Ely | Ward Mountain Forest Service Campground | Nevada

Ely is proud of their murals, there are quite a few.  The one above shows the railroad being built and the one below shows the Ward Charcoal Ovens, located just outside the town about 10 miles.  That area is now a State Park.  They were used in the mining industry back in the 1800s.

Other murals are left on buildings and were used as signs.  I think this one was used for different signs in the past. 

Others depict life in years gone by.

The Great Basin National Park is not too far away from Ely, and this mural portrays the Lehman caves that are in the park.

Another sign, up to date, is advertising a hotel/casino.  They have set aside a large lot in back of this building for truckers and RVers  who want to park overnight, or just go in for some fun.

There are probably about 5-6 casinos in town, quite a few for such a small town.

To get to the campground, it was only about 5 miles on this road - but if you were going further, you better check your gas gauge.  Many roads in Nevada have these signs to warn you that there's nothing available.

The Forest Service did a great job on this campground, my site was large and surrounded by trees, so it was quite nice.  Of course, this is dry camping - so bring solar panels or a generator.

Another view of the campsite - and there is a large area in back where there is a table, fire ring and stand for a grill, plus a tent pad!

Of course, they have hiking trails - this is the scene on one of them.

One night, there was an interesting sunset.

Another night, there was this sunset.

A'Le'Inn | Rachel | Nevada

 

This is the only sign I have seen for this highway, although it is marked as such on both my maps.  There are no gas stations for many miles in either direction.  When I turned onto this road, there were signs telling me that gas wasn't available for over 100 miles.  For those who are brave enough to stay overnight, they have RV sites as well as a big gravel lot for dry camping.

 

 

This old truck has a "flying saucer" hanging from his crane.  I'm not sure what it really is, but if there were aliens in there, they are tiny!

 

Close-up view.

The aliens don't get much help with parking space - do it yourself!

 

 

 

The seem to be friendly creatures.

 

 

There are interesting murals all over the place.

This tree is interesting - the underside of the leaves are all very pale, with darker green on the top.  Must be an alien tree.......

Possibly a signal generator for the aliens to find this place?

 

Inside the restaurant is lots of stuff for sale, plus a bar for food and drink.  Friendly people, too, but they're earthlings.

 

These are very nice little quilts, of course in an alien theme.

 

People were buying all sorts of alien things, including the tequila shown below.   If they are doing this type of business every day - they must be doing OK.  BUT, there are lots of miles to go before you can find a store, gas or other supplies, so it's expensive to bring anything in.

 

Obviously, I didn't get to enter this room, off the main room.

 

Back in 1996, 20th Century Fox constructed this time capsule to be opened in the year 2050.  They figured by that time, the "interplanetary travelers" would be coming here on a regular basis.

 

This is in the open field across from the restaurant complex.  I found out that Area 51 is difficult to get to, if you don't like dirt roads.  And apparently, when you get there, it's just a gate.  I elected not to do the trip - I'm sure the road would have been washboard and pot holes.

This was the scene I looked at for the last 50 miles or so of my trip - and it looks the same either way.  There was some pretty scenery before this.  Late afternoon when I was there the Air Force base started doing all sorts of maneuvers, including breaking the sound barrier - big boom.