Reno South .............. Part One

After a relaxed night of drinking and eating a good old home cooked meal with Scott and Joanne we were ready to hit the road again the next afternoon. With the horses and dogs fed and watered, Scott and Joanne joined us for the ride south. The oldest town in Nevada, named Genoa, was an interesting place, with a lovely old hotel nestled under the shady trees making a nice place to stop for a cool drink. We also had the bonus of meeting and chatting with a 72 year old who let us drool over his 500 horse power, US$150,000 Ford GT. Just sitting on the road side it looked fast and sitting in it felt even faster. They increase in value each time one is written off as only limited numbers were made. We all had to have a try out to see how it felt and it felt sooooooo good. A true super car.

Victoria Creek was the camping spot that night after some great mountain pass riding, then it was to the ghost town and State Park of Bodie the next day.

Deserted from the gold discovery days, it was as if the population just up and left. Shutting the doors on the houses that were left, leaving behind all their belongings and those left in the hillside cemetery.

Next that afternoon came the incredible ride over Tioga Pass down into Yosemite National Park and it’s massive rock mountains and waterfalls. By now the weather was starting to heat up the further south and lower in elevation we descended.

It was here that we sadly parted with Scott and Joanne as they headed back to Reno and we carried on south to Fresno for the night. We had a day off the bike the next day so we could organise ourselves for the bike shipping etc and we were glad we did. The temperature that day hit 108 degrees, about 42 C. with a blistering hot wind thrown in, making it hard to breathe. All we could hear that day was air conditioners humming. People were worried, as when this happens they usually have a power failure, then things really hit the fan, so to speak

Our last journey on the bike was into Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Both breath-taking in their own different ways. It was a relief to be in the high shady sequoia trees, but eventually we had to make our way down the windy road into the valley and the increasing summer heat. After the weather we have been riding in of late, this heat is taking a bit to get used to again.