Saturday, August 14, 2010

Day 15. Highway 50, Cool Start - Hot Finish.

Today's job, travel Hwy 50 across Nevada. The reason, complete "The Official Hwy 50 Survival Guide".



The route across is mostly devoid of humans, but abundant in desert flora and fauna. The distances traveled are long. Our first leg was 78 miles from Ely to Eureka. In Eureka, we stopped to get the book stamped and take a few pictures.



The Eureka County Court House.


The Eureka Opera House.


The Stage of the Opera House.



Between Eureka and Austin is 70 miles of desert. We stopped in Austin for gas and to get the book stamped again.

Here's a Hwy. 50 sign.


From Austin to the next town, Fallon, is 112 miles. You are truly in the middle of nowhere out there. The next 8 pictures are a 360 degree panorama shot of what the area typically looks like.









Outside of Austin, half way to Fallon, there's a "shoe tree"...





Also between Austin and Fallon, we got to watch Navy fighter planes make a low level, high speed run across the highway, drop practice bombs and flares, then make their get a way. By the time you saw the planes coming, it was too late to try to get a picture. You couldn't hear it until it was past you. It was very cool to see!!

We Stopped in Fallon for gas and lunch at Quiznos, where we met a young guy from Poland. He was on a 5 week vacation and driving around the USA. He had tried to start in New York, but had difficulty getting a motorcycle and insurance. He had to start in Chicago, where he had friends that helped him with buying a motorcycle.
We got the guide stamped and continued to Fernly. By the time we got to Frenly it was nearly 100 degrees. We got the last stamp in Fernly and headed to Reno.

In Reno, the first stop was the UPS store. We shipped all the camping gear back to my house. The last stop was Days Inn.

We're going to try for California and Oregon tomorrow.