Adventure in the NV Outback – Day 4

This was my least favorite day of the trip because it was a lot of driving and back to life, responsibility and reality in Reno. 

We hit the road early.  We were on a mission today to see the Shoe Tree that had been recently cut down.  The Shoe Tree was a giant cottonwood tree that was filled with hanging shoes.  The legend is that the Shoe Tree was born when a couple of newlyweds got in an argument, during the argument one of them tossed the other's shoes into the tree.  When they made up they tossed the other person's shoes in the tree as well and people have been tossing shoes ever since.  We finally found the tree right before we reached Middlegate.  It was sad to see the big tree cut down but there were several nice memorials dedicated to the tree.  The other cottonwoods next to the downed tree have become the new shoe trees so the tradition will live on.  It was still sad to see such a big old beautiful tree was cut down by some jackass, hopefully Karma will give the person, or people, that cut down this beautiful tree what they deserve. 

Pouring some water out in honor of the Shoe Tree.

We had a good breakfast in Middlegate and then got back on the road heading to Fallon.  At this point we had stamped Austin, Eureka and Ely in our Hwy 50 Survival Guide so all we needed that day was Fallon and Fernley to complete our mission.  We arrived in Fallon and got our stamp at the first gas station we saw, then we decided to go find Bridget’s family home and explore her family roots.  Bridget’s family used to own a farm in Fallon.  They sold the farm to Model Dairy and the land has since been subdivided for more houses.  The funny thing about most Nevada towns is that you can find an old farm house in the middle of town and it is surrounded by newer homes, Bridget’s family farm was just like that.  We saw the old farm house and we could see that the neighborhood grew up around the old house.   After we drove by the house we were on our way to Fernley.  We got our last stamp at the Wigwam in Fernley.  We survived the loneliest road in America and we were on our way home to Reno.  

I had a great trip with two of my best friends, it was a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  I am proud I survived the Hwy 50 challenge and I think I may have met some of the friendliest Nevadans on the loneliest road in America.

 

Thanks Dad for letting me borrow the Ford Explorer! 
50 Miles of Dirt Road + 1 Flat Tire + 1 Blizzard + 4 Days of Driving = Built Ford Tough