It was finally time to leave Winnemucca, NV.  Tim found 3 nuggets over the last couple days, so he was pleased.  Upon further reading on the internet about the Rye Patch area, we learned that in September 2015 they had a nugget hunting rally in the area.   This place is small, about 2 square miles.  Last year they had over 600 people out there over a 3-day period swinging metal detectors looking for gold.  So for Tim to find two nuggets there makes you realize he’s pretty good at finding elusive gold.

The night before when we were heading to the Mexican food restaurant, I told Tim I had seen a sign for a brothel.  He said it couldn’t be for real.  So the next morning we drove over there before heading out of town.

Sure enough, it was an active brothel! Of course, I wanted to take a picture of the sign before we left.  While we were out taking pics, the owner came out to ask if we needed anything…really??  LOL!

We told him no, we were just curious.  He introduced himself as Mike and proceeded to tell us all about the place.

Next thing we know, we are getting a tour of the place.  Sadly I was not allowed to take pictures inside.  The brothel has been open nonstop since 1864 in that location.  He showed us where the original building walls were and what had been added on over the years.  It was a fascinating tour!

He has a working girl that is 64 years old.  She even married her latest husband there at the brothel and continues to work there.  He said she keeps the lights dim so she looks better.  LOL!

We asked him about rates.  He said a basic hour, with no special requests, starts at a minimum of $400 a hour.  Some girls charge more.  If you want extras, like a party in the hot tub, it can cost $1,000 an hour.  If you want a date outside the brothel, it starts at $700 a hour. He takes 50% of the fees and then charges them room and board.  Crazy right!?!

Soon we were on our way to Ely, Nevada.  Tim wanted check out an old ghost town outside of Ely called Osceola.  The largest nugget ever found in Nevada was found there.

We saw some Sandhill Cranes in the lush valley while heading south to Ely.  I’m sure they are in the process of migrating to my home state of New Mexico to the Bosque del Apache NWR.

To get to Ely you have to travel the “Loneliest Highway in America”. And I survived! according to the literature I came across 🙂

Eureka was a cool old town.  It’s creation was attributed to the large silver deposit in the area.  Today there is still a large silver mine in operation.  We liked this town because it had a lot of its old buildings still in use.  We enjoyed stretching our legs and walking main street.  We also stopped in at the local saloon for fries and a root beer 🙂

Next stop of Ely, NV.  Another great town that was started due to a large copper deposit in the area. The Kennecott Mine is still in operation today.

Before stopping for the night in Ely, we drove on through to visit the old ghost town of Osceola.  It is located in the Great Basin National Heritage Area.  It is a fascinating town.  You can learn more about the history of this area at this website  Osceola District – Great Basin Heritage.

The highest peak in Nevada is known as Wheeler Peak – the same name as the highest peak in New Mexico.

When we got to Osceola the wind was blowing at 40 mph+.  Needless to say, I wasn’t too keen on spending much time out exploring and taking photos.  But we did take time to walk around the famous Osceola cemetery.

The view from the cemetery was beautiful.  I couldn’t think of a nicer resting place for these souls.

There’s not much left of the old gold mining town of Osceola.  But what was left was great for photos.  Especially that old truck.  I love rusty old trucks!

There is still one gold claim still in production in the area.  You can see the extensive workings from the road up the canyon.  Tons and tons of earth have been removed to get to the elusive gold in the area.

I saw several birds as Osceola.  But with the strong winds, it was almost impossible to get a photo.  I did manage to get a couple decent pics.

On the way back from Osceola, just outside of Ely is a small lake called Comins Lake and is part of the Steptoe Valley Wildlife Management Area.  Of course I just had to stop there that evening so I could photograph some birds.  By now I was in birding withdrawals as I hadn’t seen hardly any birds since we left Provo, UT!

We had dinner at hotel Nevada. It opened in 1929, was the tallest building in Nevada well into the 1940s and was the state’s first fire-proof building.

It was nice touring the old part of town.  There wasn’t anybody around, so I got some nice photos.  I think they turned out nice in black and white.

It was a long, fun, full day!  Tomorrow we head back to Utah and Zion National Park! Stay tuned!