After heading out of Austin and rolling into the Bean Flat Rest area (where we met our German friends), we continued our walk towards the next town on Highway 50, Eureka, NV.
We walked around 10.8 miles for the day, before having to stop and seek shelter from the weather. We got into Beechy and moved ahead to the next stop for the night, the Roberts Creek parking area. Later that night, a rancher by the name of Kevin stopped in to see us and have a bit of conversation about what is going on with our country. Before saying good-night, Kevin expressed his support for our movement.
The next day, we returned to the spot where we had stopped walking the prior day and walked the 6 miles back to the Roberts Creek parking area where we took our first break of the day.
We then proceeded to walk about 5 more miles for the day.
After we finished the day’s walk, we went back to the Roberts Creek parking area, where we decided to pack up and head to the next stopping point that was just 1.5 miles outside of Eureka, NV.
The next morning, we began our walk where we had stopped the night before and walked to a canyon area known as “The Devils Gate”.
After ending the walk day at “The Devils Gate”, we went back to camp and headed off to the Eureka County Fair, where I met up with Sheriff Jesse Watts. We also met some of the locals and handed out walk cards.
The next morning, we went back to “The Devils Gate”, where we ran into Russ Varisco from the YouTube channel, RVerTV.
He did a drone shot of the start of the walk and said that he would post it to his YouTube channel in a few weeks. In the meantime, here’s a drone shot video of us before we started walking. Pretty cool!
We completed the walk from “The Devils Gate” to the Center of Eureka, NV. As we entered town, we stopped in the Rains Market to do a little shopping and talk to people. We met one local who is the tourism director for Eureka County, Miss Dana.
As we entered town, we came up to the “EZ Stop” where there were some people who had been waiting for me to arrive in town. They signed our Grey Wolf Walk guest book and received some stickers as well. You can watch the clip below to see their reactions.
We also stopped by the “Sentinel Museum”, where I “Rang the Bell”. (Yes, there was a sign encouraging people to ring the bell.)
After arriving at the Welcome Center area just east of town, I started thinking about the purpose of the walk. I had to remind myself that this walk is NOT about the number of steps in the walk but, how many PEOPLE I can gather! I decided that I need to jump ahead in areas that are miles and miles of nothing but desert, and start getting into towns where there are people to speak to!
We also had to say goodbye to Texas Girl and Juniper, who had joined us a few weeks earlier. Juniper found that he had to be physically present for his work back in Oregon instead of telecommuting. He had cooked for us and made runs ahead and behind to pick up supplies. Thank you, Juniper, Texas Girl and their kids (Road Runner and Shotgun) who supported me as well! They will all be greatly missed. Texas Girl was gracious enough to leave their StarLink system with us to use during trek as well. Thank you again, Texas Girl!
With the departure of Juniper and Texas Girl, we were left without a supply trailer for all of our supplies. We started looking for alternatives for moving our provisions. On the evening they left, my daughter called to let me know that our next door neighbor had acquired a small 6 x 8′ trailer and he said he would be happy to allow us to use for the duration of our movement. The trailer had no registration and no lights, so he said he would go to the DMV the next day to get a temporary moving permit while he awaits the registration plates. Whiskey Tango and Mr. T left the following morning bound for Reno to pick up the trailer and other supplies. While they were in route to Reno to get the trailer, I took Beechy downtown to look for someone that could help us secure the towing hitch so we could tow the trailer safely. After a couple of inquiries, I was able to locate “Brown Brothers Fabrication”. Dan Brown was able to weld in the proper materials needed to make towing a trailer with Beechy safe. While they were in Reno, they picked up an electric fan and fan controller to install on Beechy to assist in keeping her cooler while pulling the trailer.
It took us two extra days to install all of the lights and the electric fan, then we were ready to head to Ely, NV.
We left the Eureka Welcome Center and started towards Ely, NV the next morning. We stopped for the night at a summit about 35 miles west of Ely, then entered Ely the next day, where we set up camp at the Loves truck stop. The following morning, we drove out to the Historical marker that is 5.6 miles west of downtown Ely, and then proceeded to walk into town from there.
We saw so many things along the way that were majestic! We had a person with the “Pony Express Association” stop to see if we needed any assistance.
We saw old ruins of cabins, an old church, but best of all, a STEAM POWERED LOCOMOTIVE!
What a glorious day it was!
The next day, we popped back over to Veterans Memorial Park to hang out a bit. We spoke with a really nice couple from the Elko area. They had a Blue Frenchie and of course, Abby wanted to go and play, but the other pup was a little shy! The man I was speaking with was very interested in The Walk. When I told him about the Grey Wolf Pony Express idea of collecting letters from people to take to the U.S. Capitol steps in Washington, DC, he said he wanted to write one to send along. He said he’d be emailing it to me. He and his wife signed our guest book before moving on.
Write letters to your government officials expressing your concerns about the current state of our government. Encourage your children to write letters or draw pictures about their feelings. They can get creative and use crayons. If you’re unable to meet with me to put your letters into the replica Pony Express Bag yourself, feel free to scan them in and email them to me at [email protected] and I’ll be sure to add them along with the others.
Until next time, God bless you and may God bless the USA!