Tractors pulling |
Four trucks pushing, two pulling |
Oh no. We were informed by our friends, George and Kathy, that a strange event was to take place along our route today and we should be prepared for a possible delay of hours. A company named Energy Solutions decided that on this day and on the DeLaMares’ route, they would move one of their decommissioned nuclear reactors from San Onofre, CA (down by San Diego) to Utah via Highway 93. The beast is the largest and heaviest chunk of machinery that has ever been moved on Nevada’s roads, 16.5 feet in diameter and weighing in at 1.5 million pounds. Its flatbed, a 122-foot-long trailer sitting upon 192 tires, is being pushed and pulled by 6 heavy-duty class 8 trucks. The entire convoy, including pilot cars and other escort vehicles, is about 2 miles long and travels at a breath-taking 5 mph. If you become stuck behind it, be prepared to remain stuck behind it. As luck would have it, we came upon this monstrosity en route. It was pulled over off the road for reasons that are unknown to us. Maybe it was lunch time although we did see a few fellows under the hood of one of the trucks. Mostly, it was just too cool to be believed and we had to stop and stare and snap a few pictures. Later, we continued to move along, fortunately ahead of the beast.
Count the tires on this beast! |
Inside the sheepherder's trailer |
As we meander along, it
occurred to us that we could keep our minds open to shopping for a new RV. At the KOA in Ely, one caught our eye. It is fully-equipped and functional for every
need except for maybe air conditioning.
It would require a bit of down-sizing, to be sure, but we remain open to
new ideas. This little rascal was built
in the early 1900s and belonged to a sheepherder. The Basque folks who populated this region
were predominantly devoted to raising sheep for the wool and mutton. They lived in the fields for long periods of
time tending the flocks. Little living
quarters like these were not so uncommon, we are beginning to learn. They were surprisingly well-designed and
bigger inside than they look from the outside, Rob observed. The only word I could associate with them is,
“lonely.”
Needless to say, I am in T-Log heaven! Glad you were able to get ahead of the beast. Great looking bar in the Hotel Nevada. You should definitely consider purchasing one of those incredibly cool sheepherder's RVs. Yes, you might need to downsize a little. P.S. Love the way you're wearing the masks.
ReplyDeleteOh so cool you saw this convoy even better you were not behind it. Have fun...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update ! I too will be passing through Ely in a few weeks !
ReplyDeleteDo you have dates?
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