Moab, UT to Ely, NV

Marie at Mom's Cafe - Salina, UT


May 26
Miles Driven: 407
Funds Raised: 400
Roadkill spotted: 105*
Left Moab, UT to head towards San Francisco. My destination for the night, Ely, NV. (Ely is a small mining town with a population of around 6,400 but this fluctuates depending on the mining industry. Its elevation is 6,421 and is in east NV close to the Utah boarder.)

The drive down interstate 70 is beautiful. Stopped at a great small town, Salina, UT, for lunch. If you ever find yourself in this area, the place to eat is Mom’s Café. I sat at the counter and received excellent service from a great waitress by the name of Marie. (Photo above). She’s friendly, quick and tells it to you straight. I overheard a woman ordering some food to go, she mentioned one thing on the menu and Marie responded, “Oh, don’t get that, that’s nasty.” My food, a fish sandwich, was delicious! Plus, I got a chance to read a paper you just don’t get in NYC.



Across the street from Mom’s Café is a great used book and CD store. The CD collection was small but exceptional! I picked up some Radiohead, Lou Reed and Joni Mitchell CD’s.
Then I drove for what seemed like forever, until I got to Great Basin National Park. I took a tour of Lehman Caves given by Bryan our guide. It was supposed to be 60 minutes, but it took 90 – that Bryan knows his stalactites from his stalagmites. My favorite part of the history of the cave was the period when a couple by the name of Rhodes took over back in the 20’s.
Bryan, guide at Lehman Caves
The Rhodes

I arrived in Ely, NV around 7:30 and checked in to the Four Sevens Motel. (No not the Four Seasons, the Four Sevens). Very clean, beds a bit mushy but overall just fine. Plus, you get either a free coffee or a free margarita! I was a bit baffled, not sure how I get the margarita. Turns out you head over to the Nevada Hotel to get it. The Nevada Hotel was once the tallest building in all of Nevada. I think it stands around 6 floors high. There’s a casino and a 24 hour restaurant. Seemed like the place to go.
I must admit, I was a bit intimidated, what with it being a casino/hotel which advertises “bikers welcome”. (Which seems to hold true based on the row of bikes out front.) I headed into the restaurant and grabbed a seat at the counter. Again, super friendly waitress and as quick as whip with the service! This place is packed and the staff works hard. I had a delicious calzone (and I’m picky about my Italian food) and chatted away with some great locals, Michael and Betty Kothe and Gary Weaver(pictured below). Such friendly people with a ton of interesting stories. Turns out Betty has taken Michael to the hospital 21 times, but Michael says only 19 count. There was the time his intestines got all tangled up, another time his back went out. He’s originally from Alaska and they both lived there for awhile. They had great recommendations of where to go if I ever head up that far north. Gary is originally from Pennsylvania but has lived in Ely for 19 years. After a long drive alone, these folks made my night with their great stories and welcoming disposition.
Michael and Betty Kothe, Me, Gary Weaver


*How the roadkill number was calculated: The roadkill was calculated by me ticking off on a pad of paper every time I passed some road kill. Eventually, this became so frequent that I could no longer keep both my hands off the wheel that often. I then put a post-it on the side window and ticked away on that, requiring only one hand. I only counted roadkill on my side of the road. If there were several patches of roadkill very close together, I assumed it was all the same animal that had a wide splatter zone, and therefore only counted it as one. The total number has a margin of error of +/- 10.