Tonopah, NV to St. George, UT 7/1/22

Bright and early this morning while it is actually cool in Tonopah we hit the open road and begin our journey to St. George, UT. Our first hour is on US 6. They say that US 50 is the loneliest road but I think the road we take today gives it good competition. It stretches out straight and empty before it disappears in the distant mountains.

What could possibly be interesting in such an empty place, you might ask. The answer is all sorts of weird and unexpected things.!

Not too far down the road we come across a sign with a rocket. Somewhere down this secondary road is the Tonopah Test Range operated by Sandia National Laboratories for the Department of Energy. Seems more like it should be for the Department of Defense. John is happy to merely pose by the rocket but I want to see it more closely.

Interesting fact: One time several years ago John and I were driving down this road when from behind the mountains came an enormous aircraft. The reason it looked enormous is that it was flying low and slow. It was so low and slow that as it passed overhead we could see the landing gear nestled in the belly of the plane. John says it was an F-16.

Another thing that makes this area interesting is that it borders on Area 51. Probably where the F-16 came from was someplace either near or in either Area 51 or the Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. Area 51 is vast acreage between Tonopah and Las Vegas. But before we get further into ETs…

About an hour from Tonopah we make a right onto NV 375 at Warm Springs. Funny story, the very first time we made this trip from home to St. George we were looking for a place to stay. We really wanted to go about an hour past Tonopah on the first day. About an hour past Tonopah is Warm Springs but we could not find any mention of hotels on the internet.. Here is the reason why…

Yes, but there are a lot of minerals in that water, enough to bleach the rocks white. The water flows downhill through miles of land and seemingly becomes useable. At least the cows seem to hang around in it and there is a farm about 20 miles down from here.

It is fairly easy to tell where the water is out here in the desert, you just have to look for a line of green. But there are other things here at the turn between US 6 and NV 375. You realize how isolated this place is. It is really quiet. You rarely see other vehicles.

You are now entering a strange area where ETs are accepted and conspiracy theories abound as to why the government has kept Area 51 pretty secretive. In fact NV 375 is known as the Exterrestial Highway.

On a lighter note, John and I enjoy the signs that feature the Nevada cow. California cows are very stolid on their signs and you can imagine them having a very basso voice and being quite dolorious about their short life between veal and steaks. Nevada cows, however, seem happy and jaunty. We call them the the jaunty cows of Nevada.

Just a note about “open range.” Open range means that there are no fences. The cows have right-of-way on all the roads. If you hit a cow which is crossing the street either you or your estate are responsible for paying for the cow. They warned you!

On we drive to our next stop in Rachel, NV. Rachel has taken the whole Area 51, ETs , and government conspiracies to an extreme.. Although John and I still wear masks indoor with strangers, we are hesitant to wear them in Rachel.

Out of Rachel we pass through miles of Joshua trees, the iconic desert plant. To Mormon settlers, it reminded them of Joshua pointing the way through the desert. They had obviously been out in the sun too long.

But we are not through with ETs yet! In the next town is Earth Station-Area 51, home to a very large silver ET and a very large ET themed gift shop. John is out front posing as my favorite Martian.

Our last encounter with the other-worldly is also in Crystal Springs where you can buy ET Fresh Jerky. It used to be called Alien Fresh Jerky but the name change was probably due to a competing jerky outlet near Las Vegas which trademarked the name. You don’t want to step on other aliens’ toes!

Our final stop en route to St. George is at Caliente, NV, so named because there are hot springs here. We usually stop for a cappuccino at the gas station but today we are going out on a limb and eating lunch here. Next time we will stick to the coffee. We eat at a place called the Side Track. Many things around here are railroad themed. In 1905, the Union Pacific Railroad was completed, through Caliente followed by the construction of the train depot in the style of Spanish mission architecture. While trains no longer stop here, the beautiful building is still the focal point of the town.

We reach St. George in the late afternoon and check into our condo where we will stay through the Fourth of July. A trip to the grocery store to shop for dinner and an early bed time round out our second day.