09-22-21 Wednesday Mt. Rushmore Trip Day 22 Ely KOA Journey Ely, NV

09-22-21 Wednesday Mt. Rushmore Trip Day 22       

Ely KOA Journey

Ely, NV

Site # 20

Jeeps in Campground: 7

Drive Time: 4 hours

Miles: 240

Some facts we've learned on this trip:

1. Dollar stores are popular across the west, even in the smallest town: Family Dollar, Dollar General, Dollar Store
2. Bales of hay are stored round instead of rectangle. I read somewhere they wrap them in some form of plastic then the rain rolls off easier and keeps them dryer. The things you look up and learn when you're on the road. 
3. Thousands of farms across the west grow alfalfa
4. Cement trucks are built backwards
5. The stars are brighter in the desert

                

Our drive today was I-15 south then west on US-6. which took us across the flat desert. Miles of sagebrush and large areas of sand. Once in a while we would see a clump of trees and a house in the middle. It's hard to imagine what people do for a living in the tiny towns across these plains. Seems like it would be a very lonely existence. The foothill areas of the mountains are barren and 2/3rds  up the mountain is when the scrub trees start along with some kind of pine. 

The passes we travelled through took us from an elevation of 5,000 to 9,100 feet, up and down then up and down again. As US-6 took us through the flats and mountain passes the roads were excellent. We MAYBE saw 100 vehicles. So if this road is hardly travelled and is in excellent condition, I ask again, why can't CA maintain their roads. I know this part of US-6 looks like it was recently re-paved but I don't get CA. 

The drive from Payson, Utah to Ely, Nevada was actually a pretty one. There was so much to see if we had time to stop; Desert Experimental Range, Baker Archaeological Site, BLM roads, Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, Lehman Caves. I googled each of these as we were driving. 

See that road way out there? That was where we headed.

  

This is on the Utah side. 

We made it to Ely, NV around 3:30PM plus an hour difference in time. This is a nice KOA. Very clean and lots of trees. Our site is level so not much adjusting. The park is pretty full. We hooked everything up and put the slide out and took off for dinner. We went to a place in town called Rack's Bar and Gril. Barry had a Philly Cheesesteak and I had a BBQ Pork sandwich. Barry said his was excellent and the pork in mine melted in my mouth. AND --they had root beer. I was a happy camper. We went back to the campground and walked the park and counted 7 jeeps. Barry built a fire and we made S'mores and they were yummy. As I've stated before, Barry makes a great fire and we sat and warmed by the fire and talked about the Big Dipper, and stars. Love ending the day by a fire. 

                                            

There are little displays like this around this KOA. 

Tomorrow we plan to visit The Nevada Northern Railway Museum. Depending on how much time we spend there we may be able to get a bike ride in. There are trails behind the campground. 

Sweet dreams everyone!

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