La Carrera Nevada 2000

Friday.

We start the day by filling up the Jag at the Chevron down the street. Today promises to be much easier than yesterday, just a 300 mile loop north to Elko and back to Eureka for thr night. We leave most of our stuff at the hotel, and head west on US 50 for 3 miles then north on Nevada 278.

Above: Dad weilds the high-tech gas gauge.

We leave the top up to let it blow dry. The weather looks pretty good. The mountains have some storm clouds clinging to them but the skies look fair with just puffy clouds over the valleys. I like it because it will be cool with little chance of sunburn.

We cruise up the valley on a nice two-lane road, over a pass and down toward the Humboldt river valley.

Below: Puffy clouds and good pavement.

We join Interstate 80 at Carlin for a 20 mile run to Elko. Thankfully it is the only Interstate driving of the whole trip. Interstates are great if you are a trucker or trying to explore Generica, but don't quite have the same allure as a two lane blacktop through the outback.

Left: Tunnels on I-80, two for the freeway, two for the railroad.

We arrive in Elko, a typical county seat/Interstate town of the West. Lots of chain motels, a big white-painted stone "E" on the barren hill above town, etc. We plan to join some sort of local protest against the BLM or somesuch government beauracracy. We have all be given shovels to dump on the courthouse lawn. We haven't a clue what it is all about, but Martin Swig seems to think it is a great idea, or at least a great photo-op.

Below: Shovels.

Martin chats up the local news media and several of us take the chance for a pit-stop (either a run to the courthouse men's room, or some work on their cars.) Dad & I take the Jag's top down, as it has completely dried on the 120 mile run to Elko.

After the 'media event' we gas up the car and head off for lunch at Lamoille. The town is situated in a fantastic valley below a huge mountain range. We stop at a nice little bar called O'Carrols for a great lunch.

Above: Lunch at O'Carrols in Lamoille.

We head out of town and immidiately get lost. The road is dirt and is not marked, and we are presented with several forks and intersections.

Left and below: Lost outside lamoille, Nevada.

Finally Dan Radowicz arrives in the brown Caddy and thankfully guides us through the maze towards the pavement over Secret Pass into the Ruby Valley. At the morning drivers' meeting it was decided that we'd all queue up and drive within sight of one another through the Ruby Valley's dirt roads since there are unmarked intersections and little or no road signs. Just south of the curve where the pavement ends and we left highway 229 we pull up to a gathering of Rally cars. We all wait for about 30 minutes for all the cars, plus the sweep vehicles to arrive.

Dan Radowicz in the big brown (loud) Caddy.

Jay Lamm in the '54 Jag 120 FHC.

We rattle along the dirt road (better than yesterday's by a wide margin, still dirt!) through the beautiful Ruby Valley. The dust gets to be a bit thick, and the car and us are covered with it. Since dad drove all morning I'm behind the wheel now. Dad is freaking out a bit... I know he is terrified of breaking the car at most, or trashing the paint job (which *is* gorgeous BTW) at the least. We are supposed to stay together, and I'm a bit worried about being left behind like we were yesterday. That, combined with trailing a car with no brake lights leads me to creep up on the car ahead of us. Dad about has a spaz and yells at me to back off. I finally find a pace that keeps me in sight of the car ahead, but far enough back to keep Dad healthy (both physically and financially.)

The route is scenically beautiful. That is about all I can say about it. 80 miles or so of dirt road, hard concentration, and dust is all I can recall honestly.

We climb an un-named pass and are presented with a view of a huge, flat desert valley with an arrow-straight road heading across it. We hit the valley floor and the road improves tremendously. It eventually turns to pavement and we crank up the XK and fly along at 90mph.

After what seems like an eternity of driving through utterly empty and uninhabited sage valleys and hills we finally meet US 50 about 50 miles east of Eureka. About 35 miles into the 50 miles the Jag sputters to a stop. We've run out of gas. Thankfully we carry a can in the trunk and feed it two gallons... enough to get us into Eureka.

Below: End of the trail in Eureka.

We enjoy a nice relaxing dinner at Tha Jackson House in Eureka.

