Captain’s Log – Home Means Nevada to Me

“There is a land that I love the best, fairer than all I can see…” I’ve lost my heart to the deserts of Nevada. 

What a beautiful state we live in. I’ve had the privilege of trekking across the better part of every square inch of the southern climes of this gorgeous landscape for the past two weeks. My moonlighting day job has taken me to places we don’t normally cover, from Laughlin to Fish Lake Valley, Pahrump to Tonopah, with stops in Goldfield, Beatty, Searchlight, and CalNevAri.

Most of us are unaware there is a tiny little spot in between Vegas and Laughlin where the mountains to the west stack in ever-impressive stair-steps into the hazy distance, and Nancy and Slim Kidwell acquired 640 acres from the federal government in the mid-60s to develop an airport-based community where today 244 people still live. There is a casino, a motel, a convenience store, and 100 residential lots. And a private water system owned by the company that bought the town in 2016.

There are so many stories.

Last week I staged out of Tonopah, returning each night from community meetings in the wilds – the Frontier – as the locals say. There just happened to be a gem and rock show going on in Tonopah at the same time, so of course I had to go see. One of the booths, run by a husband-and-wife team selling gorgeous turquoise and fancy gems, also had a glass case full of metal pieces that Mr. had found over the years as he scavenged through our tiny desert towns.

Right there, next to car emblems and hotel memorabilia, was a genuine Tiffany Co. sterling silver heart, numbered and everything. He had found it years ago in the dirt in Goldfield. 

You know how sometimes there are just things you do without question. Take a trip. Change your name. Buy a horse. You know, the crazy, nonsensical, fabulous things that make life matter. The things we really live for – the things that make it all fun and enjoyable and all the slogging worthwhile.

Of course, I ran out to the truck and scrounged through the console for whatever cash might be lying around discarded at the coffee drive-through, and I came up with enough to get myself that pretty little silver heart.

Leanna and I always talk about how easy we are to please. A nice steak, a beautiful notebook, a pen that writes smooth and rich. An old, tarnished silver heart with a story no one will ever know, lost in the magical dirt of a town rich with lore.

So, while I wear my new treasure in Laughlin this week and wonder about who lost her heart in Goldfield, we’ll still be right here… 

…Keeping you Posted. 

Rach