Math won. Doesn’t math always win though? OK, so there is the Common Core Curriculum so perhaps math doesn’t always win, but it definitely has the upper hand.
After I wrote my post last night I went out to Google Maps and counted, the old fashioned way, the number of days it would take me to arrive in Chicago, and to get back to my Portland paradise on the far side of the trip. Lots of days spent in the saddle for a whopping two with family and friends. It wasn’t worth it, especially since I didn’t have by co-traveler.
I hatched a more sane plan to get myself out my predicament, and still get to see my family. More importantly it would get me out of Idaho’s killer cross hairs. I plotted a three day route back to Portland with, hopefully, enough time to pack and hop on the same flight that Angie was taking back.
I headed south away from the severe winds into the elusive state of Nevada. I call it elusive because Angie and I had set out to reach Nevada on our Wandering the West several years back. We never made it that far southeast before heading into California, and back north.
I soon learned that it wasn’t just Idaho who wanted to kill me off. The elusive state of Nevada apparently was upset at its earlier snub in 2010 and sent its winds out to find me. It even threw a dust devil my way that I rode through at roughly 75MPH. It pushed the bike to the left, then the right, and I was out of it. I saw it coming when it picked up a tumble weed on the side of the road so I was prepared. Nevada tried hard, but just couldn’t muster Idaho’s wind embodied hatred.
When I rolled into the hotel parking lot tonight I had a bird event. I saw what looked similar to a black-billed magpie which we first saw up in Alaska. This had a different call though. It also looked as if its tail feathers were vertical rather than horizontal. A little searching on the computer turned up the great-tailed grackle — my new favorite bird of Nevada.
While searching maps of the area I see that Winnemucca is home to an Amtrak station and serves the California Zephyr so if I ever want to take the track to Chicago…