I slept at a rest stop in Tonopah, which looks creepy at night but is actually very nice during the day. I got up and fed the pigeons which came out of nowhere. There was also three doves too busy beating the crap out of each other to get any of the stale bread I threw to them. Little sparrows would often sprint by and snatch something from the pigeons. I was having a lot of fun that morning.

However, when I drove away I realized how odd a place Tonopah really was. Half the town was boarded up, or more of it really. In all of main street the only business still running was a tour guide’s office to go on a mule-drawn silver mine tour. Slightly up the road was the strangest looking McDonald’s I had ever seen. The bathrooms were imported from a post apocalyptic vision. Although it did have a toilet that flushed everything else in the bathroom appeared to be a prop. The sink was clogged, the soap was missing, and blow dryer had wheezed it’s last long before I got there. Just as well, who needs to wash their hands after a toilet paper-less experience in a dingy McDonald’s bathroom anyway?

But the bathrooms weren’t the crowning jewel of this place. No, that was the swarm of people. At ten in the morning this joint was hoppin’! Sooo many people! In fact I think some of the children I spotted at Joshua tree were here – either in the flesh or in the literally dozens of missing person posters hanging on every wall. Made one wonder what was in the burgers…. Quick Batman! Back to the Jeep!

 

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!