We had every intention of staying in Vegas, until the end of the month, hoping that restrictions in the states surrounding us might lighten a bit by May 1st, but things are heating up here; literally. Temps in Vegas are supposed to reach 99° this week. So, today we headed north weaving along the border of CA/NV, searching for cooler temps. We decided we should stay in Nevada until their “stay at home” order has been lifted. At this point, Nevada feels like home. We found a private park 250 miles away in the tiny town of Dyer, Nevada that is accepting campers. All the state/national parks in every state that surrounds us are still closed to camping, so it just doesn’t seem to be the right time to turn East and head home. It was strange packing up and moving but at this point almost any change is welcome change.
We broke up the days drive by stopping for lunch at a ghost town called Rhyolite. It was born during a gold rush when two men struck gold in 1904. Rhyolite had three train lines, three newspapers, three swimming pools, three hospitals, two undertakers, an opera, symphony and 53 saloons. By 1914, Rhyolite was in decline and by 1919, it was a deserted ghost town. Its last resident died in 1924. In addition to the ruins, of the more permanent structures like the bank and school, there is a bottle house, built by Tom Kelly in 1906. That was before the railroad reached Rhyolite and building materials were scarce. Instead of looking for wood which is nearly impossible to find, Kelly used adobe mud to hold together over 50,000 glass whiskey and medicine bottles to make up his one of a kind home.
We ended the day at Esmeralda RV Park, thankful for a place to stay and with a beautiful view of the White Mountains of California.
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| Bank Building |
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| Tom Kelly's Bottle House |
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