To: OnTheRoad

From: richdean@clark.net

Subject: Ely, Nevada

Hi all... sittin' here in the historic Hotel Nevada in what's left of downtown Ely. I was here 10 years ago (!?) after college for three months -- living in the desert 40 miles outside town (60 by road). Ely is East of Eureka and is a big stopping place along US50, the road I am taking back east (also known as The Loneliest Road). Despite the historic nature of this hotel, it was only built in 1925. There was this great bar called the Midget when I was here last, but like all things in these small towns, it has gone out of buisness. Oh well... its interesting driving out here because these towns are either clinging to whatever tourism they can get, or they've decided to not-so-gracefully decline with demise of mining. A few -- like Austin, NV -- have managed to somehow hang on to their silver/gold rush booms for the better part of 100 years, despite population declines from 10-thousand to just a few hundred.

In between these towns there are miles and miles of really open land -- where the cattle hang right on the pavement. During the day you can see clouds dropping rain dozens of miles away.... it looks like feathery sheets and you can watch it head your way and pass by. Truly amazing. At night the moon is so bright that it lights up the entire inside of the car (top down, of course...). If you turn off the headlights, you can still see the road. Seeing the comet out here gave me goosebumps...

so anyway, if you can't tell, the West can have weird effects on the senses :-)

Today I left San Fran and drove thru Sacramento, Carson City, a bunch of small towns, saw petroglyphs done 10,000+ years ago, decaying Pony Express stations (in operation less than 2 years) and towering sand dunes. Tomorrow, I drive across Utah (Ely is ~70 miles from the border) and to Arches National Park to see the sand arches and camp by the river that winds past the park. This will be the first (and likely last) camping I do along the way.

I have no idea where I'm going from there, except further towards Illinois on 50...

Hope alls well with everyone...

Rich