Wedenesday, August 31st 2011
Excluding my 5am blast-off from Morgantown, I pulled out of Ely earlier than any other stop along the way - 7am.
So, where am I going to now? Well, I had several places in mind. None of which worked out. But, I am getting ahead of myself...
Click on the photos below for a larger image.
I awoke at 5:30 and around 6:00 I remembered somthing I wanted to do. The result is above.
Not a bad little place to stay. Got lucky. The sour-puss, grumpy manager mentioned he has rarely had a vancancy in the last two years. Seems workers from the
local mine had been keeping the place filled up. But, as luck would have it, five of them had left the same day I arrived.
After an hour of whorlwind packing and a quick stop at MickyD's, I was on the road.
I stopped to take a few pictures along the way. This is in Eurkea. I am sure you can figure out how this town got it's name.
Eureka is an unincorporated township in and the county seat of Eureka County, Nevada, United States. Eureka is by far the largest community in Eureka County (pop 1900). Attractions include the Eureka Opera House (built in 1880 and restored in 1993), Raine's Market and Wildlife Museum (built 1887), the Jackson House Hotel (built 1877), and the Eureka Sentinel Museum (housed in the 1879 Eureka Sentinel Newspaper Building).
Source: WikiPedia
Some of the mining equipment which was on display.
This is the county courthouse. I used the bathroom there.
The scenery on this section of US 50 was not as interesting or dramatic as the section in Utah. But, it was pretty lonely.
There were no big puffy clouds to make the sky interesting today. It was blue sky in all directions.
Another small town I went through was Austin. Although smaller, it seemed to be more of a tourist mecca than Eurkea. There was a big bill board promoting a Mt Bike race and there were a coupla trendy/quaint looking shops.
One thing that makes it different from Eureka is having a highly visible salvage and junk yard at the eastern entrance of town. In front of the place there was a sign saying: "CAUTION - Speed Trap Ahead". The owner probably has "isssues" with some of the town folk.
Austin is a small, unincorporated community located in Lander County, Nevada, in the United States. As of 2004, its population is approximately 340. It is located on the western slopes of the Toiyabe Range at an elevation of 6,605 feet (2,013 m). U.S. Route 50 passes through the town.
Named for Austin, Texas, Austin was founded in 1862, as part of a silver rush reputedly triggered by a Pony Express horse who kicked over a rock. By summer 1863, the Austin and the surrounding Reese River Mining District had a population of over 10,000, and it became the county seat of Lander County (the seat was shifted to Battle Mountain in 1997). In 1864, the town launched Reuel Colt Gridley's impromptu fundraising drive that raised over $250,000 for wounded Civil War veterans, by repeatedly auctioning a sack of flour.
Source: WikiPedia
I passed by the Sand Mountain Recreation Area and grabbed this shot while driving by.
There are motorized, non-motorized, restricted and study areas on the 4,795 acres contained in the "fee area".
How did sand mountain form? Once again, windblown material which was stopped by something, dropped and then collected to the mass it is today. Need more? Read on...
Only 10,000 years ago glaciers filled many of the valleys in the Sierra Nevada mountains to the west. The cool, wet climate and runoff from these glaciers helped to create ancient Lake Lahontan, an immense inland lake that covered much of what is now northern Nevada. Scientists say that the ancient lake was once over 800 feet deep in places. If you visit Sand Mountain today you can spot the ancient lakeshores on the bluffs to the east of the dunes.
As the climate thousand of years ago grew warmer the glaciers retreated and the the lake slowly started to dry up. By 4,000 years ago the lake level dropped below where Sand Mountain now stands.
Quartz particles, which the glaciers had ground away from the hard Sierra granite to the west, eventually washed down the Walker River and deposited in the river's delta. As the wind blew across the delta this sand was picked up and carried high into the air. More than thirty miles to the northeast, the wind was slowed by a large basin on the southwest flank of the Stillwater Range. With its force broken by the mountain, the wind's burden of sand would fall into this natural trap.
Over the centuries Sand Mountain grew until it reached its present height of almost 600 feet.
Source: blm.gov
Welcome to Fallon, Nevada. The lonliness stops here. Too bad.
This place is a local chain and they sure are hard to miss. I gassed up here.
Now that was a big tree. What an interesting use for a 100s of years old colossus.
Now that I was in Fallon it was only a short hop to I-80 which took me past Reno, Lake Tahoe and accross the Sierra Nevadas into California.
I had planned to stay in Truckee which is just over the border. Ha! The place was a parking lot and crawling with people. I could'n wait to get out of there.
I saw nothing at any of the exits and I needed to find a place to stay. To bad my addiction to WiFi keeps me away from camping now. I plan to correct that.
Anyway, I spoke a couple of folks at a rest area and they suggested I try the town of Colfax. No dice. As soon as I exited I was stuck in traffic.
So much for staying in the mountains and going hiking over miles of granite dome. Oh, well - that will come later.
Where did I end up? In Auburn. So close to Sacramento you could hit it with a rock. Not what I had in mind especially since I will be here two nites at 64 bucks a nite.
Could be worse. At least the Super 8 where I am staying is right next to a "
Wienerschnitzel" which used to be a "Der Wienerschnitzel". I used to frequent these places back in the 60s with my then brother-in-law
Mike Taymor, brother to Julie Taymor. (Name drop!!)
At that time, you could get a mustard dog for 14 cents. Yep, 14. Now they are $1.39. That's a lot of inflation.
I will hang here in Auburn until Friday morning and then on to SF.
I've come a long way, baby.
So long for now...
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California, Here I Come
by Al Jolson
When the wintry winds starts blowing And the snow is starting in the fall Then my eyes went westward knowing That's the place that i love best of all California i've been blue Since i've been away from you I can't wait 'till i get blowing Even now i'm starting in a call California, Here I Come Right back where I started from where bowers of flowers bloom in the spring each morning at dawning birdies sing at everything a sunkissed miss said, "Don't be late!" that's why I can hardly wait open up that golden gate California, Here I Come California, Here I Come (yeaaaaaah!) Right back where I started from where bowers of flowers bloom in the spring each morning at dawning birdies sing at everything a sunkissed miss said, "Don't be late!" that's why I can hardly wait (come on!) open up (open up! open up!) that golden gate California, Here I Come