End II

Well, we've all parted ways, said our goodbyes, and shared hugs (except for Lucy, she apparently doesn't do the soppy goodbye hug thing) and i guess I'm the only one willing to write a conclusion, really, I just need this for closure. For me, this trip had a much more comfortable ending than the previous one. My life is much less up in the air and I have some truly solid goals that I'm in the middle of fulfilling. I'm sure it's similar for Julian. Lucy sounds like she is happily returning to her chaotic life refreshed after a western adventure, and Erin seems like she might just need some help coming up with a business name.
I return to normal life with possibly a more exploratory spirit and a solid hatred of GMC vehicles. With this trip under my belt I really feel that I've seen a good portion of our country. Well, at least I've hit some major sections.
Over and out.
-K

Wilbert the Burro

So today we drove south and west, to the edge of death valley, exploring some ghost towns on the way - goldfield, lida, palmetto, gold point, rhyolite - and ended up at beatty, nevada. Me and ada dumped Eva and Di at the Atomic Inn (sweetest motel ever) since Eva has the plague and Di is a pussy, and drove straight into the wilderness up titus canyon road. Titus canyon is not for pussies or the sick, only for the stupid (me) or the fearless (ada). After 12 miles, we made it to the peak of the canyon and agreed that driving down INTO the canyon in the dark and trying to get back out was too stupid and scary even for us. Which turned out to be smart, since once we got back to town, the locals said - "oh no, you can't drive BACK the way in. That's impossible. You have to drive out through california." Oh. Well FUCK YOU NEVADA, WE COULD HAVE DIED. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT EARLIER? We saw a wild burro on the way, which I love. His name is Wilbert.

Then we picked up puss face (di) and went to the bar in Beatty. The very first person we met was a old dude (cowbody jim) who did cowbody shootout "renactments" who I bonded with after he told me about his dad shooting rats in the house after I mentioned picking up shells from my kitchen floor. (Arman does the same). THEN some dude came over to join him and  we got to talking about Ada's desire to take pictures of the brothels scattered all over. He (chris) goes "oh, you can come on over and take pictures at the pink lady right here" - which he is authorized to do, since he works security there and his SISTER manages it. Though the thought of hiring your brother to do security in your brothel is super creeptastic in all sorts of ways, it didn't stop me from quizzing him about how brothels work (it's very disapointing). Also, Jim, Chris and another Jim who Ada met, told us that Wilbert the burro LOVES doritos and will run up to you if he sees the bag, so I have some doritos now to feed him in the morning.

We decided we were hungry and I needed to see some dogs, so we went to the chili place next door to the bar and sat down at a table with some strangers. The resident dog didn't like me, so I turned my attention to the strangers. They are hot air balloon operators. For serious. I saw their website. And we have their card. They also told us that every year, the state rounds up the wild burros and adopts them out and shoots the rest, so I am going to adopt Wilbert and ride him home.

Beth/Lucy

Being in the middle of nowhere: guest post by Julian

As a very strongly-identified city person, this trip is blowing my mind every day. We drove for about 2 1/2 hours each way to get from Tonopah, NV to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, where they had both a ghost mining town AND the fossilized skeleton of an icthyosaur. We had podcasts on, but I was unable to focus on them at all because all I could do was stare at the mountains. Nevada is full of different mountain ranges. They each have different characters - some are full of trees, and some are desolate. Some are snow-covered, some are mostly brown dirt. Some are huge and have sharp peaks, some look more curved. Some have obviously been mined, with huge slices cut out of them. The roads run straight and lonely between them and twist through them. They are not all the same kind of lonely. Route 50 is called "The Loneliest Road in America" and it was on this road that we passed through my favorite non-ghost town so far, Eureka NV. However, the state routes leading to Berlin-Ichthyosaur were far lonielier. Except for one person coming from the semi-ghost town of Ione, we didn't see anyone else.

I don't know if any of my photos of the desolation or the mountains even come close to doing justice to what it feels like to be there.

Last night we visited the ghost town of Belmont by moonlight (as described by Kelly a few posts back). The moon was so huge and bright, we didn't even need our flashlights. No photo could capture the moon either.

The photos can, however, capture some of the structures we've seen so far. Here are some from Berlin and Candelaria.

