The Road To Reno

One never knows what one will stumble upon while traveling the great highways and byways of the USA.

We left Las Vegas and headed toward Reno with plans to stop overnight in Hawthorne Nevada. Seemingly out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to see or do. As it turned out – there was plenty to see Hawthorne was a great stop. But before we got there...

Shortly after leaving the area of Las Vegas we saw a strange looking aircraft in the distance. AREA 51 maybe? Nope. Shelley grabbed the binocs and said that it looked like a drone but was much bigger than she thought drones are – it was the size of a regular military aircraft – like a fighter. Shortly thereafter we passed a sign for Creech Air Force Base. Never heard of it. A quick Google informed us that Creech is where the Thunderbirds train and where drones are controlled from. A drone in Afghanistan? Controlled from Creech. A drone over Iran? Creech. Too bad – no pictures. The drone we saw was in the distance and had disappeared by the time we were abreast of the base.



Predator - Image stolen from the web.

 

On to Hawthorne.

Need bombs? Hawthorne has bombs. Lots and lots and lots of bombs. Miles of bunkers housing bombs – 3,000 bunkers full of - bombs. Hawthorne is the home of the U.S. Army Depot. This depot stores reserve ammunitions to be used after the first 30 days of a major conflict.



Bomb Museum, Hawthorne NV

 

Bomb Museum, Hawthorne NV

 

Bunkers and more bunkers

 


Very large bunker.  Most bunkers are hard to see - they just fade in to the landscape.

 

 

Rest Area - Whirlygigs made from what else?  BOMBS!

 

The next surprise? The entrance to a military facility that reads “Naval Undersea Warfare Center”

Hello? This is the Nevada, the desert. Navy? The best I can determine is that the Navy also has a munitions depot here and that possibly lots of mines are stored here. I don't know – and as they say – don't have a need to know.

 

 

Now for the last and best surprise. Wild Mustangs! Hawthorne sits at the southern end of Walker Lake.

Walker Lake

And on the land of the Army Depot where it abuts the lake is a herd of Mustangs. We were totally surprised. It was wonderful to see them. Our cameras did not allow for great pictures so I purloined a video link from youtube. Check out these beautiful animals click here ---->  Walker Lake Herd

 

 

 

 

Hawthorne - totally worth the visit.