A Desert Roadtrip

The schedule: Two different sets of meetings at company headquarters in San Jose with a long weekend in between. I’ve long been curious about Salt Lake City, so I drove there for the weekend.

It was an … ambitious … roadtrip and I’m thankful for favorable weather, no chains required over Donner Pass, and long straightaways.

I stayed at three historic hotels in the past week and consider two out of three to be a success:

• Hotel Sainte Claire (San Jose, last week): Meh. Room not well maintained.
• Hotel Monaco (Salt Lake City): Very nice. Right in the heart of the city.
• Mizpah Hotel (Tonopah, Nevada): A real diamond in the rough. Very recently renovated and reopened, after being closed for ~20 years. Very, very well done. (Fire alarm issues aside …)

Here are a few photos from random places along the way:

Road Not Maintained · In case you were wondering where I’ve been lately … · (P.S. I absolutely *love* the typography on this sign. So classic!) · north of Lovelock, Nevada

north of Lovelock, Nevada

Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

north of Ely, Nevada

north of Ely, Nevada

Random observation: Somebody was wearing a jacket that said (on the same jacket), “Texas Longhorns” and “Plainview, MN.” Not a combination you would expect to see, especially when you are stopped for lunch in Ely, Nevada. 🤷🏻‍♂️

east of Tonopah, Nevada

The Mizpah Hotel was great, except for the part where the fire alarm kept going off. A water main broke shortly after I checked in and the fire alarms go off if the sprinkler system doesn’t think it’s healthy. Oof.

Tonopah, Nevada

Hazen, Nevada

Oh, and, um … that stretch of highway between Ely and Tonopah, Nevada? The one that says “next gas 167 miles”? It has lots of long, beautiful straightaways with no traffic and excellent visibility. That is all I will say on the record.