10/31 Some Random Photos Driving Through Nevada

A lot of people think Nevada is boring because so much of it is "bare" desert, except that desert is never completely bare and the mountains and valleys, even an occasional lake, presents some unique scenery.

I am headed to Las Vegas to spend a new weeks at a couple of my favorite places, but there are two ways to get from Oregon to Las Vegas.  The first is driving on I-5 through California and making a left turn at the bottom of the Sierra Mountains past Bakersfield.  The other, which I prefer, is to take the two-lane U.S. 395 from Susanville in the far northeast of California to Reno and then drive on along the east side of the Sierra Mountains.  This requires cutting west from Reno along I-80 and then exiting onto U.S. 95 at Fernley, NV.  This route takes you through Fallon, Hawthorne, Luning, Tonapah, Goldfield, Beatty, Amarosa Valley, and finally arriving at Las Vegas. 

Besides the scenery, the drive along U.S. 95 has little traffic, which is a positive.  A negative is that gas stations can be 50-60 miles apart, so you have to watch your gas gauge.  There also aren't too many RV parks, but I managed to stay nights at Hawthorne and Amargosa. 

Here are a few of the photos I took along the way, over three days of driving. Note the empty roads!!

 

I noticed this lake, Lake Walker, in the distance, so I pulled over.  The water level was very low, but it was late afternoon and the sun was shining just right on the calm water.

Perfect reflection!!

 

Nice place to stop for a break.  I tend to take a half-hour or longer break after about two hours of driving.  This was a nice place to rest and take some photos of the lake. 

 

 

 

So, what are all these buildings far into the distance??

 

 

 

 

Ah!  This explains it.  This is a depot where ammunition and such things are stored.  Good place to store stuff in the desert since there are not a lot of people around.