California is done and done. I enjoyed northern California with the giant redwoods. Yosemite was really spectacular too, but San Francisco reminded me of why I prefer the open road to a busy freeway at rush hour, so I’ve headed east.
Nevada is majestic, setting a stage very similar to parts of Oregon. There’s a lot of desert here with little hardcore shrubs and funny-shaped trees, and I’ve hit upon the Extraterrestrial Highway and the sweet little town of ‘Rachel’. The Little A’Le’Inn is a world famous pub/cafe that definitely sees more foreigners than it does Americans, and the walls are saturated with alien-themed merchandise. It’s a perfect science-fiction geek dream 🙂 Perhaps I should add Roswell New Mexico to my itinerary?
Oh yes, and the entrance to the super-sneaky military base Area 51 is just a couple of miles away. Sadly, photographs weren’t allowed even at the gate, and I think the security people are quite serious about their work. Shame.
Long straight roads – they love their long straight roads in Nevada. And how…
The closest petrol station to Rachel is 50 miles away down such roads (past the equally sneaky ‘black mailbox’, so I’m told). That’s like living in Leamington Spa and going to Oxford to get fuel!
It is a spectacular ride though. Distant colourful mountains stand guard over the black-top road as it cuts a straight line through the shrub-strewn desert… A desert peppered with some rather nervous-looking cows. The big blue sky goes on forever and the zephyr breeze keeps you cool enough to weather it.
I like it here – much more than I assumed I would 🙂
One more night in Rachel (oo-er missus) and tomorrow I set sail for Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. There’s much more to see here than there was in Siberia (although I did love Siberia too).