April 26, 2010: Carson City, Nevada

Carson City is the capital of Nevada. This is a quiet little city separated from the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas and Reno (but within forty minutes of Reno). It's easy to get around and all the state government buildings are fairly close together, yet without the congestion found in Albany, NY.

My first stop was the Nevada Railroad Museum. I took numerous photos. They are apparently restoring a particular train just in time for the 100th anniversary of its first run. They hope to have it running by the anniversary date in mid May. Engines are also available to be run for movies (provided the studio forks over a lot of money). They had numerous cars, engines, and models. I was fortunate to be visiting on a Monday since the museum is only open Fridays through Mondays.

My next stop was the capitol. This is a fairly small building with a silver dome. The people are very friendly inside. Once you get inside and go through the metal detectors, you are free to roam around. For the most part, only the governor's staff and a few other small offices (such as the state treasurer) are in the building. The attorney general's office is across the road, and state agencies have their own separate buildings. The State Assembly and State Senate used to be housed in the capitol building but these rooms are now set up as museums. The State Assembly and State Senate now have their own shared building adjacent to the capitol.

People are free to walk right into the governor's office. The current governor, Jim Gibbons, has a banner over the office which reads "The people of Nevada deserve a government that works for them, not AGAINST them." I certainly agree with that statement (applying it to people of every state, of course). It's refreshing to see something like that over a chief executive's office.

The old State Senate room is now a museum on the founding of Nevada. Nevada was originally part of the Utah territory, but the people of Nevada wanted to be their own territory and eventually their own state. They began a territorial government before the Federal government recognized them as a separate territory. The discovery of silver gave them more pull to demand this status. In the waning days of the James Buchanan administration (1857 - 1861), Buchanan signed the act to make a separate territory of Nevada. In 1864, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Nevada a state. Nevada points out that it is "battle born" since it became a state during the Civil War.

This trip marks my third trip involving a visit to Nevada. Between the trip to Virginia City and now the capitol, I've really become fascinated with Nevada history. Most people know of Nevada as the state that includes Las Vegas. They think of gambling and not much else when it comes to Nevada. But Nevada is so much more. The state is vast and has beautiful scenery. It has a very colorful history relating to mining and the Old West. I definitely want to study more about Nevada (not including the gambling) when I get back home.

I briefly visited the state library to look through some books related to Nevada history. There is quite a bit about Mark Twain, of course. I also tried to visit the state museum, but it happened to be closed that day.

I had to keep moving east (getting all the bonus points required a stay at a different hotel each night, plus I wanted to make progress in getting home). My next hotel was not too far away. It was in a small city named Fernley. I wanted to take US 50 (note there is no I-50), which cuts across the upper middle section of Nevada. The Nevada portion of this road is hyped as "the loneliest road in the lower 48." I'll have more commentary about this in tomorrow's report, but suffice to say it's all hype. There are other US routes in Nevada (like US 93) and other states that are far more deserving of that title. And yes, I've been on those roads which I would consider even lonelier. California itself (the most populous state in the country) certainly has some of what I would consider lonelier roads.

Fernley is about an hour away from Carson City. It's a stop along I-80, and in order to get to it via US 50 (the "loneliest road in the lower 48") I had to plug in Silver Springs, NV. Otherwise, the GPS would have put me back on I-80. The city has a post office, a few restaurants, some outlying areas, etc., but it is very small in terms of the main part of the city. There are truck stops along I-80. My hotel was a brand new Comfort Suites which charged very reasonable rates since it was new. Parts of it were still under construction. If it was not for the exit on I-80, this hotel definitely would not be needed for such a small city.


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Despite being a small city, there were at least two Mexican restaurants (maybe more), plus even a grocery store specializing in Mexican food. Throughout the west, of course Mexican food is extremely popular. I relented from my diet and had a taco salad. It was good, but I regretted it. I was not used to eating that much, and I felt like I ate far more than I could handle. (In prior years, I would constantly have Mexican food. That was not good for my weight or my wallet.) I decided I would go back to Subway for future meals.