With stops, this was nearly a 4-hour trip. US Highway 50, the “Loneliest Road in America,” ran between mountain ranges with wide valleys that stretched for miles and miles. Stunning wide-open views, beautiful in its own dramatic way and thoroughly desolate.

Leaving Valley View RV Park in Ely a little after 11 a.m.

More wildlife for Margi.

Driving through Eureka, a town with a population of around 265. In its heyday (1876) this silver mining town boasted a population of over 10,000 with over 125 saloons and 25 gambling houses. Not much happening here now.

Cowboy Bar & Grill.

Their True Value hardware store looks a little different from the one we’re used to.

It’s not enough to have to look out for wildlife, but Farm Machinery too! Which is hilarious because there was neither ranch nor farm anywhere for miles around.

We stopped along the way at a rest stop. No restrooms, just a couple of picnic tables under cover. Jim was curious about a weather-worn sign there: “United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Woods Crested Wheatgrass Seeding, 1300 Acres Seeded 1955”. That’s kind of interesting.

The town of Austin on the steep downside of the mountain. Seemed even smaller than Eureka.

We were down to less than a half tank of diesel, and in this part of the country you don’t want to run low on gas (Ryan’s strong suggestion/warning to get gas when you can ringing in my head). This is the first time we had to pay over $4.00 per gallon! Not surprising, actually, given where we are.

Is that a salt lake ahead? There were no signs, so we never found out, but it was very large and white and looked pretty salty lol.