Today started in the most ordinary way:  Erik and I donned florescent wigs and descended to the casino floor for a little time with Lady Luck.  We perched on our vinyl stools, dropped quarters in willing slots and gave the wheels a spin.  Across the aisle a bottle-blonde never glanced our way: doing so would have caused the long, drooping ash to fall from the cigarette clenched between her lips.  We rapidly lost our $1.25 mad money and left the darkened casino for the bright Nevada sun.

I forced a brief visit to the Nevada Northern Railway (see also: Road Trip 2003) and then we headed south.  Highway 93 stretched straight, long and hard, through the Great Basin of Nevada.  The steering wheel was necessary only to compensate for the steady breeze.

Lunch arrived and so did Pioche, Nevada,  the Gayest Town in Nevada.  Pioche was once a hardened mining town featuring gun fighters, gun battles, silver ore and a big, gay benefactor.  Oh yes, this roughest of Nevada towns is named for a poofter.  It seems back in the 1860's, a Mormon missionary conned the local Native-Americans to tell him where they found a nugget of ore.  A french aristocrat from San Francisco named Francis Pioche bought several mining claims and financed the mines and mills.  Although he never set foot in the town, the residents adopted his name.  The town's official history calls Francis "the queerest actor of the American stage" who "lived with his long time business partner and friend" until Francis died.

Just south of Pioche we encounter the Spud Shop, home of the Spudnut.  The windows were shuttered and the door locked, but I was certain we'd uncovered the next Krispy Kreme.  Mmmmm....Spudnuts.

The landscape changes drastically.  The road begins to rise and we climb from 6,000 to 9,500 feet on our way from Nevada to Utah.  The wide, open basin gives way to mountains and dramatic views of Zion and beyond.  The mountains relinquish the scene to red stone mesas and deep canyons.  In each stage, the vistas are incredible and photographs fail to capture the beauty.  Go west, young man.  Then go east. 

We arrive in Kanab, Utah, just in time for the Testicle Festival.  The Testicle Festival is sponsored by a local Republican candidate by the name of John Swallow.  The menu items are indeed appetizing, but after buffalo burgers the night before (which were, in fact, beef patties shaped like buffalo), we decide to continue onward.

I note people look at us oddly each time we pull up to a gas pump, a parking space or a restaurant.  At first I considered this might be our multi-colored wigs, but then we haven't been wearing them as much since Lady Luck gave us the finger.  I realized we haven't seen another Honda Element since we left California.  People are not staring at us, but at the strangely shaped vehicle we arrived in.  I cackle loudly and ask Erik to fix the flux capacitor before lightening strikes the clock tower.

Other odd notes from the road today: 

• Sporting goods stores offering shotguns and hard liquor in a single location. 

 
• A store offering rock polishing and handmade caskets.

 
• Passing a sign for a prison stating "Hitchhiking Prohibited:  State Prison" followed immediately by a sign stating:  "Pullover for Chains Off/On Only."

Erik tries the slots	Betty flirts with Lady Luck
Nevada Northern Railway	Element(235) on Highway 93
Erik & plants	Gem Theater, Pioche, Nevada
Pioche, Nevada	Gem Theater, Pioche, Nevada
Radiation Cancer warning	Treasure Hill, Pioche, Nevada
Spud Shop, Panaca, Nevada	Utah from Highway 14
Kanab, Utah	Glen Canyon Bridge, Page, Arizona

Road Trip 2004 : Day 2 Ely, Nevada to Page, Arizona Miles to Date:  0,996 Join the Road Trip 2004 Email List... [More]

Road Trip 2003
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