going for a drive

because i'm a dork, i got up the next morning and suited up to head out for a workout.  and why?  well, that would be because i'd checked online and found that the conrad had not just one, not even two, but SIX peloton bikes in their fitness center.  yup.

not to mention, because the hotel was still so new, the entire gym was pretty awesome and filled with all the most current equipment.  when i finished my ride, i walked around a little and checked it all out.

in the back corner there was a theragun station complete with massage beds - but it wasn't a free-for-all.  you had to book a time with a therapist for a session, which actually sounded kind of terrible since it was all out in the open.  

this power plate thing was intriguing.  i stepped up on this one and pushed a few buttons, but it seemed a lot more complicated than i'd imagined and i got off of it right away.

this fancy contraption offered a choice between fresh still and bubbly, fizzy water.

on my way out i gazed longingly at the spa, which looked so relaxing and inviting.  next time, maybe.

blurry sweaty selfie!

after i'd showered and gotten my stuff all packed up and ready to go, the hub sent me and the bean out into the shopping area of the resort in search of some coffee from their starbucks.  this shop looked interesting, although not one i could check out with the bean in tow.

there was a lot of empty space in there, so it didn't take much time to browse through it.

with a whole week of spring break still ahead of us, we'd originally planned to do a crazy road trip that would take us from vegas up through idaho and into washington, ending in seattle and then a nice drive down the coast to get home.  but as we researched further and attempted to map out our trip, we came to the realization that it would be a very long, rather boring drive with not much to see along the way and very few options for things to stop off and look at.  and so we made some adjustments and decided that we'd drive to lake tahoe and make our way towards san francisco and then proceed down the coast with stops in cambria and santa barbara.

lilcee & co. wanted to spend a little more time in the vegas before heading home and were still relaxing in their room, so i just texted them our goodbyes and then we hit the road.

even with our new plan, there was a lot of open road in front of us that didn't offer a ton of fun scenery to look at.  the bean napped for a majority of the drive, and while i tried to fight it i eventually fell asleep too.  i can never be in the car for any extended amount of time without passing out cold...like a baby.  the hub knows this, though, and luckily doesn't mind it.

when i woke up, we were pulling off the main road and passing a sign that told us we were entering the international car forest of the last church.  WUT.

and once we were done driving through that, we found ourselves in the tiny community of goldfield, nevada.  it was once the biggest city in the state thanks to a major gold discovery in the very early 1900s, and wyatt earp lived here for awhile.  most of the town was destroyed by a fire in the 20s and less than 300 people live here now.

about a half hour later we found ourselves in tonopah, stopping for a snack and a cold root beer at the a&w housed in an old hotel and casino.

and at the edge of town we discovered something that's what nightmares are definitely made of - the world famous clown motel.  CLOWN. MOTEL.  i only ventured just close enough to take some pictures because how could i not?  but i drew the line at going inside.  that's a hell naw.

especially when i walked up near the entrance to the office and saw this:

and turned to my right and saw this:

i mean...i'm getting the heebie jeebies just looking at these pictures.  i had goosebumps the whole time and i seriously couldn't get back in the car fast enough.  the vibe there was just...not cool.

tonopah started out as a thriving mining community after the discovery of silver rich ore in the area.  the cemetery was built just after the turn of the century but was closed just a decade later, and apparently is full of all sorts of unsavory characters.  the town suffered from all kinds of things from the plague to fires to hundreds of mining accidents, with one of the fire victims having left behind a huge collection of...clowns.  you can thank his kids for the eventual existence of the clown motel, and of course it's attracted all kinds of attention with reports of paranormal activity throughout the property.  NOPE NOPE NOPE.

the rest of the drive was pretty uneventful.  this lake was pretty, though.

we stopped at red's old 395 in carson city for dinner.

and then a little after 8:00 we finally pulled into the hyatt in lake tahoe.

as we waited for the hub to get us checked in, i peeked through the fireplace in the lobby and got a view of the casino on the other side.

home for the night:

from vegas to tahoe in one day.  gotta love road trippin'!