Nevada - Day 26 - the road to Reno

Reno KOA at Boomtown, Verdi

Tuesday, 26 April 2022

On our 2nd walk this morning (the first was in pitch dark because Austin isn't using street lights (maybe to conserve money due to dwindling population), we found this reminder of the town's historic past.

Gridley Store
(see plaques enlarged below)

And just for my memory, and in case you're curious, I took a photo of the Austin Baptist Church, our hosts.

Austin Baptist Church

This is the sign on the side of the church building.
I'm really curious what they had in mind when they posted this.

today's route

US-50, the highway that's the main street in Austin and the road we took on our way to Reno, is called The Loneliest Road in America.  I was curious where it got that name and looked it up.  US-50 runs from Sacramento to Ocean City in Maryland, and crosses a lot of land that "civilization" hasn't bothered yet.  It's apparently these remote regions that gave rise to the road's name.

I thought maybe it was the amount of traffic on the road, and I counted vehicles as I drove.  Between Austin and almost to Fallon, in more than 100 miles, I counted 17 oncoming and 4 going my way.  There were plenty of times when I could see for miles - once I clocked it: 9.5 miles ahead of me and at least a couple of miles behind me.  And there were no vehicles in sight in that distance.  Still, there were enough that I didn't worry about not having help if I broke down.

The road again crossed the "Pony Express Trail 1860 - 1861."

The road took me across more mountain summits: Mt. Airy Summit, elev. 6,679'; New Pass Summit, elev. 6,348'; Drumm Summit, elev. 4,600'; Sand Springs Pass, elev. 4,644'.  That's a drop of 2,000'.  In case you forgot, Austin sits at 6,785'.  A real change.  (And all these elevation changes have caused none of the extreme dizziness I experienced when I was in New Mexico, once again confirming that it wasn't caused by altitude sickness.)

I passed signs saying I could turn left to go to "Earthquake Faults" and "Fairview Peak" and "Earthquake Peaks."  As far as I could glean from information I found online, in 1954 Nevada had a series of severe earthquakes that resulted in a noticeable change in topography (mountains rose and streambeds changed, e.g.) as well as a lot of damage to property (not much to people, fortunately), even as far away as Sacramento.  

It turns out that Nevada sits on quite a few fault lines and, as a result, is the 3rd most seismically active state in the US (behind CA and Alaska).  I'm guessing that fact helps explain why Nevada has more mountain ranges than any other state.  The National Park Service says a fault lies at the base of almost every mountain range here.  I had no idea.

I passed a sign saying turn right to the US Navy Centroid Facility.  Never having heard the word "centroid," I had trouble finding anything online to explain it.  The closest I found was this very strange article that isn't complimentary of the Navy, but may still be accurate, for all I know.   http://www.newsnet1.com/electricnevada.com/topgun2

After passing the left turn for the "B17 Naval Range," I came to Sand Springs Pass, elev. 4,644', followed by what appeared to be a seriously dried up lake - a very large area that seemed to go on for miles.  There were no signs to tell me what it was, I can't figure it out from the AAA map, and I can't find anything online.  So maybe it actually is a big dried up lake.

By this time we were all past ready for a break, and when I noticed what looked like a rest area on the right, I turned in quickly.  Not exactly a rest area, but instead Grimes Point Archaeological Area, that protects petroglyphs from as far back as 2,500 years ago.

historical marker - message
enlarged below right

There were some exhibits explaining what's here and why it matters.

see details below

some of the petroglyphs

see illustration below

The captions read:
- On this spot 10,000 years ago, you would have been standing under water.
- By about 5,000 years ago, Lake Lahontan had receded significantly, leaving
Grimes Point as a peninsula and exposing what is now known as Hidden Cave.
- By about 1,000 years ago, little was left of the once great Lake Lahontan.  You can see
the remnants of this ancient lake today at Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake.

And this is where they think Lake Lahontan
extended during the Ice Age.

Scientists believe this area, Grimes Point, emerged from Lake Lahontan first as a peninsula.  The display at left says it was marshland then.  Take a look at the land behind the historical marker above and see the desert that marsh has become.

Back on the road, we came once more to Fallon, "Oasis of Nevada," remember?  We passed a factory labeled Harvest Hero, which I learned online is a company that makes soil additives and things for gardeners to use to grow vegetables.

Fallon was followed by the towns of Hazen and Fernley - and all of them had casinos.  In this state, you're only as far from a chance to gamble as the nearest patch of civilization.

I saw a Nevada license plate that said: SEPT 12.  Do you suppose it's a reference to the day after 9/11?  Or maybe a reminder of a wedding anniversary (that's one way not to forget)? 

I had some errands to run in Reno and passed a Burger King that said they were hiring staff.  The sign said they were offering a free meal for those completing a job application.

One of my stops was at Camping World.  Two or three days ago the latch on one of my drawers broke; I usually keep extras because they break often (everybody told me this, and it's true) but I didn't have any in the RV.  This time I was luckier than in previous latch breaks, because the drawer was the big one I use to store tools and odds & ends - your basic kitchen junk drawer but also including all my tools.  The heavy contents keep it from sliding around as freely as the drawer with silverware, for instance, but it still slides.  And it's right by the dog beds between the 2 front seats.  Yesterday I had to make a sharp turn and it slid out right in front of Gracie's nose and scared her, poor thing.

So Camping World, which is supposed to have everything, didn't have any version of these drawer latches, which are a standard item I've found all over.  They suggested I try the business just down the street.  That's who had these latches, and I bought 2 extra to keep on hand.

I also picked up refills for my blood pressure meds and dropped off the recycling I'd accumulated since I left Las Vegas (how can I have come up with so much in just a few days?).  Stocked up on groceries and drove down the highway a few more miles to the KOA I stayed at when I first came to Nevada.