Top Gun and Antelopes...

Today was my best day…. We got to see things that I would have never even imagined. We rode a US blue road called 50. It is known as the loneliest highway. It is also known as Lincoln highway and crosses the pony express route several times. We are still in Nevada, but, are far from lamenting over it. Today we go to really ride. No destination, no place to be, just enjoy the road. Nevada has got to be one of the most beautiful states in the nation. There are stretches of road, where we never met an another car. Some would call it desolate, I call it beautiful. We saw mountains covered with snow, salt flats and tumbleweeds, and the most varied of topography that one could imagine. My camera could not encompass the views that we were seeing. The fact that there were few places to stop easily on a bike, contributed to this. We saw the infamous shoe tree, and then, while taking a picture of the scenery, a F-18 flew into my viewfinder. We were at the training grounds for Top Gun. We got to see some of the bravest men fly exercises using live bombs. We stopped a young marine (and fortunately for me – I can’t tell you his rank – never really taught that..) But he told us what to look for and what they were doing. The enemy was on the other side of the mountain and their task was to drive them back. The enemy was firing howitzers (size unkown) and the pilots response was to drop chaff and then bomb the enemy. We stayed there so long that we ended up running out of daylight and had to stop in the town of Eureka. In addition to these amazing pilots, we also got to see some wildlife, in the form of pronghorn antelope. I told Jose, that this, is my route 66. If you ever get a chance to ride this part of the country, the only way to go is via US 50. Tried to post pictures, but the battery is dead. Will do so tomorrow. Gave some pencils away. Hopefully, those that are following, will start sending or showing a desire to give backpacks and school supplies!