It is all too easy to drive by all the little towns that dot the Interstate and write them off as being nothing more than a place to pee or grab a pack of Twinkies before heading back on the road, but I have found that these towns are more than just truck stops. Our group stays in motels that are nothing more than a bed, a window, and a bathroom, so all of us try to get outside and see the sights as much as possible. Each town we stop in has a different flavor as well as having their own unique claim to fame. We stayed in Winnemucca, Nevada last night, which was holding the Nevada State High School Rodeo Championships. We stopped by the rodeo grounds to see and sure enough, there are teenage boys and girls roping pigs, riding bulls, and taming bucks. I was astonished high school rodeo existed. Apparently the students take it as a physical education class. I never would have been able to take that class for two reasons: my mom wouldn’t let me play football due to the danger so there would have been no chance that she would give me the OK to ride a bucking bronco, and I would never have been able to ride that bull home after checking it out of the school stable. 
Winnemucca was also the site of a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbery. In fact there was a bar that we went to aptly named Butch Cassidy’s. The only reason we went there was because the shuttle driver for the bus was giving us the low down on all the bars in town and he said that Butch Cassidy’s had the worst smell of any place he had been, so we had to see what he was talking about. The smell was quite pungent, a kind of body odor crossed with dead reptile. We didn’t stay long, on account of the smell.
One thing I always like to do is scan the brochures in the motel lobbies. I always find it interesting to see what the town wants you to see while you are there. Some towns steer you towards a historic building, other towns want you to visit the local eateries. Tonight we are staying in Battle Mountain, Nevada (population about 2900).
I found it quite peculiar that here in Battle Mountain, which is roughly 750 miles from Anaheim, California, has a brochure in the motel lobby for Knott’s Berry Farm. I find it a bit of a stretch to claim that Anaheim is “only a day’s ride for a lifetime of fun.”
A quick side note about Winnemucca is that they are a mining town. There are about three or four gold mines on the outskirts of the town and the town boasts a 2 percent unemployment rate because gold is at near record highs and the mines can’t get it out of the Earth fast enough. Good news on the economic front, at least for Winnemucca.
Winnemucca was also the site of a Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbery. In fact there was a bar that we went to aptly named Butch Cassidy’s. The only reason we went there was because the shuttle driver for the bus was giving us the low down on all the bars in town and he said that Butch Cassidy’s had the worst smell of any place he had been, so we had to see what he was talking about. The smell was quite pungent, a kind of body odor crossed with dead reptile. We didn’t stay long, on account of the smell.
One thing I always like to do is scan the brochures in the motel lobbies. I always find it interesting to see what the town wants you to see while you are there. Some towns steer you towards a historic building, other towns want you to visit the local eateries. Tonight we are staying in Battle Mountain, Nevada (population about 2900).
I found it quite peculiar that here in Battle Mountain, which is roughly 750 miles from Anaheim, California, has a brochure in the motel lobby for Knott’s Berry Farm. I find it a bit of a stretch to claim that Anaheim is “only a day’s ride for a lifetime of fun.”A quick side note about Winnemucca is that they are a mining town. There are about three or four gold mines on the outskirts of the town and the town boasts a 2 percent unemployment rate because gold is at near record highs and the mines can’t get it out of the Earth fast enough. Good news on the economic front, at least for Winnemucca.
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