It was 40° when we woke in Ely, but the sun was already so strong we didn’t need jackets to walk to the Hotel Nevada which had a small Denny’s inside, only a block or so from our Four Sevens.

We went through both plains and mountain passes on our way to Reno via route 50, and the isolation of scrubland and mountains and the incredible visibility in the pure air was astonishing! I clocked 30 miles of visibility on one long stretch leading to a mountain pass.

Since late May there has been a plague of huge, flightless “Mormon crickets” in Nevada. There are caution signs on all the mountain passes because mushed cricket bodies have created a slick on the roads, and there have been multiple accidents. It has also decimated miles of crops and other plant life. We took it slow as we could see the mashed cricket slick and some crawling survivors on the road. We also had to brake several times because mother quails (?) or plovers were all over the road with their broods of chicks, eating the dead crickets and NOT FLYING AWAY when cars approached.

Once in Reno, we found our hotel without difficulty – the J resort. We ate a nice dinner at the Smith & River, right along the Truckee River, which was running high, swift, and brown.

Our hotel also has a casino (naturally) and Tommy and I each took a twenty to try our luck at Video Black Jack. Tommy won $12.60, and Paula won $18.00, nearly doubling her money.

We are excited for tomorrow, as we will drive to Glenny & Kyle’s place, and stay a few days. This may be our last post until our first weekly post from the cabin at Lake Tahoe. That should come about a week from now.