23rd day (Susanville - Fallon)

At breakfast, I meet Arnie, who is responsible for it at the Super 8 in Susanville. And even if it's not better than the others, it's Arnie who cheers me up. He was stationed near Stuttgart. And he knows Spätzle, the tram and Kehrwoche. I laugh my head off. An older couple sits at the table next to me. They speak German to each other. I have no one to talk to, so I don't speak German either. I already hated it when my parents only spoke to Germans on vacation because they were from the same country. 'Are you German too?'. Oh no.

When I leave at 10 o'clock, it's already oppressively hot. Over 30 degrees are reported here today, but at least cooler than in Germany. And I have air conditioning in my pickup truck. Not in my apartment. What a lucky person I am at the moment, living in my car. The forests disappear completely after Susanville, and the valley remains open. The 395 leads me along landscapes that are increasingly desert-like, mostly covered with small bushes. Wherever people irrigate, you can find cattle farms, otherwise it looks very barren. Nevertheless, signs remind you to put on snow chains here in winter. Crazy.

I take a little detour and drive through Reno. I have been reliably informed that it is an ugly city. And I can only agree. It's ugly. A few ugly high-rise buildings are surrounded by ugly houses that have the flair of a wealthy settlement in the GDR. Terrible. I wanted to stop, but no thanks. Interstate 580 takes me four lanes out of this blight. To the right of me are high mountains surrounded by dark clouds. Behind them is Lake Tahoe, one of the most famous ski resorts in the USA. And a beautiful lake that I know from last year.

At Carson City I turn left and end up on the famous Highway 50, which will still be my home tomorrow. Today it leads me towards Dayton and before that left to Virginia City. As a Bonanza fan, you have to go there. It goes steeply uphill, and my pickup truck has to work hard, through Silver City, an almost ghost town, and Gold Hill, one that only exists through tourists. Both names remind me of the gold and silver finds that once swelled Virginia City to a population of 30,000 - today there are just under 1,000, but 2 million visitors every year. You can also notice that today, it's really crowded here, and Wild West shows, saloons (with the internet) and gift shops are popular places to visit. Not my world at all. However, the view is breathtaking, it's called the '100 mile view' here. You just have to imagine the many people away.

After my round through a city whose buildings almost all have a museum character (spoiled by the cars parked in front of them) and where there are still wooden sidewalks between the saloons, I drive back down the valley, and strangely enough, I'm almost alone on the road. I stop a few more times and enjoy the view before I get back on Highway 50 and it becomes really lonely for 50 km after Silver Springs. There are hardly any cars on the road, the desert character has intensified even more, and thick dark clouds are hanging over me in some places. A few drops of rain even fall.

In Fallon, I check into a Super 8 Motel again, which is directly connected to a casino. I get a voucher for a welcome drink there, of course so that I can play. I get my beer, invest 10 dollars, and get 12 back. Well, tough luck. Beer plus 2 dollars extra. By the way, you know you're in the gambling paradise of Nevada when even gas stations have a casino. Tomorrow will be the longest stretch I have ever driven. 400 km through the desert to Ely - and hardly any settlement. 'The loneliest road in the USA', that's what this section of Highway 50 is called. However, the term dates back to 1985. Whether it's still like that today - I'm very curious.