As foreseen Monday came up colder, half the forty with which Sunday had greeted us, no birds, no flow at the well but pretty much sunny all day [unless one tried eating on the porch in which case the sun hid behind clouds as the wind came up]

…stuff got done, even in the studio a little;

Tuesday much the same; built another shelf in the repo and boxed leftover porch lights for Luz in Brooklyn…things were packed up for the next leg of the trip…

Which commences Wednesday, out the gate to the Gerlach P.O. by 9:20 and south into the glare;

[Planet X]

[Empire]

[Lake Winnemucca]

Pyramid Lake, Nixon, Wadsworth and that ridiculous roundabout on the outskirts of Fernley…

Gas in Fallon and 50 out across the flats…

Then more easterly; Frenchman long gone but Middlegate, Cold springs…

Live Nativity! in Austin and, soon after, lunch at Bob Scott summit…

East through the afternoon, Eureka not shown…

Gas in Ely, Snake Valley Windmills and on into dark [not shown] for tender pork chops at the Rancher in Delta…

A not perfect night at Day’s inn as I made the mistake of being too groggy after taking off my t-shirt to figure out that lack was the cause of the chill keeping me sleepless from 2:30 to 5:00…

Morning bright into Utah; from Delta to Holden, Scipio…gas in Salina and 80 MPH 70 through canyons, over mountains and across a small portion of the slickrock country…

Descending to a lengthy Tamarisk breakfast in Green River by the Green River’s edge…

Out of Utah, straight into Colorado to walk the dogs at Rabbit Valley’s Trail through Time, a traditional stop valued for its outhouse and easy freeway access;

70 East to Mack, Fruita, Grand Junction; 50 southerly to Delta and I drive after Montrose gas…all good roads through the Gunnison…

…until Monarch Pass which is immediately truckers chaining, four wheel drive, but ok for us up, gingerly down…

…and into Salida in time to catch the Ploughboy still open for provisions and another motel night, this in a Super8 rewarding our repeat business by a room in their old wing with dysfunctional cable and loud LOUD heater running twenty minutes every hour all night long…but a great dinner out at the near-deserted Laughing Ladies offsetting all annoyances…

In the morning the talking boxes came on first thing on both sides of us, so we loaded out and were in the Safeway before eight whereat I asked if there was anywhere downtown to eat and the guy thought yeah, by the river, though for some reason the doughy Pancake Patio up on 50 remains every local’s  favorite . We nonetheless found the River’s Edge and found it much more to OUR liking; good basic stuff, lowkey crowd, etc..  Next step being outa town and down the COLD-looking Arkansas to Cotopaxi, then that hidden right up onto the high interior valley to last gas in Westcliffe…

The Gardner P.O. [symmetry, as ever] by eleven and so to Libre…

Unloading and unloaded before noon and lunch with Mary Ann helping even out our extra half avo [with leftover Delta porkchops and Salida polenta] on the sunny sunny porch, Friday…to be shown later, maybe.

foo.

M