In the last post I wrote that we drove until dark and then kept going. We didn't have a plan about where we'd stop and Dan just kept driving. (By the way, when I say that "we" drove I mean that Dan drove and I rode. I used to offer to drive but I don't bother anymore on our trips. Dan likes to do the driving and that's fine with me, since I'd rather be watching the scenery and napping when I get tired.) Eventually, somewhere in eastern Nevada, Dan got too sleepy and pulled over. We didn't try to stretch out in the back of the truck but slept in the front. After an hour or two I got too cold and uncomfortable (and bothered by someone snoring) and switched places with Dan so I could drive. When I got too tired and pulled over we both slept awhile until he recovered enough to go on.

The view when I woke up next.

Have you noticed that the Open Range signs in many places have cattle that look like dairy cows? The Open Range signs in Nevada show what looks like bulls.

Even along Highway 50 in Nevada there are Points of Interest.

It's hard to see in this photo but there are remnants of a stone building surrounded by cyclone fence. One of the signs at Cold Springs (between Austin and Fallon) described The Overland Stage Station: "Constructed using the volcanic lava rock found throughout the area, the Cold Springs Stage Station was built in 1861. The original Pony Express Station was built 1-1/2 miles to the east of here in 1860. When the stage station was erected the Pony Express moved its operation to this building...Life at Cold Springs was not for the timid. The 2 to 3 man station crew endured the barest, leanest forms of living. They ate, lived, and slept in this crude structure for months at a time. Floors, when dry, were dirt and when wet, they were mud. Sanitary facilities were primitive. The handmade furniture was crude and utilitarian at best. There were no luxuries, only the necessities of life: food, water, and a firearm for protection."

Additional signs explained the quick progression of communication and transportation milestones that occurred here between 1860 and 1927--the Pony Express in 1860, then the Overland Stage in 1861, telegraph in 1861, (dooming the Pony Express), and eventually the creation of Highway 50.

Here is one more sign. This one is provided by Trails West whose "primary activity is installing, and maintaining, distinctive steel-rail “T” markers along the many emigrant trails leading to California and publishing guide books to enable anyone to follow these trails from beginning to end." They have placed over 600 markers along 2000 miles of trails.

Putting my iPhone in my pocket it took this photo.

 

Way back in this post I mentioned a Shoe Tree. Here is another west of Cold Springs. This one is even marked in our map book and described in this internet article.

Not to be a spoil-sport, but I'm not a big fan.  Sure, it is a curiosity and, in this case, a landmark, but I think I'd rather just admire a nice tree growing in the desert. To me it brings to mind the question is graffiti artwork or vandalism?

Sand Mountain is a 2-mile long, 6oo' high sand dune that is 20 miles east of Fallon and is the site of another Pony Express Station.

Impressive house in Fallon...

..and an auto repair shop featuring a NAVY jet out front (representing Fallon Naval Air Station).

Seen on the highway and reminiscent of a twill pattern in weaving.

Just past Fallon, we left Highway 50, as it headed southwest, to get on I-80 toward Reno...

...and, eventually, home.

California! Only about 2-1/2 hours to home.

We drove about 2800 miles on this trip. It's marked in pink. Our 2015 trip to Texas is in blue. Orange is to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone in 2014 and Green was to Grand Canyon and beyond in 2013. Where to next year?