Wednesday October 20, 2004

Snake Valley (desert) to Border Inn (oasis)

"NEVADA!"

We finally reached the border and a little beyond. I won't forget this day (at least not till I'm really, really old). Another day of rain in the desert.

They say this much rain (three of past four days) is extremely unusual here. One full day of rain is unusual. Lucky me. I was soaked by day's end. And it was pretty cold in the morning. The icy rain didn't help.

My feet were getting numb. But there was no wind this time and it warmed up
by noon. So it wasn't so bad.

And the desert was even prettier today. There were all sorts of green things puffing up. Some of the colors were really vibrant. And, once again, the folks out west were really friendly. At least a half dozen people stopped to offer me a ride. That might be a one-day record. Of course, I did look pretty pathetic, with my plastic poncho torn by yesterday's wind, soaking socks on my hands (I call them Hurley gloves) and all this in the middle of the desert.

And once again, they must have thought I was absolutely nuts when I said, "No thanks". I can't say I disagree.