Nevada Heartland

From the Old West to the nuclear age, we’ll cover the state’s heartland in central and southern Nevada. We’ll visit the town of Alamo, find a working turquoise mine, stop by the largest candy shop in the state, look for aliens in Rachel and admire the International Car Forest — yes, a forest of cars.

It's all about the burros or is it?

We’ve covered more than 1,000 miles over the past week– 1,065.9 miles to be exact, but who’s counting? – and we’re back in Las Vegas for a few days before we venture out again.

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An international encounter in Goldfield

At a police scene in Goldfield, two fashionable Spanish women walked up to officers to ask questions and take pictures.

I was asked by a travel writer to describe the most surprising or notable thing from our travels, and that’s a difficult question.

I was accosted this morning as I was checking out of a Tonopah hotel.

Paging Robin Leach: We're live at the fabulous Goldfield Hotel

The Goldfield Hotel is a monument to the mining boom in Central Nevada. Opened in 1908, it is an impressive brick building, and was opulent – plush carpet, thick leather chairs and 150 rooms, including 45 suites with bathrooms.

Goldfield came to life in the early 1900s after the discovery of gold in Tonopah. It was aptly named: the ore was filled with gold, but there wasn’t much more than a field – it was shallow and ran out quickly.

One of the wonderful things about this trip is that our plans aren’t set in stone, and we’ve had some great moments of serendipity along the way.

The Mizpah mine, shown here on Sept. 19, 2013, is part of the Tonopah Historic Mining Park.

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Looking for two angry miners in Tonopah

If you like ghost stories and ghost hunting, the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah is the place to be. Unlike the Goldfield Hotel, which is a focal point of ghost hunters, the Mizpah is open and you can stay here. And there’s a roster of ghosts.

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Moving on from an unhaunting experience

Last night, Mike and I checked into the Mizpah Hotel and headed up to our room, which had a plaque next to the door. It’s called the Key Pittman Suite. No, we haven’t seen the senator yet, but it’s still early, and we may be on the wrong floor.

There's more than meets the eye

We spent most of the day in Belmont, and, sad to say, we didn’t see it all. Given that it’s a small mining town, you might wonder how that’s possible, but trust me.

Retired schoolteacher Terry Terras leads a tour through the historic Belmont Courthouse to explain renovations.

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Charles Manson, Belmont and a woman named Rose

If you know anything about Belmont, you’ve probably heard the story about how Charles Manson’s family stayed in the courthouse, or at least left some graffiti in it.

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Meet Sen. Key Pittman, D-Ghostville

A few years ago, I was chatting with a clerk at the Jim Butler Inn about rumors about someone buying the then-shuttered Mizpah Hotel, which is next door. She had heard of it and thought it might happen. (It did; the Mizpah reopened not long after.) But as of then, she said, there was nothing going on at the Mizpah except the usual “activity.”

Don’t be jealous, but Mike and I took off our jackets at lunchtime. Yes, jackets. It was cool this morning in Belmont, which is about 45 miles north of Tonopah. (It’s just about the geographic center of the state.) And, the weather required jackets, which after a summer in Las Vegas, was wonderful.

This cartoon is based on a true story

The ballad of Leo and Sassy Max

Leo Dever could play Willie Nelson in one of the Strip’s tribute acts. He has the look — hair braids stream out of a faded black skullcap; a long, combed beard falls down like a mane; a wiry frame and a world-tested look make him a natural. But Dever, 58, is far from the Strip. On Monday, he was pushing his blue-and-white Cannondale mountain bike up the steep Queens City Summit outside of Rachel.

As I write this, I’m sitting at the bar in the Belmont Inn & Saloon, drinking a Coke and taking in the atmosphere.

Leo Dever and Sassy Max, a bright-eyed 4-year-old Shih Tzu-terrier mix, on Highway 375 walk up the Queens City Summit outside of Rachel, NV, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013. Leo and Sassy are riding across America on a Cannondale mountain bike.

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We’re not paranoid – we’re being followed

We started this morning in Beatty and headed north to Tonopah, and then we were stopped in Goldfield as law enforcement officials had clearing the historic Esmeralda County Courthouse because of a reported bomb.

Belmont: A living ghost town

Belmont has a colorful history and is a true Nevada town. Silver was discovered in 1865 and two years later, Belmont was bustling and named the seat of Nye County. But the boom didn't last long.

Tonopah: Once royalty

Halfway between Las Vegas and Reno, Tonopah was the boomtown’s boomtown. High quality (and high quantity) silver ore was discovered in 1900 by a rancher named Jim Butler, and the town that would become known as the “Queen of the Silver Camps” was born.

