Through the "Cowboy Corridor" from Reno to Elko

 "Cowboy Corridor" - that's how the Interstate 80 between Reno and West Wendover (at the border to Utah) is called. It's mostly sparse, dry High Desert landscape, here and there some cattle (no mustangs, though, at this time of the year!), spread-out ranches and mining camps - some of them ghosttowns -, and, some big mining operations, many of them digging for gold. Lots of billboards of all kinds along the highway, too, everything from Jesus to hotels to legal assistance.

 

We drove 300 mi. or 4:20 hours on the same highway, from Reno to Elko, on a sunny, rather warm day. Nice big GMC Terrain, a real "mountain truck", comfy and roomy! For the first time, we flew into Reno, before, we had always started our trips in Salt Lake City, which is a bit closer to Elko (3:30 hours). Last year we drove over from Las Vegas, which was an exhausting 8-hour-drive, on the way back in the snow.

Well, first things first: after breakfast in Cafe Capello in Reno (located on the Truckee River promenade , we explored downtown Reno a bit, which seems to have suffered quite a bit during COVID. Some big casino operations in downtown were closed. We walked to Sundance Books & Music (for literature) and checked out of the hotel. Being old-fashioned, we stopped at AAA, a little out in the suburbs, first, to pick up a couple of new maps, then headed east with a couple of stops.

First stop then:  Lovelock (photo below) - one of these crazy places, where people leave their locks to demonstrate their love. Not quite as attractive as the art installation in Lovelock, Colorado, but, unique in this otherwise small town.

 

Winnemucca (left) next, a bit larger and once an important railroad town (Central Pacific, 1868), considered an "oasis in the desert", with a museum, some bars, shops, and, of course, a rodeo. The town was named for the 19th-century Indian Chief Winnemucca's daughter, Sarah, who was an advocate for education and fair treatment of other tribes in the area. In 1883, she published the first autobiography written by a Native American woman. 

Battle Mountain to Carlin and here we were: Elko. The California Trail Center (photo below), a little out of town, were we stopped first, was closed on Tuesday. Therefore, we drove on to our nice Hampton Inn Hotel, went shopping, and called it a day not too late. Below view towards the Ruby Mountains from our hotel room. Wish, we could once explore the region in the summer, it must be beautiful!