Hwy 50 In The Great Basin

You wouldn't think much happened around here in the old days, but this area of the Great Basin in Nevada has lots of interesting stuff, from petroglyphs, to the Pony Express to Castles.  This is Stokes Castle in Austin.

It was built by Mr. Stokes, a railroad magnate and mine developer.  It's modeled after a tower he saw in Italy.  Trouble was, he made so much money, he only stayed here a few months before selling out everything and never returning to Austin.

Don't you think it would make a nice quilt store?????

Here we are totally freezing our patooties off before heading out again on Highway 50 East.  It did rather bother me when I saw the sign that said NO TRUCKS ON 50 EAST.  No, I'm not kidding.

Before we left, I was able to get a shot of the super bloom in Nevada.  They were everywhere, but only about one inch tall.

And we are OFF!  Here's how it went.  We had four very tall passes to climb up and over, most in the 6500-7800 foot elevation.  That meant going down the other side to cross the wide valleys.

Here's an UP.  I wasn't worried about the snow capped mountains because they were so far away.  Temps were in the 60's ... a gorgeous day for travel.

There was water everywhere, flowing down through the valleys on both sides of the road.

Uh oh ... those mountains seem to be getting closer.  Surely I'm not going THERE!!

At long last, a town.  This is Eureka, a little blurp on the map.  I could live here, except for the monthly drive of 200 miles to the nearest grocery store!!  

I wish I had time to stop and check out Louie's Lounge (closed) or maybe the hotel (also closed).  Certainly not much going on around here.  

Over the top and down into another valley.  There were so many names for each area, I've forgotten most all of them.  Okay, I don't remember any of them, but the scenery was fabulous!!

And for a time, the snow got further away.  In the end, I found myself in the middle of it at 6500 feet. 

At long last I landed in Ely.  First stop, Love's Fuel Station.  There's no way I'm getting stuck out here with no fuel.  Prices were a little better at $3.29 a gallon.  On down the road I found the KOA campground where we are staying. 

It's weird here.  If you are an AT&T customer, you are picking up the tower in Utah, whose time is one hour LATER than Ely.  If you are a Verizon customer, your watch and phone have the correct time.  Of course I'm with AT&T, so I'm having trouble figuring out when I'm supposed to be someplace.

Apparently they don't get too many customers here at the KOA.  They brought in nine employees to help get us parked.  They were so thrilled to have 30 rigs spend TWO days in their park.  At least we know they will have a nice Christmas from the proceeds.

Dinner was sandwiches provided by the local Elks Lodge.  True to form, there were three people doing all the work.  The two bartenders don't even get paid ... only tips ... and I think they ran out of booze from the 45 members of the Golden Spike Group in attendance.  

Here I am in early morning light at about 36 degrees.  

There's so much to do today, I am opting out of part of the festivities.  There are murals around town that are spectacular.  Patti Painter and I are hitting the streets for an early morning walk and photographic foray.  We'll catch up with the rest of the group later.  I'm wearing my tennis shoes so I can keep up with her.