Nevada
West Wendover, Nevada was a “rest” stop. We drove through Nevada and stopped in Wendover, Utah which is right on the border. I stood on the border with my left foot in Utah and my right foot in Nevada. However, it was quite interesting. I think the only reason why the town exists if because of gambling. That’s okay, all towns need a reason to thrive.
Ely, Nevada (pronounced E-Lee)
We stayed at the Best Western across from a beautiful park where
we walked in the evenings after our days touring the area. The people there
were friendly and pleasant to be around.
We stopped at the Visitor’s bureau in Ely and spent some time chatting and visiting. We left feeling satisfied and happy with the suggestions we received. We were armed with a handful of great information from Meg and followed through with her recommendations.
On one of the nights we stayed in Ely we dined at the Silver
State restaurant. Amy was our server and she was right on target. Great service
and great food.
http://www.elynevadaonline.com/Silver_State_Restaurant.html
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Silver-State-Restaurant/211200802276344
Nevada Northern Railway
The Nevada Northern Railway has train rides on a steam locomotive. A few of the tours are theme based where you may be able to enjoy a Wild West show, dinner, or a haunted ghost train ride. We took a tour of the shop where it is a functioning shop with machinists and mechanics repair and maintain the trains. The museum was closed both times we were there and were not able to see it.
We took the Wild West Limited with an entertaining skit that everyone enjoyed.
We spoke with one of the employees, Wally, who was a retired
nurse and now volunteered to work on the train. He was absolutely awesome,
patiently answering all of our questions. There was a couple from
southeast Texas, Jaive and Mary, that we had a wonderful visit with talking
about several topics including antique cars.
Copper mining is still a big industry in the Ely area. We could see the trucks dumping their loads from a distance. It was fascinating watching them back to the edge and drop everything into a mountain of dirt. We had mixed emotions. We understand what the detriments of mining but those mountains of dirt and soil that the trucks were dumping had multitudes of different colors in them and it was a beautiful sight.
Lane City is a ghost town about three miles from Ely. We walked through the area. There’s a church and several homes and a handful of mine shacks where the miners stayed while they worked their mine claims.
Renaissance Village in Ely
We had a general idea of where the village was located but had a few wrong turns before we found it. When we arrived we learned that it was closed and was open on Saturdays only.
Historic Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall
Walking into the Hotel Nevada is like walking into a museum. There are displays, memorabilia, and relics around every corner and on every wall. Dinner was delicious and the service was just as grand. We did gamble but don’t hold your breath to hear about our winnings. We didn’t spend that much and didn’t expect to win anything.
We missed the White Pine County Public Museum. If you can stop by and check it out.
Garnet Hill
We went up to Garnet Hill and decided to do some scouring of the area. We dug around, broke some rocks and wasn’t having much luck. A family from a nearby town was up at the top with their children and showed us what to look for and the easiest ways to find them. Once I knew what to look for I found a couple. One of the teenagers came over to me and handed me one she had found. It was a pretty good size stone, a very dark stone with glimmers of dark red. I congratulated her on her findings and handed it back. The girl said for me to keep it, she will always have a chance to find more and I was just visiting. I was thrilled and gave her a good healthy hug.
After the family left, my husband found a few more and we were happy. We found our gems. Just as we were leaving another couple pulled up and asked if we had any luck. The couple were from California and enjoyed coming to Garnet Hill especially after it rained. We soon learned that after it rains, Garnet Hill is easy pickings.
Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park
This park is mainly used for hiking and has some tables for
picnicking. However, one of the unique features is the beehive shaped
structures they have near the entrance. The structures were used as ovens to
produce charcoal from pinyon pine. The charcoal was used for smelter for the
gold mines at Ward. The coned-shape kilns were very large, thirty feet tall and
twenty seven feet in diameter. There are a few still standing.
Willow Creek Trading Post and General Store
Located near the Ward Ovens, we stopped by the trading post. We purchased a few things and had a great conversation with the family who runs the business. They had buffalo on the backside of their property and gave us permission to go over there and see them. They also sell buffalo burgers or will sell live buffalo, and meat by the pound or whole.
http://bristlecone89318.tripod.com/buffalo.html
Cave Lake State Park
Cave Lake is a short jaunt from Ely. The park allows hiking, fishing, camping, picnicking, and fishing. The lake was breathtaking…and cold.
There are trails for hiking and warnings. There are predator animals there like mountain lions, and bobcats, etc. There were mixed emotions on my part. I wanted to see a mountain lion but would prefer it to be a very distant sighting. We saw many different birds, a few deer tracks but did not see any other large animals.
Leaving Ely we drove to Great Basin National Park but didn’t
stay for very long.
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