Road Trip — Caliente Nevada to Kanab Utah
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Last night I arrived in Caliente, Nevada and took a motel room to settle in for the night. I soon learned that Caliente is a very active train town. A train seemed to come through every half hour and, of course, a train has to blow its whistle when it passed through a town. Thankfully I also learned that I can sleep through train whistles without any problem. In the morning, stopped by the historic train depot to check it out. It also houses other businesses and city government offices. Time to head east and the last Nevada town I come to is Panaca, a small quiet town that, according to one of the history markers, is home to the oldest building in Lincoln County, Nevada. I cross the border and enter Utah, my first trip to the state (airport layovers don’t count in my book because your feet don’t touch actual earth). I stopped for a lunch break in Enterprise, Utah and explored the lovely Heritage Park they have built there. The memorials center around Thomas Sirls Terry, his wives and the contributions they made in pioneering the area. It’s a really nice memorial and park. As I head south on Highway 18 through the Dixie National Forest, I see a sign for the Overlook Monument and turned off to check it out. The walking path leads me to memorial markers that describe the horrific Mountain Meadow Massacre of 1857. It’s a somber place, but it’s kind of nice that this sad piece of history isn’t being swept under the rug. As I leave the Dixie National Forest, I arrive in St. George, Utah and am officially in red rock country–I love it! The gleaming white spire of the St. George Mormon Temple attracts me from the freeway and I veer off to view it. I can’t go into the actual temple, but they have a very nice visitor center on the grounds and I tour that. It’s sunset and I head down the Arizona Strip to Kanab, Utah in the dark.
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Road Trip — Austin Nevada to Eureka Nevada
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I left Sacramento yesterday and drove down east on Highway 50, “The Loneliest Road in America“, to Austin, Nevada, the middle of Nevada. I spent the night at the Cozy Mountain Motel, 12 rooms fit for a king–newly remodeled and 5-star beds–I have not been in a small motel with that nice of a bed ever; I highly recommend them if you are on that stretch of the road. This morning, I decided to explore the town a bit. I started off down the Castle Loop Road and headed to Stokes Castle. After checking out the castle I do a little 4-wheeling around the backside of Austin to the top of South Hill and view Austin from above. After a walk around the town, I get back on the road and continue east. When I see the sign for the Hickison Petroglyphs, I turn in to explore them. I have no idea what the petroglyphs mean, but I think they are so neat. These aren’t among the best I’ve seen as they are out in the open and being worn away by weather and tourists. Further along Highway 50, the next city is Eureka and I took a walk around their quaint historic downtown. I saw the “Bartine Five-Hole Outhouse” and could just imagine the converstations when it was a busy night in there… LOL! I continued east on Highway 50 and as the sun was going down, I turned south and headed towards Cliente, Nevada in the dark.
Road Trip — Beatty and Rholyte, Nevada
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After spending the night in the tiny historic town of Beatty, Nevada, the eastern entrance to Death Valley, I spent part of the morning exploring the area by looking for a few geocaches. After checking out the Death Valley Nut and Candy Company in town and the Daisy Mine on a dirt road just outside of town, I headed west towards the ghost town of Rhyolite. The town has several building structure frames still standing and a railroad train depot that is fairly complete. On the edge of town is the Goldwell Open Air Museum which has some interesting and thought provoking sculptures from the artist Albert Szukalski.
Road Trip — Red Rock Canyon, Nevada
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Yesterday during a taxi ride, we were talking about seeing streets or places named after your name, and our driver mentioned “Bonnie Springs” was just outside of Las Vegas, so of course I had to swing by it on my way out of town, just to get a picture of it for my friend Bonnie. It’s a historic mining town, with what looked to be one extremely rustic western motel. As I head north, I took the scenic bypass tour of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (RRNCA) which is more beautiful red rock, which I’m really liking a lot.
