The loneliest roads in the west!

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This morning we were wide awake by 5am and so excited to get on the road and REALLY begin our adventures. We had breakfast, checked out of our wonderful little hotel and set off West towards the Bonneville Salt Flats and Nevada. We weren't even a mile out of the city before we were absolutely struck by the beauty of where we were. There were mountains towering in front of us and the flat, mostly dried, great salt lake to our right. It was still early and the I-80 was almost empty. I think we both had a little moment on that road and felt so privileged and lucky just to be there!
After around an hour we came to the rest stop which sits on the edge of the Salt Flats. There were a few other people there, tentatively stepping onto the white salt, through the huge puddles that yesterday's rain had left on the surface. Becky and I left our shoes at the edge and walked right out onto the salt. The water was warmed by the sun and the salt crystals crunched under our toes. We walked several hundred feet onto the flats and then spent a good hour just being silly, taking photos and enjoying how utterly stunning it all was! Once we decided that we really needed to go and washed the salt from out feet and legs (and shoes and arms and hair and sunglasses) we set off west to Wendover on the Utah - Nevada border. I was so engrossed in looking at the road and everything around us that I missed our turning by 10miles! After our little detour, a stop for gas and a conversation with the tourist information lady (apparently we were the first English she had seen in years) we headed south towards Ely (apparently pronounced "ee-lee") along a road with so few other cars that we could just stop, get out and take pictures without bothering another soul. The scenery was hilly but dusty with lots of shrubby type plants dotted around and very few trees.Ely looked, on the map, like a large town. It was the only town for 100 miles in any direction that has fuel! Well, it's not a large town. It a few dusty streets with a petrol station, a "restaurant" and a couple of other little places to buy groceries etc. As it was lunch time and we had gone through yet another time zone we were famished so headed to the Silver State "restaurant." As we walked in the whole of the staff and clientele all stopped what they were doing and looked up at us. It was a cross between a proper diner and a greasy spoon cafe and once everyone had got over the shock of out of towners being in their town we were shown to a booth. After a quick lunch and another fuel stop we set off for Tonopah the only other "large" town in that part of Nevada.Rather than taking the quickest route, we drove an extra twenty miles or so to experience the "loneliest road in America." There were signs everywhere telling us how lonely the road was supposed to be, however since it was named the loneliest road hundreds of people have decided to drive along it and to see what it's like... So it's no longer all that lonely! After 90 or so miles we needed to turn off the lonely road and head south to Tonopah. Now this road was lonely! There were mountains to our right a road without ANY turns or traffic in front and a flat expanse of shrubby land to the left. The road was exactly 100 miles long and in that time we saw one other soul. ONE. It was surreal. It was just wasteland. There were no trees or flowers just browny green plants dotted over the dusty earth. In a weird way it was really quite beautiful.By 7ish we arrived at the Mizpah hotel, our stop for the night. The hotel is American old and has rave reviews about how wonderful it is. Our room has a claw foot tub and an old fashioned brass bed. It really reminds me of old western movies. Everything is covered in thick red fabric and chunky dark wood. The town of Tonopah is dusty and small but somehow has several hotels and a brewery - no supermarket or hospital but a brewery!! I guess it's just like an outpost in the middle of Nevada. Somewhere for weary travellers to rest their heads! And that is exactly what we are going to do! Tomorrow is Yosemite time!

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Comments

[Mel]

Amazing Descriptions
I'm glad you're on the road and enjoying your western adventure. B takes fab photos! You, too. Can't wait to read future posts.