The route from Sacramento, CA to Ely is a very diverse one.  It was a gorgeous day to ride.  The road up to the lake was curvy with amazing scenery!  It was cool as we crossed through the mountains, but once we were on the other side, it definitely heated up!  Our first noteworthy site was Lake Tahoe.  What a beautiful place!  We headed around the south edge & up the East side until we turned off towards Carson City.

In Carson City we stopped and picked up the official Nevada HWY 50 Survival Guide.  I knew we couldn’t collect all the stamps.  It would be too late in the day by the time we reached some cities to visit the local Chamber of Commerce for a stamp, but the booklet is a great souvenir.

We followed historic Hwy 50, the Loneliest Road in America through Fallon, Austin, and Eureka, ending in Ely for the night.  It was definitely hot in the desert and the road was not well traveled after Fallon so it did feel a little lonely at times, but it was scenic!  There was a long section where people had spelled out names & years with rocks in the sand – a few pics are below.  We enjoyed stopping along the old Pony Express route for some fun photos!

We stayed at the historic Nevada Hotel in Ely.  I would skip that stay if I were doing the trip again.  It was historic, Shawn would simply call it OLD.  It was also very musty, and they allow smoking in the casino so the air quality is really poor.  Shawn was not impressed!  We checked the box on that one, done & do not repeat.  Took pictures to prove we were there!  Ha!  We will finish the route by visiting Great Basin National Park tomorrow.