize such behavior is tantamount to antisemitism.]