So the Great Salt Lake was a peak, which means now we're headed to the first valley of our trip. It started when we headed out of Utah, with its salt-covered plains and magnificent mountains. We knew we were entering another dimension when we stopped seeing pro-life home-schooling road signs and instead saw signs like this.
And then it all started to feel eerily foreign. Like we were entering another planet....
And it hit us...we must be traveling in "The Wendover Death Strip," known as such by the locals since it is"so monotonous, motorists have been known to doze off and not make it to their destination." Except, of course, for those jolted back to reality by...wait...what...
...catching a glimpse of artist Karl Momen's TREE OF UTAH, as we whizzed by, (click here) described as "the boldest piece of visual art to be conceived in this conservative state." Okeeey, we're awake!
For those of you who haven't been here, the Utah/Nevada border is marked by the town of Wendover, Utah on the east and West Wendover, Nevada on the west. If you cross the border in town, it looks like this (not our photo).
If you cross on the highway, you get the postcard sign, which looks like this.
Headed straight to the campground, and it was...ummm...quiet. empty. dusty. eery. hot.
But after a dinner of homemade guac and homemade chips, enjoyed a pretty sunset on this infernal hot dusty night. Did we mention how hot it was?
Left early the next morning hoping to get to a town that was less dusty, a little cooler, more habitated, with fewer casinos. We landed in Winnemucca, Nevada, at a campground that felt just as eery, hot, desolate, and pointless. We spent the entire day in the air-conditioned party room. And there was no party. No pictures from Winnemucca. Not happy campers.
But we did spend a good part of the night looking up the difference between the Chicken Ranch and the Bunny Ranch. Mark explained how they were different brands, like McDonald's and Burger King. Here's the Wikipedia listing on Winnemucca:
Winnemucca
Winnemucca's brothels were concentrated in a single cul-de-sac called The Line. There was parking for about 80 trucks, and the truck drivers were offered free showers & coffee.[63]
Cozy Corner Brothel[57] - This brothel was refurbished in 2000.[63] It closed in the winter of 2005 and reopened in the summer of 2006 as the Wild West Saloon.[64]
My Place Bar and Brothel (formerly Irene's Combination Bar; closed and demolished)[65]
Paradise Cafe - This was also a strip club, the prostitutes also performing the striptease.[63]
Pussycat Ranch - -It has also been known as Pussycat Saloon and Pussycat Brothel. It was built in 1839 as a saloon.[63] It is now closed and demolished[66]
Simones de Paris - Simones reopened in 2001 and featured a Jacuzzi.[63] It is now closed[65] and was demolished in 2008.[5]
Villa Joy Brothel[66] - This was the largest brothel in Winnemucca. It had a strip club attached, the Paradise Cafe.[63]
While there didn't seem to be any prostitutes in our campground, we weren't entirely on our own. The Mormon Crickets kept us company. Ahhhh, THAT'S why the streets are stained with dark red blotches.
Another hot, miserable night. So again we rise early and get the hell outta Winnemucca. On the outskirts, we were treated to yet another bizarre artistic feat/Indian monument/bottle house/hippy commune called Thunder Mountain (click here) on the outskirts of Winemucca (Drive slow, it's just past the dispensary sign on route 80. So serious.). Mark swears this place could be the backdrop for the hippy scenes in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."
Our photos...the one that's hard to read actually explains the Sweat House (a la Jim Jones).
Okay enough of these creepy dusty towns. Stopped in Lovelock, Nevada for our weekly A-Team Zoom call and had a lovely stroll around this town that featured a gazebo in a park surrounded by garlands of locks with lovers names on them.
Love is in the air! Let's head to RENO and renew our vows at the Arch of Reno Wedding Chapel!! Don't get too excited. We took one look at it and BOTH got cold feet because Reno is disgusting and we were hating Nevada.
Making our way to Tahoe. Too bad we have to leave Nevada so soon. We never even got to drive the Extra-terrestrial Highway.
OMG sounds dreadful. Good thing this was 3 weeks in and not in your first week!!!! Have you changed your mind about the ride home? Can't wait to hear about the reunion with your kids. It will all be worth it. Make sure you take of the pics of naked ladies from Winnemucca off of your phone!