So after Red Rock Canyon we headed northwest, making a couple of stops at small casinos in Indian Springs and Beatty. Beatty is also home to Nevada's largest bulk candy store. Gas and a bag of Sprees later, we continued on.

Most people find the Vegas to Reno drive boring but we actually really enjoy it, just because it's such different scenery than what we're used to. We usually break it up into 2 days and stay in Tonopah, and we did the same this trip.

Tonopah is actually a neat little town, provided one doesn't have to live there. There are 3 small casinos with plenty of beatable machines, and it has a fascinating history. Tonopah was quite the boomtown in the early part of the 20th century when the silver mines were running at their peak. There's a mining park on the grounds of the old mines that you can drive through and see a bunch of the old equipment and buildings that are still there. Obviously the town fell on hard times when the mines closed, but it's reinvented itself a bit as a touristy stop. It's known now for stargazing of all things. Go just a few miles out of town and you get the darkest skies in America. It's just far enough away from both Vegas and Reno that you don't get any glare from either city.

Usually we stay at Tonopah Station, which is the first casino you come across when entering town from the south. They have a cool promotion... 3 dice in a bucket at the front desk. Each person in your party gets to roll the dice once and if you get 3 of a kind your room is free. (1 in 36 chance.) This time however we stayed at the Mizpah Hotel downtown. Apparently it recently won some Most Haunted Hotel in America award and my gf is all into that shit so we forked over a little extra. It's actually a really nice building with a 1920's style interior with lots of antique furnishings. The rooms were (predictably) small but nicely appointed as well. We had dinner at the Tonopah Brewing Co. I had the ribs which weren't tender enough but had fantastic flavor, and she had a brisket late which was also very good. Like seemingly everywhere else these days they were super short staffed. (2 girls working the whole place)

Pro tip: when a restaurant is obviously light on help, sit at the bar if there is one and you will almost always get MUCH better service.

Monday morning we headed for Reno-Tahoe with stops in Hawthorne, Fallon and Fernley on the way.

I'll cover this part of the trip in my next report.