August 14, 2013 Day –thirty-six

Great Basin National Park,  Las Vegas NV

Dick was up early to watch the sun as it worked its way down the mountains into the aspen trees.  He so enjoyed soaking up the last bit of mountains before we return to CA.  Great Basin Park was really a gem of a stop.  The drive down off the mountain was beautiful, watching the changes in the types of trees and the views form the “sky-island.”

We headed down towards Vegas on a highway known as the Great Basin Highway, US 93.  The drive was quite relaxing, as we were generally the only car within sight. Dick enjoyed being able to keep looking back and see Mt. Wheeler for nearly 80 miles, still glimpsing the high peak.

We made a stop at an old mining town, Pioche.  Now it has about 600 people, but in the late 1870’s nearly 10,000 people lived there as the rush for silver was in full swing.  Once the mining played out, the miners went to the next hot spot.  We stopped at The Overland Hotel, with an old ornately carved wooden bar that had been shipped going around Cape Horn to get here.   New owners are restoring the hotel to its former glory.  We were impressed with all that we were able to see.

We also visited the million-dollar courthouse, with a museum there.  The courthouse didn’t actually cost that much originally to build, but got caught up in some shady dealings and bonds that didn’t get applied to pay off the loan.  And the strike played out so most people left.  When it was finally paid off in the 1930’s, with interest, it ended up costing nearly a million dollars.  A nice woman gave us a tour of the courthouse.  We also got a copy of a promo cd for the Highway 93 area, and entertained ourselves the rest oft the way driving to Vegas by hearing stories and history of the tiny towns and mines that were so important to Northeastern Nevada.  The Pony Expressed rode through this area, as well as the transcontinental railroad, and important stagecoach routes.  This was pretty interesting to hear about.

One stop we made for lunch was at Cathedral Gorge State park.  This was a smaller version of Bryce Canyon, with the same type of rock formations.  The Mormons used this canyon to put on bible pageants in earlier times.  The heat, now nearly 100 degrees made it less inviting to do some hiking down in the canyon, but it was a lovely stop.

Coming into Vegas was a shock to our systems.  Traffic, heat (104), and too many people, made us long for the mountains that we had just come from.  We made a quick stop to see if there were any show tickets that drew us for the evening, but nothing really sounded good, especially for the money.

We checked into our resort hotel.  It was huge and fairly impersonal, although very nice.  We decided to cool off for a bit, then head down to the strip for a buffet dinner.   We ended up at a very nice Seafood and Sushi buffet at Planet Hollywood.  We were pretty sure it was authentic in quality as ¾ of the patrols were Asian, many not speaking English.  The food was plentiful and tasty, ending with crepes made to order and chocolate dipped strawberries.  We weren’t going to get those camping in Great Basin National Park, so some good advantages to the City.

We decided to not stroll around longer on the strip since it was still nearly 100 degrees, we don’t gamble, and it was too crowded.  Instead, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the “lazy river” floating on our inner tubes.  The water was just the right temperature for cooling off.

One more night and ready to head for home.

“...I had always believed that I left a bit of me wherever I went. I also believed that I took a bit of every place with me. I never felt that more than with this trip. It was as if the act of touching these places, walking these roads, and asking these questions had added another column to my being. And the only possible explanation I could find for that feeling was that a spirit existed in many of the places I visited, and a spirit existed in me and the two had somehow met in the course of my travels. It's as if the godliness of the land and the godliness of my being had fused.”
― Bruce Feiler