Day 16 Sunday, May 29 Ely to Reno, Nevada

After breakfast we rejoined Nevada State Route 50 west - also known as "The Loneliest Highway in America".  We toured past miles of sagebrush and constant mountains that served as travel companions since we left Ely.  We were prepared for pure sand, but what we found in the Nevada desert was more plant life than expected.  The route also involved more elevation changes than I imagined.  There were four summits rising from the high plateau.  The highest of which was the Austin Summit at 7490 feet.  I had no idea the interior of Nevada was at this elevation.  The positive effect of this was that the temperature was very moderate and comfortable despite the sunny blue skies.  Teare spotted an owl on the road, we also spotted antelope, horses on the open range, and numerous magpies.  At one point we pulled over next to a sea of what appeared to be lavender.  We stopped in Austin at a throwback cafe and bought a cold drink for the road.

Beyond Cold Springs, Teare spotted white sand up ahead and we were both surprised to see a mountain of sand north of the highway.  We pulled in to discover Sand Mountain & Recreation area.  There was a huge parking lot full of RV's, trucks and cars.  There were several trailers with ATV's in various stages of unloading and the pure white mountain had several ATV's racing up and down its slopes.  We also noticed a huge lizard on a building at the recreation area.  As we were leaving, we passed by an original Pony Express stop as we continued our journey west.

The map indicated that the Fallon Naval Target Range of the US Air Force was immediately to our south...we did not stop there...  We did pull in to see what we could see at the Fallon Naval Air Station, better known as the location of the Top Gun school for fighter pilots.  Of course it was sealed up tight but we had to give it a look just in case we might spot a fighter jet.  We stopped in Fallon for lunch and took a break from the lonely highway.  We noted that even the little towns like Ely and Fallon had casinos.  In both cases, MULTIPLE casinos...

Our final leg was from Fallon to Reno.  We listened to The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albon the entire trip across Nevada.  We were so engrossed in the story, we missed our exit for our hotel in Reno!  Reno is a bustling city, even on a Sunday afternoon.  We finally located our hotel and were happy to take a break from the road.  Our entire trip took eight hours with more than a few stops for photos, food and attractions.

We went to dinner in Reno and came back to call it a day.  We survived the Lonely Highway and have one state to go!  Don't worry, I still have a few Twizzlers left...