Today I drove 346 miles traveling from Ely, Nevada to Reno, Nevada.
While the road may have been desolate, it certainly was not boring. I enjoyed it very much. During the drive I made stops in Eureka, Austin, Middlegate Station, Sand Mountain Recreation Area, Fallon and Virginia City before arriving in Reno. |
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Greetings Folks, I got a really early start today as I hit the road just after 6:00am. I had 350 miles to cover on the "Loneliest Road in America."  The Nevada portion of U.S. 50 crosses the center of the state and was named The Loneliest Road in America by Life magazine in July 1986. The name was intended as a pejorative, but Nevada officials seized it as a marketing slogan. The name originates from large desolate areas traversed by the route, with few or no signs of civilization. The highway crosses several large desert valleys separated by numerous mountain ranges towering over the valley floors. I found today's drive a lot more enjoyable than yesterdays. The scenery was beautiful the first 200 miles and at least there was a town every once in a while. The first town I came to today was Eureka which was 78 miles after leaving Ely. Below is the Eureka County Courthouse in Eureka.  Thirty two more miles down the road I came to the Bean Flat rest area. It was just a parking area. But I took the opportunity to go stand in the middle of the highway.  There wasn't a car to be seen for as far as the eye could see in either direction. U.S. 50 passes through several large desert valleys and crosses 17 named mountain passes that break up the Nevada desert. To crest some of the passes required navigating steep 8% grades and hairpin turns.  The next town I came to was Austin. It is located on the western slopes of the Toiyabe Range at an elevation of 6,605 feet. In Austin I stopped to take a photo of the Lander County courthouse.  I had to stop and clean the windshield numerous times during today's journey. These bugs kept hitting the car and leaving huge yellow splats all over the windshield. At times you could barely see between the splatters.  I stopped at historic Middlegate Station to take a photo and clean the windshield. The place looked like something out of the distant past.  Next I made a quick stop at the Sand Mountain Recreation Area. The dune is two miles long and 600 feet high.  258 miles into my journey I came to the city of Fallon. The only town of any size today. I stopped and took a picture of Maine Street which is pictured below. And yes I did spell it correctly. I also had some lunch at Jack In The Box.  Past Fallon the road was boring, ugly and a lot more trafficked. It was a 53 mile drive from there to Virginia City.  There was no place to park along the main street through town. So I ended up just taking some pictures of the more prominent historic buildings from the car.  Ten miles north of Virginia City is the Geiger Lookout. From there you can see down into the city of Reno.  When I got to Reno I drove through the downtown area. Downtown Reno sure has declined since the last time I was here. I took a few pictures and headed for my hotel.  I'm staying at the Hyatt Place at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. I have a nice view of the airport from my room.  I just had dinner from Outback Steakhouse. I haven't been there in a very long time. Now that I have finished this note it's time to sign on to Netflix and watch an episode of Grace and Frankie before I fall asleep. Good night, Tim |
Most of the original audio track is in tact but when the radio was playing copyrighted music background music was used instead. |
Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.
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