Thoughts On the Ride Home

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One of the last items I brought on the scavenger hunt that was this year's BM, was a couple 25 lb bags of Fix All patching plaster back in Winnemucca. As I drove past Empire-nearly to BRC-the gypsum plant and the fast Gypsum Trucks told me that I might well be taking the contents of those bags back home. I work hard to return my area of playa to the way I found it, but a few ounces of plaster dust will not cause me to lose any sleep.

I was afraid that the front body cast was too fragile and had too many dangerous sharp quills sticking out. When people moved in close behind it, they were likely to gore themselves or knock it down entirely. At my camp, I mixed up most of the 50Lbs of powder with water, added some terry towels remaining from the mold making and lined the inside of the cast with strips of smoothed plaster armor. Of all 5 parts of Wizzard da Vinci, this cast and the ring are the only parts to not sustain damage on the site.

A thousand miles since I left CO, not quite 17 hours, nap included, just about noon with 300 miles to go. Have to fire up the sauna when I get there. Baker out some kinks.

The reports from the ranger station called for severe winds, dust, thunderstorms. After hitting 110 degrees plus the day before, the partly cloudy skies didn't look that bad yet. Tighten up the tent. Hope for the best. It took hours, but the wind announced its arrival with walls of dust off int the distance. 2 maybe 3 minutes. Dust masks on the faces of many already.

When the freight train hit, it was with the sounds of flapping tents and a hiss of sand hitting tent walls. Poles creak as they seek stability against new forces. Loose guy ropes snap taught and stretch ominously. Another wall of sand and visibility along the ground drops to 50 then 20 feet. Looking up, you can still see the fluffy clouds above the dusty tan mass. Even at 5 mph, newly arriving vehicles lift sand into the torrent.

Days pass and rain is occasionally added to the mix. Not gonna have much naked time this year though some tough should stick it out. Venturing from camp is less alluring when half the trip is upwind against gusts reaching 85 mph.

I'd like to believe that the damage to Wizzard da Vinci was caused by the wind. During the early days of the storm, I rode out one night to find the view port on its side, 10 feet away, broken but mostly intact, covered in playa pellets, a bike laying near. It was not built as it should have been, but I buried part of it in the sand against the elements both natural and human. The most positive scenario I could imagine was that the wind blew it over and an unwary rider crashed into the less visible window later. But look, why is the pole for the metal square a dozen feet away and could the wind have so completely obscured the marks from where the view port had been buried?

Just went past the turn off for Pyramid Lake where I had entered I-80 going the other way just a day (or two?) ago. On to Reno. Reno; almost Vegas, almost California. Exit 1. CA right up there. Imagine approaching that canyon walking alongside your conestoga wagon in the early fall. 'Made 3 miles yesterday. Be lucky to get one today if we have to ford that creek.

Whooossshhhh! I pass the sign at a legal 65. Got a ticket up here about 8 months ago, gotta watch the speed. Roads built for 80 but we gotta crawl at 65.

CA fruit inspection point ahead. Might ask silly question today-in that kind of mood. No silly conversation with THAT straight arrow! Start the climb up to Donner Pass. Over the top-its downhill for 40 miles.

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	One of the last items I brought on the scavenger hunt that was this year's BM, was a couple 25 lb bags of Fix All patching plaster back in Winnemucca. As I drove past Empire-nearly to BRC-the gypsum plant and the fast Gypsum Trucks told me that I might well be taking the contents of those bags back home. I work hard to return my area of playa to the way I found it, but a few ounces of plaster dust will not cause me to lose any sleep.
	I was afraid that the front body cast was too fragile and had too many dangerous sharp quills sticking out. When people moved in close behind it, they were likely to gore themselves or knock it down entirely. At my camp, I mixed up most of the 50Lbs of powder with water, added some terry towels remaining from the mold making and lined the inside of the cast with strips of smoothed plaster armor. Of all 5 parts of Wizzard da Vinci, this cast and the ring are the only parts to not sustain damage on the site.
		A thousand miles since I left CO, not quite 17 hours, nap included, just about noon with 300 miles to go. Have to fire up the sauna when I get there. Baker out some kinks.
		The reports from the ranger station called for severe winds, dust, thunderstorms. After hitting 110 degrees plus the day before, the partly cloudy skies didn't look that bad yet. Tighten up the tent. Hope for the best. It took hours, but the wind announced its arrival with walls of dust off int the distance. 2 maybe 3 minutes. Dust masks on the faces of many already.
	When the freight train hit, it was with the sounds of flapping tents and a hiss of sand hitting tent walls. Poles creak as they seek stability against new forces. Loose guy ropes snap taught and stretch ominously. Another wall of sand and visibility along the ground drops to 50 then 20 feet. Looking up, you can still see the fluffy clouds above the dusty tan mass. Even at 5 mph, newly arriving vehicles lift sand into the torrent.
			Days pass and rain is occasionally added to the mix. Not gonna have much naked time this year though some tough should stick it out. Venturing from camp is less alluring when half the trip is upwind against gusts reaching 85 mph.
I'd like to believe that the damage to Wizzard da Vinci was caused by the wind. During the early days of the storm, I rode out one night to find the view port on its side, 10 feet away, broken but mostly intact, covered in playa pellets, a bike laying near. It was not built as it should have been, but I buried part of it in the sand against the elements both natural and human. The most positive scenario I could imagine was that the wind blew it over and an unwary rider crashed into the less visible window later. But look, why is the pole for the metal square a dozen feet away and could the wind have so completely obscured the marks from where the view port had been buried?
Just went past the turn off for Pyramid Lake where I had entered I-80 going the other way just a day (or two?) ago. On to Reno. Reno; almost Vegas, almost California.			Exit 1. CA right up there. Imagine approaching that canyon walking alongside your conestoga wagon in the early fall. 'Made 3 miles yesterday. Be lucky to get one today if we have to ford that creek.
Whooossshhhh! I pass the sign at a legal 65. Got a ticket up here about 8 months ago, gotta watch the speed. Roads built for 80 but we gotta crawl at 65.
	CA fruit inspection point ahead. Might ask silly question today-in that kind of mood.	No silly conversation with THAT straight arrow!	Start the climb up to Donner Pass. Over the top-its downhill for 40 miles.