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Day 8: Austin to Eureka NV – the friendliest town on the loneliest road.

This morning we got an early start at our camp site outside of Austin. Mike even had a chance to finally road test our penny stove, by making us some oatmeal and hot tea.
Now that we’re riding through the desert, our daily mileage is dictated by where the next town is located. Eureka is only about 64 miles away and there aren’t any tough climbs. Eureka, by the way is the very place where some guy struck silver and exclaimed “EUREKA!”, hence the name. Also, eveyone here has been super friendly. We pitched our tent under the apple trees at the Silver Sky RV park, had a hot shower and the owner told us that we could help ourselves to the apples, or the fresh spring water. While we were busy being overwhelmed by his niceness, the proprietor of the local Best Western, who happens to enjoy bicycling and hanging out at the RV parks, brought us a bagful of apples and fruit cups.
We also ran into a couple of guys biking to California, Alex, started in Colorado and is making his way to Santa Barbara. He’s riding solo, and didn’t even know about the Western Express route, until he ran into some other cyclists. We chatted for awhile, sharing advice on our upcoming routes, until it was time for dinner. My appetite is finally returning, and I ate a delicious and huge chili dog and shared a banana split with Mike. Maybe I won’t lose too much weight after all.
I like Eureka, tomorrow we continue our trek along the Pony Express, it’s going to be a long day.
– Sarah