Nevada - wow, that was fast!

So in Fallon we made one of our smartest decisions yet! After 3 days of roughing it and no showers or clean clothes left, we treated ourselves to a cheap motel stay in Fallon and mike scored free pies at pizza hut! In the morning we researched the best deal on vehicles and mike soon drove up to the motel with a 10' uhaul. We rode somewhat illegally but felt it to be much safer than if we had risen through the desert on bikes. So the lone picture I sent was representative of what we saw for 2 days by car( or at least 3 out of 4 of us!) the desert was far more beautiful than what I expected. It was a series ofclimbs and descents and than flat, vast land for as far as you could see. You cannot imagine there could be hundreds of miles like this terrain. The road was horrible for biking however. There was a small shoulder but was filled with a rumble strip. With our trailers we would have been out on the road, and not so much if a problem on the flats but the winding mountain passes would have been rough and dangerous. There would have been a couple nights of staying in the desert with no services for many miles and we didn't feel prepared, especially with kids. As it turned out, we also went through multiple torential downpours! The only drawback was that Mike (who we affectionately named Mongo) stayed in the box part of the truck. He was just as happy with staying on the back, as he read 2 books during this time. Mice and Men, and 3 weeks with my brother, both he loved! We would stop every hour and let Mongo out to walk around as long as he hadn't made too much racket in the back. We got to see the main towns on our route. Many were obviously struggling with the current economy and many were struggling to keep the tourism going with tours and the old west charm. Our first stay was in Baker which was 324 miles from Fallon. With the time change and pouring rain we stated in a cabin. Had a great breakfast at a local stop with awesome "aunt susan" oatmeal! On the road again through the Great Basin. Again downpours but great beauty! We got to Cedar City,Utah which completed map 2 and we started a map 3. After looking at the first climb being 11,000 plus we held onto the Uhaul just a bit longer and made plans to drop off in Pandguitch,Utah! This picture is at Cedar Breaks national monument. Amazing! It was a spectacular rideup to the top, scary in a vehicle, glad we we kept it!