Well folks, I’ve finally returned from my short vacation to Nevada. It was a wonderful whirlwind few days of road-tripping, in-laws, ghost towns, and desert heat. As I promised, I’d blog about interesting design I encountered along the way. Since there were so many places we went, I’ll be breaking it up into several posts over the next week.

So here begins the tour. The first leg required us to drive from Las Vegas to Eureka, Nevada, where the wedding was being held. We decided to take the Extraterrestrial Highway (Route 375) which runs past Area 51, as it was only a slight detour to our destination.

Unfortunately, most of the drive was pretty boring. It looked like this.

I thought there would be more sights along the way. But no. Nothing. And no UFOs.

The biggest attraction on the highway, besides the numerous unexplained sightings, is the little town of Rachel, named for the first child born there.

As I found with Nevada in general, there’s a lot of retro kitsch to be appreciated if you’re into that. I am, so I enjoyed the populuxe signs and the crazy clutter of the world famous A’le’inn.

The proprietor’s daughter told us that just last week Hannity’s America passed through, interviewing everyone (again) for Conspiracy Month. They didn’t use her interview though, since she doesn’t believe in any conspiracy. Guess it doesn’t make for good television. (You can watch the finished clip on their site.)

Here’s my husband sitting at the bar of the A’le’inn. Surrounded by alien art and knickknacks.

Close up behind the bar. Currency from around the world and more knickknacks.

Shots of the interior. Lots of little green guys for sale.

Check out the family in the back. Photos of “sightings” taped to the wall. Slot machines too.

I loved this poster.

Other than that there wasn’t much else to see, so on we drove…

Next stop: Discovering the charm of the old west in Eureka.