Thus, Friday morning found us headed back up Highway 95 towards Beatty; the same route we'd taken in reverse on Sunday evening. I didn't mind retracing our steps, though, since we'd ridden that part of Hwy 95 in the dark the last time, so now we actually got to see it. The highlight was the historical marker for the Nevada Test Site, where "testing of devices for defense and for peaceful uses of nuclear explosives" is conducted. Mmm, peaceful explosions.

Boom!

Back in Beatty, we stopped once again at the EddieWorld gas station and the Death Valley Candy and Nuts store, which has now forever earned a special place in my heart.

Reason 1: A great conversation with a solo rider named Lynn, who flew to Nashville to pick up a new BMW and is now riding it back to California.

Reason 2: A radio station that starts its commercial breaks with "we know it's Friday! Beer beer beer beer" and then sings me a little beer song.

Reason 3: The radio station is a classic rock station. While I was standing in line to buy water, every single person in the entire line, without exception, was tapping their toes and singing along to "Bad Moon Rising."

From Beatty, we continued north on Highway 95 until Highway 266, upon which we turned west. Shortly thereafter, the Z rolled over 10,000 miles. :)

Happy mileage birthday, Z!

While at a turnout for a historical marker, Peter realized with glee that a highway maintenance truck had left behind a pile of construction-grade reflective glass. Mix these beads with paint, and you'll get reflective paint. Happy as a clam, Peter scooped it up into an empty Coke bottle, which is sitting to this day on our kitchen counter. Gotta admit, that's pretty neat stuff.

Fun with construction detritus!

Shiny.

Continuing west on Hwy 266, we rode through Lida and the ghost town site of Palmetto, an area that was unexpectedly pretty. It had the same sort of wonderful western Nevada scenery also found around Virginia City, with the twisty rocky roads and bright yellow sagebrush flowers (achoo!).

Palmetto, NV.

Soon we were crossing back into our home state. Rural signs like this are frequently peppered with gunshot, but I thought the bandaids were a nice touch.

Back to the land of fruits and nuts.

Turning south onto Highway 168 towards Big Pine and then Bishop, CA, we encountered the amazingly fun Bristlecone Highway (well, that's what my AAA map says -- the actual forest is off of a side road 13 miles along Hwy 168 from Big Pine). Gorgeous swooping narrow twisties, which have sadly gone unphotographed because I was having too much fun riding.

We did see a desert fox, which Peter got a nice picture of (the fox ran away when I pulled out my camera; boo!):

We met up with our new friend Lynn -- the one we'd met in Beatty -- at the Chevron in Big Pine, which also had a damn good taqueria. 40 miles past the state line and you can get a great homemade burrito. I love California. The three of us sat and chatted for a while, which was nice, then we were all on our way. Lynn was stopping for the night in Bishop, while we were continuing north to Lee Vining.

Lynn.

Well, at least we thought we were continuing to Lee Vining; apparently everyone else on earth had the same idea as every hotel in town was sold out. Instead, we rode 25 miles further up 395 to Bridgeport (and saw an amazingly hot pink and orange sunset over Mono Lake on the way), which wound up being the best idea ever. We found a nice room at the Best Western in town and had an amazingly great dinner at Restaurant 1881 right across the street. The food is excellent and they serve local Mammoth Brewing Company hefeweizen.

All in all, it was a great day, and we were happy to be in Bridgeport.

Day's mileage: 362 miles
Day's max speed: 107 mph
Total trip mileage: 1990 miles

Next Day --> September 30: Bridgeport, CA - Cupertino, CA