Before we set off from Tonopah we had a look at the old cemetry by the motel. It holds the early settlers in this area that died from the plague, mining accidents and other various grim ends. Most of the graves are made from whatever lay around. One grave was a section of railroad with "end of the line" inscribed in it, others were just scraps of wood made into a cross. Liz was a bit of a David Baily today taking pictures of the crosses and the creepy clowns in the motel.
Tonopah is the kind of place that you can bet for free accomodation at the local casino - welcome to the wild west.
The road heading east took us through similar scenery to the day before. Imagine a very large flat basin with mountains all around. The road would run straight the twenty miles or so along the basin with a few snakes at the end in order to climb over a mountain pass before starting the process again.
We were in the middle of nowhere when we saw a sign saying "Extraterrestrial Highway" and another saying no gas for 110 miles. This is Area 51 country and holds the record for the most reported UFO sightings in the world. The route took us past Rachel, the sign as we approached the place gave the usual population info divided into humans and aliens! The place itself was just a few static caravans and a prefab Inn that was cashing in on all the fuss.
There was no petrol station and the petrol tank was running dangerously low. The sign warning of no fuel was a bit pointless as itself was in the middle of nowhere. We were past the point of no return so had to carry on.
We turned off the air con and reduced speed down to 56mph to save fuel. The scenery started to change, the first sign was what we thing was some Joshua trees, however the needle approaching empty was the main concern. As the needle hit empty we hit a town - thank God.
Crossing into Utah the main thing that grabs you is the increase in colour. There are heavily irregated fields, flowers and added red in the surrounding mountains. One thing was missing - where are the cedars?