Wednesday, June 12 Lake Tahoe to Route 50 East

We left Lake Tahoe at 7:30 am and headed to Carson City, NV. Carson City is the state capitol of Nevada and we stopped at the visitor center to obtain a Route 50 survival guide. If you stop at 5 of 8 places on Route 50 (Carson City to Ely), they will give you a certificate to prove that you traveled the loneliest highway in the USA. It is a good marketing ploy for sparsely populated towns bypassed by Interstate 80.

While in Carson City, we took time to tour the state capitol building that was built for a cost of $164,000 in 1871. Furnishings cost an additional $20,000. The building was deemed unsafe in 1974 and was condemned for destruction. However, the legislature wanted to save the historic building and retrofitted it with a new concrete shell with the interior of the building bonded to the shell. They reinstalled much of the original interior at a cost of $6 million and saved the structure. There is beautiful Alaskan marble flooring and marble wainscoting, as well as black walnut railings leading to the second floor where a small museum is present. Oak adorning the sides of the stairs is faux painted. It had me fooled.

Carson City, NV Visitor Center

Alaskan Marble

Arsenic Ore - just in case you need some.

Highway sign in the small museum

 After touring the capitol, we walked a portion of the historic district of old homes following a "blue line" painted on the pavement starting at the old mint building. We did not tour the mint at this time as I have visited this in the past. We did see some beautifully preserved buildings that included the Governor's Mansion and the Krebs-Peterson mansion where John Wayne's last picture, The Shootist, was shot.

Highway marker next to the Carson City Mint

The Historic Governor's Mansion

Krebs-Peterson Mansion 1914

It was used for John Wayne's last movie, The Shootist.

We then proceeded to Fallon, the site of the Top Gun flight school.

Leaving Fallon, if you travel 8 miles to the east, you can find Grimes Point Archeological Area that has fine examples of 6000 year old petroglyphs. There is no entrance fee and it is a short loop walk.