Day 4 - Nevada

Just when you think you've seen it all, watch out. You may find yourself in the middle of nowhere, traveling for hundreds of miles without so much as a mailbox. Suddenly, from a distance, is it a mirage? Is it a joke? Or is it really...a giant barn labeled: "Nude Girls Bikinis"? That's right - welcome to Nevada. I've been a lot of places in this country, driven every state West of the Mississippi, lived in North Dakota and Texas and never, never have I seen so many miles of absolutely nothing.

We kicked off the day in Las Vegas where we picked up a quick crepe in Paris, snapped a few photos and hit the road.

We also observed a dedicated porn stand re-filler man carefully cleaning out the stands to make certain that his product is well represented on the streets. Only in Vegas baby!

The road from Vegas to Winnemucca, NV where we're camping out for the evening is long (472 miles), straight (with the exception of a few s-turns through the hills as you get closer to Battle Mountain) and really dark when the sun goes down (did I mention middle of nowhere?). To most, this may all sound like a pretty boring way to spend a day on the road, but watch closely and in addition to the Toiyabe, Toiquima and Austin mountain ranges which decorated the horizon and delivered a gorgeous valley sunset, you will find...

·         The Shady Lady Brothel: A single-wide trailer along HWY 95 N. No idea what the Shady Lady looks like, but the cardboard ads along the road promise class.

·         Wild Asses: Nope, not being crude, the four-legged fuzzy friends were spotted grazing amongst the tree like cacti and are prevalent enough to warrant their own traffic crossing sign.

·         Book Tour by Covered Wagon: I'm not sure what book they were touring or why they chose to go by miniature covered wagon pulled by a donkey and painted with red lettering, nor could I snap a photo fast enough, but it was one more treasure along our journey through Nevada.

Other moments of the day include: passing a giant gold mine with mounds of sifted dirt higher than the surrounding hillsides; herds of antelope running across the prairies; Mikayla roaring (unprompted) at one of the giant stuffed elk mounted on the wall above our table at the Hide Away Steak House in Battle Mountain; and pulling up to the Holiday Inn Express in Winnemucca to discover that it too, has its own casino.

So the next time you find yourself on a long, seemingly boring drive, take a look around. You just never know what you might find...at least if you're in Nevada.