Silver Queen Motel Tonopah

... the use of deadly force etc. "Cammo Dudes" monitor the comings and goings down the tracks; you can spot them parked up watching you with binoculars. There are listening stations made to look like trees, and motion sensors in the roads, all very spooky! We got buzzed by a Black Hawk helicopter as we stood by the gates during our first visit in 2003, most scary!

We continued on our way, having failed yet again to spot a UFO. Lyn was ...

... the line to get in was never ending.  Since we were high on the 18th floor, the views facing the Lake were beautiful and serene!  Afterwards, the gamblers' had one last itch to win big.  By the time we hit the road, I was in a daze.  I was so congested I couldn't hear a thing!  We'll be back because we have try out that Zip Line!  Thanks to Marita and Buster for the place to stay.  Till next time....Happy Birthday Phillip!!!!

... deduco per farci andare piu' piano :D All'arrivo a Tonopah dopo essermi fermato al general store mi trovo dietro la macchina dello sceriffo! :shock: non che stesse seguendo me o che avessi fatto qualcosa di sbagliato stava semplicemente andando per la sua strada.. non vi dico l'ansia di tenere le 25 miglia :_risata stavo con il freno a mano per non far vedere che frenavo! :_risata cmq tutto ok ;-) Domani Rachel Nevada e poi Vegas!!! :_felicissimo

... we drove down to Mono Lake, to visit the tufas. Mono Lake is 2.5 times more salty than the sea. The tufas are spires of calcium carbonate from where the fresh water bubbles through the salty lake. We all paddled, and our legs were left coated with a white powder of dried salt. From there, we had a very fast run to our next location; stopping off at Tonopah to fuel up. This journeywas one I was very excited about........

... believed, each one is very individual and and jam packed. We are staying at the MGM Grand at one end of the strip and it is huge. 5005 rooms, yes I said 5005. It has live lions in their own enclosure, and we have walked our legs off just getting round, if you dont walk thru the same door every time you end up in the completely wrong place and you have to try and work out in what part your in. The shops are unreal, and EVERY casino has there own variety ...

... They had a range in colour from a reddy brown to cream. The trail out of the canyon was incredibly steep. Switchback after switchback. You could look almost straight up and see the top. A lot of people choose to walk at least partway down here, but we only saw one other fool hiking all the way back up here. Between the elevation (which we had acclimated to for the most part and the difficulty of the hike, we ...

... special effects and 2716 quests rooms - and building more. We booked into the Bellagio which is also huge but probably not quite as good as the Wynn. The whole Las Vagas valley is so flat and vast that everything has so much space and all the casinos are built on huge areas of land with wide roads. In the afternoon we had booked to go to the Grand Canyon by helicopter. We flew in a ECO - Star helicopter with a carrying capacity of 8 including the ...

Back into Nevada, this time an old mining town called Tonopah. This is just a stop-off point really as there's nothing for hundreds of miles on the way to Death Valley (where we're headed next). We drove down Highway 375 - the Extraterrestrial Highway - and stopped off in a place called Rachel at the Little A'le'inn for a drink! This tiny burger bar / merchandise emporium is only 26 miles ...

... I head for Sacramento - a much shorter drive, altho I will have to detour around the big fire at South Lake Tahoe. My original plan was to take route 50, which goes right straight thru the fire zone. I think I'll head east and north and go around it! So this should be a test to see whose e-mail address still won't accept mail from Travelpod. Happy trails to me! Kate

... I cannot believe that we have traveled all the way across the country and that I've been in California. I'm looking forward to visiting San Francisco. PS - When I get a good internet connection, I have lots of pictures and movies to post. Here I only have 1 Mbps, meaning it would take forever to upload pictures. Hopefully in Reno or San Francisco I'll be able to get some of the over 300 pictures I've taken in the last couple of days.....