Juplaya

Up early again after a very good night of sleep. Sunrise over the little canyon is beautiful. A little coffee – a little breakfast – and we’re on the road again. Headed for the playa now.

We stop off in Kalamath falls to try to get that crazy sound checked out before we hit more passes and windy roads. After a couple stops – finally find a place that can take a peek. Very nice guys! Found it to be a broken return spring for the breaks. Whew! What a relief. A quick and simple fix – we even had time to grab some groceries across the street while they worked on it.

Heading South East. Long, long stretches between any signs of people now. Beautiful – hills and sage brush, rock formations and a cow here and there. Windy roads through red and orange rock – the occasional jack rabbit scurries by.

We rolled into Gerlach about 7ish, stopping at the pump to fill up. Ran into a young couple – obviously burner types – so we followed them out to the playa. No lake – just dry, flat, lakebed as far as the eye could see. The sun just beginning to set – a sight for sore eyes! We wandered around and decided on a clump of campers to cuddle up to. Parked the RV – pulled off the bikes – and we all went separate directions as the darkness fell. Visited with fellow campers – explored other clumps of campers, then watched as the large wooden bird sculpture was set ablaze. Soon someone threw in a bunch of fireworks , which went flying every which way. After several headed straight for the RV and an obnoxious roaming artcar/dj stand took up residence next to us – we decided it might be a good idea to find a new spot. It was so wonderful to simply throw the bikes back on the back and simply start her up to drive off across the desert floor to a quiet spot. We tucked ourselves into bed and slept like babies!

Up with the sunrise again – a little coffee – a little breakfast and taking in the beauty of the Playa itself. As I watched everyone else begin breaking down and packing up – I realized that we’d be out there all by ourselves if we stayed another night and I really didn’t want that. So once again – we hit the road. I let Antonio drive across the playa just to feel the freedom of not having roads – it’s amazing. Booking along at about 35 mph we hit a very invisible dip – and caught air to our surprise! Imagine – all four wheels off the ground – wooooo hooooo! All was well and on we went.