Westward Ho! Day 6

Bonanza!

When I was a kid I loved to watch Bonanza (or Ponderosa, depending on if you were watching it in syndication or not). The classic 1960's Western had me dreaming of spending my days riding my horse through the mountains and valleys near Virginia City, Nevada. Truthfully, though, in my mind I was actually the horse, happily munching on Sagebrush and Juniper.

That dream came true today, though my horse was a Harley and we didn't eat much Sage and Juniper, though there was plenty to be found.

We arrived in Virginia City early in the morning. Too early in fact because nothing was open. Still, the short tour was enough to live up to my dream.

I could just see Little Joe Cartwright walking down the street with his brother Hoss (even though I realize now that “Virginia City” in the series was a back lot of some studio, but still…)

Coming down the mountain from Virginia City, we stopped at a gas station to fill up the tank. The owner told us about some of the local attractions, including the PaughCo factory just a block away. 

Along with manufacturing motorcycle accessories, they had a nice collection of vintage Harleys.

Back on the road we headed across Nevada on Highway 50. It was dubbed the "Loneliest Road In America" by Life magazine back in the ‘80s, because of its straight, desolate demeanor.

The magazine was right. 

It was straight

And desolate.

But the road has its own beauty and the straight road was a welcome change after a week in the mountains.

It was fascinating to be able to see beautiful desert for miles and miles, smell the sage being mowed along side the road and watch the wind ship up dust devils miles away.

The highway followed the original Pony Express Trail. Every couple hours we’d drive through a town, most left over from the silver and gold mining days.

Along the road, we met Jim, who was taking a break from the heat and wind by the side of the road.

Jim had just retired and was spending a couple months out on the road, seeing the country on his motorcycle. He’s also an author and we look forward to checking out his travel guides to the Eastern Canadian Provinces (for a future adventure, of course).

At the end of Highway 50 was the Nevada Hotel where we stopped for a late prime rib lunch. It’s famous for attracting celebrities like Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart from back in the day.

We were within a couple hours of our destination of Wendover, UT. It was a relief to get checked in and into our room. Since we didn't want to go out and explore the town, we settled for making a $1.00 investment in the video poker machine which gave us about three hours of entertainment and numerous free beers.

Day 1 - 603 miles
Day 2 - 768 miles
Day 3 - 510 miles
Day 4 - 400 miles
Day 5 - 368 miles
Day 6 - 484 miles