Elko to Twin Falls

Interstate 80, which we traveled yesterday and today, was a main trail west for emigrants and mail prior to their discovering the route that we followed last year along I-50.  This is the trail that the Donner Party followed.  The Humboldt River along the trail provided only murky bitter water and was much maligned.  It did provide enough grazing for animals but once the miners started coming overgrazing occurred.  Mining was very big in the hills nearby for some time and there are still Barrick Mining signs along the way.  After the Civil War, ranchers from Texas and other areas moved their cattle and Basques their sheep to this area and there were many years of animosity between the cattlemen and the sheep men.  There are still a lot of Basques in the Elko area.  One of the things that helped save the towns along the route was the railroad, first put in for the gold rush and now still a major artery for east-west rail travel.  It has been interesting to read the history and follow the path after having done the same last year on I-50.  If you are ever wandering around Nevada, we highly recommend "The Complete Nevada Traveler" by David Toll.  The author writes about out of the way spots and has lots of interesting tidbits.  I-80 has a few towns: Lovelock, Winnemucca, Golconda, Battle Mountain, Elko, Wells, and Wendover.  None are booming and there are miles and miles of empty spaces between the towns.  The towns cater to travelers who follow I-80 on their way across Nevada (sadly, not as a destination but a route across); there are lots of motels and of course every town in Nevada has casinos and every gas station and market has a few slot machines.   When Battle Mountain was named the "armpit of America" by the Washington Post Magazine in 2001, the other towns breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't them.  We can't imagine living here; it takes a certain independent person to enjoy this isolation.  If you like the outdoors, there are lots of mountains and forests to explore.

Today we drove I-80 east from Elko to Wells.  Wells had a historical downtown area that was decimated by an earthquake in 2008 and has not been rebuilt.  The town is little more than a couple of streets and many manufactured homes.  It sits at the crossroads of I-80, going east-west, and I-93 going north-south.  Supposedly Wells is home to lots of Canadian Snowbirds.  After a quick drive through the town, we headed north on 93.  The area between Wells and the Idaho border is a migration path for deer, with signs along the highway and even some overpasses just for the deer.  We drove through around noon, the wrong time of day to see deer, but it would be very fun to see them crossing the bridges. 

Jackpot, Nevada is just south of the Idaho border and is a weekend haven for Idahoans.  There are a half dozen casinos and nothing much else.  We stopped for lunch at Cactus Pete's casino and while we were eating, we heard an announcement for all of the Boise shuttle bus passengers to get aboard.  Since we're part-time residents of Nevada, gambling no longer lures us, so after a quick walk through the smoky casino, we headed on across the border.  One fun fact about the casinos: you can play single deck blackjack with a $3 minimum - ah, the good old days.

We had some rainy weather for a while but then it cleared as we approached Twin Falls, Idaho, our stop for the night.