31st August 2010

Strangely enough, neither of us felt like taking a shower at the 'Super 10' motel. Instead we set off to the Lovelock Cowpoke Cafe for breakfast and we were sat down to eat by 09:15. I had the usual offering of 2 eggs, along with bacon, sourdough toast and hash browns. Bill had the same but without the meat and with white bread. It was very good and the waitress was friendly.
After breakfast we mailed a postcard and got some fuel before, mercifully, leaving Lovelock forever. We were on the I-80 to Wendover by 10:15. The satnav indicated that the Wendover exit was in 310 miles. We tried to keep to 70mph as the bikes got even more noisy after this speed.
We stopped at Sid's diner in Winnemucca for a coffee and a pee and talked to an RV driver who had bought a VW Beetle.  Actually he had bought the carburettors and the owner chucked the car in with the sale. The man was towing the Beetle back home. We asked if he had cruise control in his RV. He responded that he got in trouble the last time he used it. Apparently he had been pulled over by the police for 'bungeeing' the steering wheel to the door frame and going into the back to make coffee. We gave him a wave when we passed him, back on the road. He was in the drivers seat and not in the back thankfully.

We paused briefly at a rest stop 50 or so miles down the road from Winnemucca. An artic driver wanted to swap drives with us but we politely declined.  We refuelled in Carlin to ensure that we had enough to cover the remaining 150 miles to Wendover. A fellow Harley rider asked where we were going and, when I asked the same, he said he was on his way home to New York. That's one long bike ride.

We stopped at McD's for another coffee and I bought some more postcards. I also booked a hotel in Wendover via the Internet. Slightly more upmarket than the last place we stayed in; I booked a room at the Montego Bay Hotel and Casino. The same friendly artic driver appeared again and told us that we weren't getting too far. When we left we caught him up and waved. He gave us a proper American truck honk, although I didn't hear it as I had my earphones in. I had resorted to listening to music on the iPhone in order to avoid hitting every religious channel going on the bike radio.

After McD's, Wendover was only 60 miles away. The music helped to pass the miles away. I have come to the conclusion that Nevada is just one big road and not a lot else. The landscape views are fantastic though. I hope I have managed to capture some of the scenery on the bike camera.

We finally reached Wendover at 16:00 (17:00 in Wendover as they are on Mountain time) and checked in to our massive, pool side, double king sized bed, with balcony, 42inch tv and steam room equipped suite. It was just what we needed after 'Super 10'. The bathroom was so big that you had to turn a corner to reach the loo. That was a first for me. I had put sun cream on a couple of times so was not as burnt as I could have been. Bill didn't fare so well. He had a sore nose, which he mentioned more than once.

We had not eaten anything since breakfast so we looked at one of the hotel restaurant menus. Nothing appealed to Bill but he was not that hungry anyway. I fancied something a little less poncy and expensive myself so we wandered out of the hotel. We walked to the Red Garter Casino Restaurant, which turned out to be a little far at 1.2 miles. Bill's spondylitis played up but we got there in the end. It was touch and go though. I had chicken fajitas. We were served by Ardyne, a Lithuanian exchange student who wasn't too enamoured with Wendover and was returning home in September.

After dinner we returned to the hotel. After our stroll there, Bill wasn't impressed with the first volume of Kill Bill so we skipped Kill Bill 2 and got the casino shuttle bus back, instead of walking.

I gambled $5 on the slots and doubled my money. I sensibly gave up at that point and invested the money in 6 bottles of Corona, 2 of which we opened back in the room. I used a key and Bill used the patio gate. Bill's method also removed the top of the bottle as well as the cap.

After this I 'wified' for a while in the hotel lobby then returned to the room for a 105 degree steam session (our bathroom had its own steam room) and a shower, followed by diary writing.
When I went to look at the odometer and get Bill's Ritz crackers from the bikes, the mileage was shown as 45600, which means we have ridden 312 miles this day. It is 1:17 mountain time now so I best get some sleep.