We had to choose our options today.  Our day’s final destination was 90 miles from the starting point or we could drive 150 miles out of the way to see a quirky little diner in the middle of nowhere.  Guess which option we chose.

Our first adventure of the day was to find a spot for breakfast.  Mesquite, Nevada seems like a nice city of around 15,000 people.  Our Holiday Inn Express sat high on a hill overlooking a beautiful Walmart parking lot.  Jana had motivated me to go to the fitness center and do 30 minutes on the treadmill which means I was ready for breakfast.  The usual breakfast at the HIE was just not going to work today.  I asked the front desk clerk about a Bob Evan’s or an IHOP.  He just looked at me like I was nuts.  When Jana explained that we wanted someplace for breakfast, he recommended two different golf courses.  Huh?  He told us that the restaurants at the golf courses served great breakfasts.  OK we chose the one not directly across the street.

We hopped in the Queen Mary Express and headed the six miles to Wolf Creek Golf Course.  We were really ready to eat but it was not to be.  They were closed.  Who ever heard of a golf course closing in the summer but sure enough the sign said they were closed for another 2 weeks.  Back in the van we went and headed for golf course #2 – yep the very one that was directly across the street from our hotel.  It turned out to be a good choice.

Back on the road.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures today.  We were covering part of the same route we did yesterday.  I15 South to US93 .  On the map US93 is also called the Great Basin Highway and is marked as a scenic route.   I have included a representative shot to give you an idea of what we looked out for the first 110 of the 150 mile trek.  The last 40 miles or so were done on the “Extra Terrestrial Highway” – Nevada 375.  For some reason aliens will not abduct people who place stickers on the highway sign.  I wish someone had told us that so we could have purchased stickers instead of worrying about being pulled up into a spacecraft.  All we had with us were postage stamps. I think its a violation of federal law to place a stamp on a road sign that you have no intention of mailing anywhere.  The other point to this route is that it truly leads through some of the most isolated, non-populated areas I have ever been in.  You can see from the picture that starting toward Rachel, Nevada means that you are headed down a road that has no gas stations for 150 miles.  Once again I was relieved that we didn’t have to worry about having a 6 gallon tank like the motorcycle.

We drove the last 40 miles and turned in at the “Little A LE Inn” (get it?).  I warned you that this was a quirky little place.  They had somehow managed to grab a downed flying saucer with their wrecker service and it was prominently displayed in front of the place.  I was curious about the saucer.  When I looked at it closely I noticed that it was held together with 5/16 stainless bolts and nuts just like earthlings can buy from the local hardware store.  I would have expected something more exotic from outer space aliens.

The menu was limited at the Little A LE Inn.  Jana had grilled cheese and I tried the alien burger (really thin burger on a hoagie bun).  They did have real ice tea so everything was ok.  We scored a hat pin and a refrigerator magnet.  Then it was time to head back the way we came.

The rest of the trip was uneventful – all 210 miles of it.  Remember, we could have gone 90 miles and been done but we opted for 150 then retrace part of the route and do another 210.  We were ready to get to our hotel.

I wasn’t expecting what we had to experience on the final approach to our hotel.  We had been at around 4500 feet in elevation for most of the afternoon.  We turned onto Utah 143 to go to Brian Head where our motel was.  The first thing I see is a warning that trucks and cars with trailers should turn back due to 13% uphill grades.  I wasn’t sure our minivan had enough horses in the 4 cylinder to make it.  We went from 4500 feet to 9600 feet in about 10 miles.  That poor transmission will never be the same.

The Grand Lodge at Brian Head is beautiful.  I will include exterior pictures tomorrow.  I have included two shots from our room before we “moved in”.  We have a gas fireplace and a sitting area along with our king sized bed.  It is really luxurious.  Truth is I’m not too sure how many trips up the mountain the van can take.  We have reservations for 4 days here but the steep climb may make us reevaluate our location.

Dinner was a couple of salads at the lodge.  We did get to enjoy some live music before heading back to the room.  Decisions need to be made before our rented Queen Mary Express dies on the mountain.

Typical scenery on the “Great Basin Highway” in Nevada.

Stickers. Wish we would have known.

150 miles up this road to the next gas station.

We drove 150 miles to see this!!

The saucer was held together with not-so-exotic hardware. The wrecker was a distant cousin of ‘Mater.

Our fireplace.

The bed before we trashed the entire room.