I love you, icthyosaur

I overdid it yesterday running down a mountain in thigh-high snow at 4 degrees and 7000 ft, enough with the bone-dry air already. But we persevere. Cough syrup haze, beautiful day, actual ghost towns, debates over gastrointestinal ettiquette, snowy snow, icthyosaur fossils - prehistoric reptilian whale, rocks, caves, lichens, the most amazing mountain road views, pb&j assembly line, in bed by 8 with the zquil stuff. Berlin, Icthysaur SP, Ione, Calandaria and again in Tonopah, where if you barter for a lower room rate, you pay in towels and tp. Sleeeepy sleep.

Sleeping in a bed.

I'll let you know how it goes.

The loneliest highway

I'm feeling pretty euphoric. We survived the evening. You don't understand, this was quite a feat. We drove from Ely to Tonopah today and did a fairly amazing hike to try to find a ghost town called Newark which, as it turned out, was covered in snow. being 6000 feet above sea level and thigh deep in snow eventually took it's toll and we turned around and headed back, facing an amazing view of a really beautiful valley all the way to the car. We then drove to the next town to eat lunch and plan. We museumed it up and ate mining town sized sandwiches. Deciding to make Tonopah our home base for the night we headed out just as it was getting dark. Now, getting to the harrowing part: We decided one of the really great ghost towns circled on our map (that happen to be on the way) would be way more rad at night. Roughly 30 minutes later we found ourselves 12 miles down a poorly plowed gravel road. There was no way to turn around, even if we were able to get going the other direction there would have been no way to get back up the mountain we just drove down. We had to keep going. I feel the need to mention my lack of confidence in our rented GMC good for nothing, front wheel drive, piece of shit. Erin did a terrific job of not letting it go off a cliff and for that I'm grateful. When it was realized no one was breathing, we decided to stop at a fork in the road and reassess our directions and consult the compass. It was at this time that I saw, arguably, the most beautiful scene I've ever seen. The moon lit up the entire valley, words can not describe. I did have a small chat with the cosmos on our current predicament and when I shook off the awe of the scene and reconvened with the group they had a promising direction and a new way out. Belmont (ghost town of the evening) was amazing and we made it out alive without having to seriously debate weather if we got stuck in the snow to stay in the car or walk back to keep from freezing to death in single digit temperatures. Tonight we chose the least rapey motel, though, the bathroom does looks like a future murder scene and the artwork is adhered to the wall with a screw going through the velvet canvas.

Johnny Appleseed of diarrhea.

Who is this mysterious camper? Have these public bathrooms not been cleaned since the 70s? What did you eat to get that kind of projection? These are my questions when I walk into a national campground to find the bowl, floor, and wall completely covered in shit I'm less angry, more impressed. Cheers to you buddy. I will just continue to shit in the woods.

Cave bacon

And it begins

"I'M GONNA GO OFF-ROAD HIKING!!!"
Beth

Ely

We caught up on each others' lives during the 3-hr drive by interrupting and yelling over each other and giggling. Nevada is really pretty; looking forward to seeing more of it in daylight. We bought groceries at a Mexican market and had a surprisingly tasty meal at our hotel restaurant casino. Beth lost a dollar gambling at the airport while we waited for Kelly. That was boring so no more of that. Snow on the ground and more expected tomorrow may interfere with navigation, but it's not like we have to be anywhere.

On that note, I set an alarm on my phone to remind us to return to Ely on the 30th so we know when to go home. The desert can do strange things to you. Kelly was also put in charge of knowing what day it is. The rest of us don't want to know, we just want to know that someone knows.

Beth is shown here practicing good headlamp ettiquette: when someone addresses you while you are wearing a headlamp, kindly do not turn and look at them.

New Adventure Time

A new adventure is long overdue! We picked up new travel partners and are meeting in Vegas, but Vegas sucks, or so I've heard, so we're driving north in search of old mining ghost town ruins for a week. I'm (Eva/Erin) coming from Seattle, Kelly/Di from DC and Julian/Ada and Lucy/Beth from Chicago. Julian drove through some years ago and saw some cool old ruins, and that's all I know about how this started. Originally we planned for summer, but everyone knows the best time to drive hours into mountainous desert with friends that have sketchy definitions of limits is Christmas Day. I'm particularly excited about the blistering cold because I'm a delicate PNW flower that gets freezer burn after 15 min exposure. Though I am marginally disappointed I couldn't convince everyone to camp.

SO. Driving to Ely tonight, where we will maybe actually plan the rest of the trip.
Ghosts! Towns! Rocks and minerals! Snow! Desert! Creepy motels! Beth and Ada! Snakes! Cacti! Swimming! I packed my swimsuit. And headlamp.

Also, thanks, Moms and families, for letting us go on adventure!

See you guys soon!!
<3, Eva