Day #15—Clown Motel, Tonopah, NV--Monday, June 6, 2011

I had a 348 mile day today so was up and out at first light. First time I’d taken the tent down with no wind to hamper me. What a breeze. Ha ha. I was actually looking forward to a do-nothing day—no hikes, no tents, no nuttin that I “had” to see.

Wasn’t long before I caught 15 N to Cedar City. This is a four-lane highway with a speed limit of 75 mph. How different from the steep twisty two-lanes I’ve been traveling for two weeks. I tuned in a Sirius XM classical station and enjoyed driving fast and direct. (Forgot to mention earlier that when I was entering the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I was listening to this same station and they were playing Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite.”) 

I stopped at a McDonald’s in Cedar City and picked up an egg biscuit for breakfast. Then I enjoyed the drive west on Hwy 56 into Nevada. One drives from mountains across a plains and then up over another layer of mountains and mesas to drop down to another plain or valley. Much of the country is open range with cattle guards across the road, so after a bit of solitary driving (virtually no one was on the road) I began wondering the purpose of these cattle guards. Since there were no fences extending out from many of the guards, the cattle could walk along beside the road, cross the road, and continue on in any direction, or they could simply walk along the road past the cattle guard. Twice I slowed because cattle were grazing near the road or on it. Maybe the rancher bought out his neighbor and extended his grazing area.

Along Hwy 9W out of Zion, I came upon a shoe tree. I do not know what seed starts a shoe tree, but there are two of them on the America by Bicycle northern route, so this was not the first I’d come across. The tree was festooned with athletic shoes. Later this day I would come across another in Nevada. Photo below from the Internet, I think.

When I got to Caliente, workers were busy building a large Railroad Park in town. Caliente mean’s “hot” in Spanish, and Caliente, of course, was the site of a natural hot springs and mineral baths. The town has potential but hasn’t got it together yet, despite its mission style RR station.

In one place along the route, ground squirrels and rats skittered across the road quite frequently. I was thinking that with so much available food, there should be hawks in the vicinity. Then I thought, nah, there are no trees to perch on or nest in. Just as I had this thought, a hawk rose from the scrub with a mouse or small ground squirrel in its mouth. I was driving too fast to positively id the hawk—the only one I saw all day—but now wonder what species it was.

When I entered Hwy 375—The Extraterrestrial Highway—at its south end, there was a sign that read, “No gas for the next 150 miles.” But there was no gas station. Fine with me, the Prius still had four bars (gallons) and was getting 49.8 mpg. Within a few miles, I was down to three bars. Trouble. I must have been at the bottom of that fourth gallon. I pulled into Tonopah with my gas light blinking and beeping. Filled the 10-gallon tank with 9.62 gallons of gas.

I didn’t see any extraterrestrials on Hwy 375 but off to the right ahead of the car I did see a large, pure white sand dune, the sand shimmering and fuzzy in the blowing wind. Wait. That’s not a sand dune but a lake reflecting the moving clouds. But it was neither. I’d seen my first mirage. It kept moving away from me as I drove and eventually disappeared.

Sign off Hwy 375 (The Extraterrestrial Highway): Golden Arrow, 12; Silver Bow, 34. I can’t remember the distances, so I’ve made them up. The town names are authentic though. The last miles into Tonopah are on Hwy 6, a.k.a. Grand Army of the Republic Highway. Huh? I also saw and photographed another shoe tree. I think maybe high school kids travel to these shoe trees and throw a pair up into it at graduation. Someday I will learn the mystery behind the trees.

A mile or so out of Tonopah, as I was climbing a mountain on a curving two-lane road, from the curve above came three police cars, lights flashing. One zipped past me, the second aimed right for me (what the?) and the third pulled up in front of me (I’d stopped by this time), and then came alongside. 
“What’s the trouble officer?” 
“Back up, back up! You’ve got to back up. There’s a wide load coming.” 

I was on a mountain curve at the guardrail and the officer wanted me to back down the curving mountain to a dirt pullout? Moi? I am a lousy backer as I cannot turn my neck well and cannot back using the rearview mirror like many men can. But, I did my panicky best, and the police car stayed beside me. Just as the guardrail ended and I ducked onto the dirt shoulder, around the curve came the biggest oversized load I’ve ever seen. It took up virtually both lanes. There were three oversized dump-type trucks in front and four in back. In the middle was an enormous cylinder on what must have been thirty small wheels on each side. I really caught only a fleeting glimpse of it as it was coming down the mountain fast and I was preoccupied with backing and the police car beside me. Now I really want to know what it was.

A comparable photo from the Internet, but my oversized load was preceded and followed by huge yellow dump trucks

Later, when talking to Sarah, we laughed about it’s being a space craft or another type of A-bomb that they were trucking down Extraterrestrial Highway to the Nevada proving grounds. 

Photos of the Clown Motel, its lobby, and the door to my room. I never did find out the story behind the motel’s décor because when I asked the woman who registered me, she replied abruptly, “I have no idea. I only work here.” I forgot to ask the owner the next day before I left.

The lobby

My room