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Heading to old mining haunts

Greetings from Beatty, home of the state’s (the world's?) largest candy store.

Well, we rolled into Tonopah tonight after a day without cellphone service and found … nothing. There are no hotel rooms to be found. Reservations? Please. I have a few reservations about Tonopah, but none of the hotel kind. (No offense, my Tonopah friends.) We walked into one hotel, and the woman behind the reservation desk shook her head when I asked. Really, I asked, what’s going on here?

A tall, silver alien statute stands guard at the Alien Research Center in Crystal Springs on Monday, Sept. 16, 2013.

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So we witnessed the old, the mining site created by hand, and the new, the nuclear test site and a beast of a 4x4. And there were more contradictions — on our way to Morey, we passed a field covered in stone markers. They were placed by the Energy Department warning people not to dig due to petroleum contamination. It was strange given the site we passed was originally designated as a nuclear test site but never used for that purpose. Yet there was a contaminated site, which looked like a cemetery for giants, and it was surrounded by the incredible natural beauty of the high desert.

Faultless: An important site far from civilization

In the 1960s, after some earth-rattling, window-breaking nuclear tests on the Nevada Test Site, the Atomic Energy Commission started exploring more remote sites and came here.

Of aliens and other things

Why did the cow cross the road? Or was it really a cow? These are questions you ask yourself in Rachel.

Rachel: Area 51, aliens and the bovine kind

Rachel is a relatively new town, started in the 1970s by a farmer. It's small, but it has attracted attention and visitors from around the world.

Read a story on the traveling stones of Pahranagat Valley.

Crystal Springs: Old West meets extraterrestrial

This is the first spot on the eastern side of Highway 375, which in the 1990s was renamed the Extraterrestrial Highway in honor of nearby Area 51. But this place has a history before there were rumors about little green men and UFOs.

Moving stones and roaming dead zones

Can you hear me now? No? How about now? Hello? Hello?

What used to be main street in St. Thomas, Nev., as seen on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013.

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No Internet par for the course in rural Nevada

We are wrapping up in Alamo after a long first day on the road. We’re working through one of the difficulties of rural Nevada – finding reliable Internet service.

Alamo: A piece of the old West

Alamo is a little stop along U.S. 93 in the Pahranagat Valley, which is a long, narrow green stretch fed by a creek.

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Coyote Springs: An unfulfilled promise

The plans for Coyote Springs were grand, if not grandiose.

We’ve stopped for lunch in Overton at Sugar’s Home Plate - a sports-themed joint with framed jerseys on the wall and deep red vinyl booths with sagging seats and Formica-topped tables with the wood design worn through.

Steve Daron, Lake Mead National Recreation Area cultural resource manager, stands at the remains of the schoolhouse at the town of St. Thomas Monday, July 22, 2013. The town started as a farming settlement in 1865 but was covered by the rising waters of Lake Mead in the 1930's after the construction of Hoover Dam.

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A tour of the town of St. Thomas in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monday, July 22, 2013. The town started as a farming settlement in 1865 but was covered by the rising waters of Lake Mead in the 1930's after the construction of Hoover Dam.

St. Thomas: A high-and-dry ghost town

St. Thomas is known for one thing: It was the town that was flooded in 1938 by Hoover Dam.

Cemeteries aren’t my favorite destination, but they offer unique insight into a place and its people, so we headed off to the St. Thomas cemetery.

Mike and I are on the road headed toward the ruins of St. Thomas to start the Finding Nevada project.

Finding Nevada: Bouncing around the back roads to find out where we've been and where we are

Next year, Nevada will celebrate its 150th anniversary, and to gear up for the party, editorial cartoonist Mike Smith and I are going on a series of road trips. Our objective: to explore the landscape, discover the places and meet the people who distinguish Nevada. We’re calling our journey “Finding Nevada,” and we want you to join us.

Join Matt and Mike's journey with your comments below. Tell them where they should eat, who they should meet or what they should see on this trip, share your experiences with the places they are visiting or explain why Nevada is interesting to you.

Nevada Heartland

Day 7 - Saturday September 21

Day 6 - Friday September 20

Day 5 - Thursday September 19

Finding Nevada: Day Five

Day 4 - Thursday September 19

Finding Nevada: Day Four

Day 3 - Wednesday September 18

Finding Nevada: Day Three

Day 2 - Monday September 16

Finding Nevada: Day Two

Day 1 - Monday September 16

Finding Nevada: Day One

A Tour of St. Thomas

Finding Nevada