Nevada

We left Needles, CA and headed up to Vegas.  We stayed at a campground right on Lake Mead.  As you can see from the picture -- there is not a lot of water in the lake.  I would say Vegas is in big trouble for water.  We got out of there quickly because the big boxing match was taking place and Vegas was filling up with folks there to be in on the excitement. 

We have been in Ely, NV for a few days seeing all the sights.  We went to Great Basin National Park.  There isn't much to see -- the road to the summit of the mountain was still closed but we made it up to almost 9000 ft and got to see snow.   We probably should have seen the Lehman caves there in the park but we've seen so many caves that we didn't bother. 

We went to the Nevada Northern Railway train museum.  The old steam train still runs and takes passengers on an hour and a half ride.   We got to see it running and got this picture with the black smoke coming out.   very cool

We also went to Garnet Hill -- a Forest Service Recreation Area -- where you can dig your own garnets.  The garnets you find are gem quality -- very dark color and looking like a jeweler already cut them.  We did find some small ones and it was fun.  We are headed to Idaho next and then on into Montana.