relaxedAfter breakfast, we checked with the dealership, who hadn't yet received their daily parts shipment, so I did some Day Jobbe work for a while. By 11:30 we hadn't heard from the dealership yet, and we could wait no longer, so we finished packing out of the hotel. The front desk clerk helpfully said that if the part hadn't arrived and we had to stay another night, she could give me the discounted rate we had on the room for an additional night, and they had plenty of room even with the back half of the hotel undergoing renovations. Thus reassured, we headed to Perry Motors.
I parked on the street outside the dealership and walked up to the service desk. The agent there headed across the shop floor to the parts department to check if the relay had arrived. Just as he left, the parts department called to tell me the part was here. I handed the keys to the service agent and went out to tell Lisa things were looking up.
Rather than just sit around the waiting room, we walked across the street to the Official 395 Store, a sign shop specializing in all things about US-395 and the Bishop area. We bought stickers for US-395 and US-6, and pointed the shop owner in the direction of more information about US-6, including the signs at the other end of the highway. (They sell replicas of the distance to Provincetown MA sign just past the beginning of US-6.)
Our timing was good. Just as we got back to the dealership, they came to find us to tell us the van was ready. As promised, replacing the part was very easy. I settled up the bill. Because we had them do the work, we weren't charged the $100 diagnosis charge. I saw a $10 senior discount applied to the bill. Even though I'm only 49, I decided to not volunteer to pay more, paid the bill, and retrieved my keys.
At about 1 PM, we bade farewell to Bishop. I think it will be less than 30 years before we come through here again, particularly inasmuch as we're going to Westercon 68 in San Diego next July, and our route is likely to take us through Bishop again.
At the Wye, we turned northeast toward Nevada. We headed up the Chalfant Valley and crossed into Nevada. At a convenient vista point, we pulled over to look at Nevada's highest point.
According to the Wikipedia article, Boundary Peak, Nevada (the left peak at the center of this photo) is generally considered a sub-peak of Montgomery Peak, California (the right peak).
Lisa took over for the next stint of driving. We made a game of trying to spot the old Carson & Colorado right of way as we headed over NV-360 toward Mina. We both wish there was a good map that showed the old ROW in context with the current roads and landmarks.
There's a roadside rest area at Lunning, Nevada, a not-quite-ghost town, and we traded drivers again. I took us to Hawthorne. Rather than stop for a meal, we picked up some snacks and Lisa took the wheel. I gnawed on some of the beef jerky we bought at Mahogany Smoked Meats yesterday when we cruised past my old home; the smoked-meat store is just down the street from the entrance to the mobile home park and their meats were always a treat when I was living there.
US-95 north of Hawthorne snakes along the west shore of Walker Lake. Because I was in the passenger seat, I was able to snap a couple of photos of the striking lighting with the sun hitting the hills on the far side of the lake while the lake itself was in the shade.
South of Fallon at a not-in-service truck inspection station, we swapped drivers for the last time, and I took us the rest of the way home.
We pulled up to Fernley House at 5:28 PM, about seven days and one hour since we left. The house was in one piece, albeit a little cold, but not too awful (12°C in the living room). We unloaded the van, I got a big fire going and went over to the grocery store to get some milk, and Lisa made us dinner.
We do like to travel, but we are glad to be home. And considering how often Day Jobbe was chasing me over the past five days of nominal vacation, I think the folks back in the Bay Area are glad that I am home, too.