Ely, Nevada

Good morning, my friends. Here we are in Nevada. We're in an RV park right along a US Hwy, and so it's pretty darned noisy. We have a good cell signal, however, which is a good thing because the park internet is down. We were planning to be here for two days. Fairly quickly after arriving, we decided to move along to Winnemucca. Originally, we were going to do some sight-seeing in a Cave Lake State Park. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the lake has been drained for dam construction. I learned when I checked in that the original dam had failed, and so it's being rebuilt. In any case, it doesn't sound like there will be much to see at the state park. So, I called the RV park in Winnemucca, and they were able to add tonight to our original reservation, so we'll move along this morning. It will give us a day to chill in Winnemucca, and we know the park there is quiet.

As for yesterday's drive, we drove through the Great Basin area. I'll say a little more about that in a bit, but I'll start where our day started yesterday morning. Smitty was enjoying the morning sunshine in his catio. I hated to make him come inside, but the Traveling Three Cats Ranch needed to move along.

Sadie stuck with her original position, enjoying the view of the insides of her eyelids.

Soak up this last trip through the twin tunnels this trip.

I know...such a gas.

And that was probably the most exciting thing that happened all day. We saw plenty of abandoned and ramshackle structures along the way. I can never be sure these are actually abandoned or being used for some other purpose. 

We drove through Panguitch one more time.

There was snow in the mountains...a sure sign we need to be heading for home.

There was more up ahead. We were at low enough elevations that we didn't see any along our path.

When I see places like this, I feel kind of sad. Someone put a lot of work into this place. It was probably their dream. And now, it's falling down, with boarded up windows. What went wrong? Why did they leave it to fall into disrepair?

We also drove through some idyllic valleys with homes so far from anything that I wonder how they get their groceries. It's a long drive to anywhere.

So, let's just talk about The Great Basin for a minute. We probably never left it during our drive yesterday. I took this next paragraph from the national park website:

The Hydrographic Great Basin is a 200,000 square mile area that drains internally. All precipitation in the region evaporates, sinks underground or flows into lakes (mostly saline). Creeks, streams, or rivers find no outlet to either the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean. The region is bounded by the Wasatch Mountains to the east [near Salt Lake City], the Sierra Nevada to the west, and the Snake River Plain to the north. The south rim is less distinct. The Great Basin includes most of Nevada, half of Utah, and sections of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and California. 

Here is an accompanying diagram: 

To us it meant long straight roads over a ridgetop... 

Then dropping down into the next basin. And on to the next one... 

And on and on to the next one... 

And the next one, seemingly without end.

We passed through a few small towns that were practically ghost towns. 

When we were nearing the end of our journey, we crossed the state line into Nevada and the Pacific time zone. 

There was almost nothing out here...no gas stations, no fast food, and...most importantly...no restrooms. Of course, we have a bathroom in our camper, but it requires opening up the slides and disturbing the kitties. We hate to do it until we reach our final destination.

Our route took us right around the boundary of Great Basin National Park. 

We were promised more of the same when we turned off onto US Hwy 50, affectionately known as the "Loneliest Road in America." Why? Because there's absolutely nothing out there.

We've visited the national park several times, and so we had no plans to visit for this trip. Until we saw this. 

Think of it as a restroom oasis. We were happy to stop in. I even picked up a refrigerator magnet while we were there. It was a bright and exciting interlude to an otherwise long and boring day. And so we were feeling better when we passed by this cute little barn.

And here's an interesting juxtaposition with this abandoned structure...decades old...alongside modern wind turbines.

And then on we went, dropping down into yet another basin.

We expect to see more of the same today as we travel more of the loneliest road on our way to Winnemucca. We've already scoped out a McDonalds just a few minutes from where I sit as I write this. Egg McMuffin will help us forget the noisy night we just had. We're just four days from home now. I know the kitties will be happy to be out of the camper, and so will we. 

So that's all I have for you this morning. We'll catch up again in Winnemucca.