Go to the Next page: Saturday

--chuck

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		Friday. We start the day by filling up the Jag at the Chevron down the street. Today promises to be much easier than yesterday, just a 300 mile loop north to Elko and back to Eureka for thr night. We leave most of our stuff at the hotel, and head west on US 50 for 3 miles then north on Nevada 278. Above: Dad weilds the high-tech gas gauge. We leave the top up to let it blow dry. The weather looks pretty good. The mountains have some storm clouds clinging to them but the skies look fair with just puffy clouds over the valleys. I like it because it will be cool with little chance of sunburn. We cruise up the valley on a nice two-lane road, over a pass and down toward the Humboldt river valley. Below: Puffy clouds and good pavement. We join Interstate 80 at Carlin for a 20 mile run to Elko. Thankfully it is the only Interstate driving of the whole trip. Interstates are great if you are a trucker or trying to explore Generica, but don't quite have the same allure as a two lane blacktop through the outback. Left: Tunnels on I-80, two for the freeway, two for the railroad. We arrive in Elko, a typical county seat/Interstate town of the West. Lots of chain motels, a big white-painted stone "E" on the barren hill above town, etc. We plan to join some sort of local protest against the BLM or somesuch government beauracracy. We have all be given shovels to dump on the courthouse lawn. We haven't a clue what it is all about, but Martin Swig seems to think it is a great idea, or at least a great photo-op. Below: Shovels. Martin chats up the local news media and several of us take the chance for a pit-stop (either a run to the courthouse men's room, or some work on their cars.) Dad & I take the Jag's top down, as it has completely dried on the 120 mile run to Elko. After the 'media event' we gas up the car and head off for lunch at Lamoille. The town is situated in a fantastic valley below a huge mountain range. We stop at a nice little bar called O'Carrols for a great lunch. Above: Lunch at O'Carrols in Lamoille. We head out of town and immidiately get lost. The road is dirt and is not marked, and we are presented with several forks and intersections. Left and below: Lost outside lamoille, Nevada. Finally Dan Radowicz arrives in the brown Caddy and thankfully guides us through the maze towards the pavement over Secret Pass into the Ruby Valley. At the morning drivers' meeting it was decided that we'd all queue up and drive within sight of one another through the Ruby Valley's dirt roads since there are unmarked intersections and little or no road signs. Just south of the curve where the pavement ends and we left highway 229 we pull up to a gathering of Rally cars. We all wait for about 30 minutes for all the cars, plus the sweep vehicles to arrive. Dan Radowicz in the big brown (loud) Caddy. Jay Lamm in the '54 Jag 120 FHC. We rattle along the dirt road (better than yesterday's by a wide margin, still dirt!) through the beautiful Ruby Valley. The dust gets to be a bit thick, and the car and us are covered with it. Since dad drove all morning I'm behind the wheel now. Dad is freaking out a bit... I know he is terrified of breaking the car at most, or trashing the paint job (which is gorgeous BTW) at the least. We are supposed to stay together, and I'm a bit worried about being left behind like we were yesterday. That, combined with trailing a car with no brake lights leads me to creep up on the car ahead of us. Dad about has a spaz and yells at me to back off. I finally find a pace that keeps me in sight of the car ahead, but far enough back to keep Dad healthy (both physically and financially.) The route is scenically beautiful. That is about all I can say about it. 80 miles or so of dirt road, hard concentration, and dust is all I can recall honestly. We climb an un-named pass and are presented with a view of a huge, flat desert valley with an arrow-straight road heading across it. We hit the valley floor and the road improves tremendously. It eventually turns to pavement and we crank up the XK and fly along at 90mph. After what seems like an eternity of driving through utterly empty and uninhabited sage valleys and hills we finally meet US 50 about 50 miles east of Eureka. About 35 miles into the 50 miles the Jag sputters to a stop. We've run out of gas. Thankfully we carry a can in the trunk and feed it two gallons... enough to get us into Eureka. Below: End of the trail in Eureka. We enjoy a nice relaxing dinner at Tha Jackson House in Eureka. Go to the Next page: Saturday --chuck
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