Sept. 15 – Awesome People

My plan for this morning was to get going pretty early and cycle the 15 miles into Eureka to get provisions and have breakfast before hitting that lonely highway again. The supermarket was at the edge of town and I picked up some fruit and snacks and a few other things. I had a couple of freeze dried meals that I kept handy for the nights that I camped out with no amenities. I asked the cashier where she would recommend me having breakfast – she replied that there was one restaurant in town that was open for breakfast – The Owl. So The Owl it was. The sign coming into Eureka claims that it is “The Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road” – my first impression was anything but. The Owl Cafe was dark, with just a few customers eating, no music or chatter – pretty morose. I ordered the biggest breakfast they had and some coffee. It was nothing fancy, but it filled the tank. I had noticed a Mennonite couple who were eating in the back and went over to talk to them. They were very friendly and invited me to sit down with them and we had a nice chat over coffee. Chuck and Heidi had moved from Wisconsin to Eureka several years before and are hay and alfalfa farmers. I learned a lot about hay and alfalfa in a short period of time – it was really interesting. Hay from that part of Nevada is shipped as far as Florida as it has a high protein content and other benefits – who knew? I told them about our work with the orphanages in Mexico and the connection there to the Mennonite Church and they were really interested as they had traveled to Mexico and Belize. There was so much that I wanted to ask them, but they had to go take care of their farm, and I needed to get on the road.

Another cyclist came in for breakfast – Brendan. He was a bit road-worn as he had been touring off and on for a couple of years. He was heading west towards San Francisco and was taking life as it came. He was definitely more laid back than me! The young waiter at the Owl filled up my water bottles with ice water and I left feeling a little better about the cafe – although it still needs some music and better lighting! I set my sights on Illipah Reservoir – to get there I had to cross three passes – Whew

About 5pm I saw the sign I was looking for and turned off for a short ride to the campground.

When I got to the campground there were several RV’s in place so I slowly rode around looking for an open spot. All of a sudden a tall man stepped out from behind his RV to greet me. Alfred and his wife Janette were camping one night on their way back to their home in Northern California. They had been to Colorado to attend their grandson’s wedding. They immediately invited me to have dinner with them and also shared their campsite with me so I would have a place to set my tent. Incredible! Alfred was walking down to the reservoir to try his luck with a fly rod, so I went with him and we took turns casting to the rising trout. Unfortunately we were skunked with only one hit and no catches between us, but it was a lot of fun as tons of trout were feeding on the surface.

We walked back up to the campsite and by the time I had set up my tent and cleaned up a bit, Janette had dinner waiting for us. Spaghetti, sautéed asparagus, good bread, a cold beer and ice cream! I was in heaven. Alfred and Janette are those kind of people that you could talk to all night – interesting, well traveled, intelligent and curious. We talked about all kinds of things into the evening until it was my bedtime. Meeting awesome, generous people like these two restore your faith in humankind!