On the road in Nevada - 2008 . . .
on our route from the Pacific Northwest

Updated: 11/30/08

We almost missed this sign welcoming us to Nevada.

After leaving the Reno area, we drove 470 miles diagonally across Nevada. We don't want to hurt the feelings of anyone who lives in Nevada ... but ... while some of it was pretty, it was a lot of the same looking sagebrush. If you turned off one seemingly endless straight road, you were on another seemingly endless straight road. The road was straight almost as far as you could see. It was straight because there was almost nothing in the way forcing a curve in the road. The road engineers seemed to draw a straight line from one mountain pass to another mountain pass to plot the road. A couple times, in the middle of nowhere, another route would peal off in another direction.

The terrain was very dry. Some people had their toys out on this dry lake bed. 

Passing through Reno . . .

Outside of Reno the hills were larger and we started following a river.

Signs tell you not to stop on the highway during a dust storm.

The coloring of the mountains was very attractive.

Low 'flying' aircraft . . .

Is that the end of the road? No, stay tuned.

A lake with water in it was also rich in mineral content.     The terraced shore was different.     A look back at the lake.

One area that we drove through was an U. S. Army Ammunition Plant.

As we drove by all of the the different buildings, it was fun to discuss what we thought they were used for.

The sun setting told us our first day driving in Nevada was coming to an end.

We stopped for the night in a rest area in Luning. It appeared to be a very depressed former mining town.

Every once in a while you would see a road heading into the mountains. One left this dry lake bed.

We did not stop to find out what a desert lobster was. We probably wouldn't want to know.  

We have frequently seen deer crossing signs . . . buy never a donkey crossing sign before. 

Another long road ahead of us . . .

Ah, civilization!

Do you see the head with long hair? Fred thinks he does.

Colorful.

A Mc Donald's near Tonopah.

There seemed to be no end to the long road ahead of us.

A ranch with a very fancy entrance . . . 

This race track was also outside of  Tonopah.

More of the bunkers . . .

This sign designating the Toiyabe National Forest was interesting.     Where are the trees?

Signs indicated elevations were common.

Another long road ahead . . .

We had lunch in a rest area where 'bad' water was available. The rest area was surrounded by barbed wire and the entrance was over a cattle grate.

We stopped just outside the rest area to make a photograph with a mountain background.

Ernie Harwell talks about 'a house BY the side of the road'.
This is a mountain IN the road.

The road continued for what seemed like forever. So did the line of utility poles.

Finally, a real intersection. 

We never saw a donkey near the road. We did see cattle. 

Mountains on both sides, a lake on our left and a truck with hay for the cattle having difficulty finding enough grass to eat. 

We have seen bicyclists everywhere we have traveled.

We were beginning to think that nothing was on this section to this road . . .

. . . when we came upon Rachel, Nevada.

Rachel is located in an area known for sightings of alien travelers.

It has an air traffic control tower.

    And, a modern fire truck. 

Wouldn't you know it, we had to wait for traffic (one truck) to return to our route.

It looked like mining was the initial draw to  Rachel.

Mary Lou thought these skid marks were related to this being a cattle crossing area. This steer just looked at us from a distance.

Soon we came upon some taller plants. Maybe a type of cactus? A pine?

This is the biggest roadkill we have ever seen. 

As we approached U.S. Route 93, an alien theme appeared again.

The terrain changed  - big rocks were visible.

And, more road ahead . . . 

We started seeing some 'real' trees.

This was a 'boys town' type of housing just outside Caliente.

Well, we are proof that timing IS everything. 

We were blessed with a SAFE tire failure. After all those miles and hours in desolate desert areas of Nevada, our right front trailer tire decided to give out at slow speed in the town of Caliente, Nevada. We could see a Goodyear dealer about a quarter of a mile down the road. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday evening. However, our road service company provided a tire change within about an hour and a half. We found nothing in the tread but turning the tire over, the problem was clearly visible. The service man told Fred it looked like a warranted tire separation issue.

Not wanting to drive very far without a spare, after our spare was put on the trailer, we drove to the Goodyear dealer and spent Sunday night next to his building. Monday turned out to be a 'search for a tire day'. Monday morning the Caliente dealer told us he did not have a tire like ours. He sent us to the Goodyear dealer who provided the road service - 60 miles away in Beryl, Utah. It was on our route so we proceeded. That dealer could get us a tire on Thursday. He sent us another 60 miles to Cedar City where we could 'for sure' get a tire. That dealer had an 'off brand' that they use in that area in our size. But, Fred did not want to do that. The dealer called St. George and the dealer there had six tires like ours - 30 mile off our route but we would have a spare. The write-up guy told Fred it was road damage and would not be warranted. But, the tire price was $45 more per tire than the current price at home. He knocked off $20 based on the phone call with the Cedar City dealer. Still not acceptable. Fred had almost decided to buy one tire as a spare when the write-up guy made an unbelievable offer. He would GIVE us a used tire in our size to get us home. Fred questioned the charge for mounting and he said 'no charge'. Fred questioned the deal again. The write-up guy told the installer there would be no invoice on the job but that Fred was going to buy him a sandwich. What a deal! In 30 minutes were were on the road again and Jeff was enjoying lunch.

This was more than you needed to know. But, it is always good to hear about a happy ending when dealing with road service, retail stores and service people when traveling. 

As a result of the tire search, we lost a day off our very flexible itinerary. We found time to make a couple photographs in Nevada Monday but our focus was on tires.

A lot of hay . . .

Next stop, Utah.

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