Twin Falls was a ‘go to’ place on the map and it didn’t disappoint with the amazing waterfalls. These feats of nature tumble into the gorge along which we happily wandered following the footpath.
It was a beautiful hot day & the silence was only disturbed by sequential gunfire. This potentially was a little troubling until we discovered it was the local police firearms practice range.
Evel Kninevil
The other interesting discovery was that this is where the legendary Evil Kinevil attempted some of his bike stunts. I remember as a child the UK press coverage of the various stunts attempted by him. So stumbling across this was an unexpected bonus.
Scaling the front of the ramp like a mountain goat I realised to my chagrin that I could have easily nipped up the smooth ramp at the back!
Ely Again
The drive to Ely was long & involved meandering between state borders to end up in Nevada. We drove into an area where wild fire raged on the hills where the smoke was so thick it blanked out the bright blue sky.
It was as fascinating as it was horrific so we did what only British people do in the face of such adversity which was to stop & brew some tea! The sky was orange & cast a strange glow over everything including this derelict collection of buildings.
It was a touch of the ‘ ground hog ‘ day for me in Ely having stayed there earlier in the year with my daughter. It was a natural break point en-route for Bend that had us turning off at Eureka.
Sadly this was too brief a visit to dig for Rubies or ride the ghost train again. However it was a great place to kick start our bid to survive highway 50 or ‘ the loneliest road’
Stamp Collectors
Armed with the booklet & lots of stamps to collect in it. The following day we set off in search of the towns along the route that counted towards our goal.
It meant we stopped in some odd places including a casino which we ventured into. With a self imposed limit of $10 we weren’t likely to bankrupt ourselves & for a few minutes we experienced the heady trill of the machines of chance.
I lost all mine but hey it was fun & apart from the near confiscation of my phone all was good. Lesson learned not to film in a casino!
Highway 50
Highway 50 is as you can see quite a long & lonely road indeed. Although to be fair we did travel on some roads could also have been considered equally as long & felt a great deal more isolated during our adventure.
Use link to find out more about the Loneliest Road challenge
Still we were on a quest & as the miles rolled we were optimistic that we would get our certificate & badge as planned.
John Wayne
We stopped at one place for a coffee & I was captivated by a small plaque. On it was a John Wayne quote that seemed apt. So this was duly purchased & hung in Bertha for the rest of the way.
I see it daily on the wall in my office & it evokes memories of those wide empty spaces.
It was a long old drive that day & we had only had a rough idea of where the wild camp sites would be. As the stamps increased in the booklet the light started to fade & panic set in over where & we would park up for the night.