When I asked Cindy what she wanted for her birthday this year, she said what most girls would say and told me that she wanted to go wheeling! In fact, wheeling is pretty much what she always asks for and over the years, it's kind of become a tradition for us. On this particular year, we decided to celebrate her birthday by heading out to Tonopah, one of our most favorite towns in the State of Nevada and use it as a base camp where we could head out into the vast desert from there. Of course, what would a birthday party be without good friends to celebrate with and as luck would have it, Doug, Tony and Steph, Rachel and Ray, Ben and Alex, Jason and Chris and Jen were all able to join in on the fun. The best part of all this was that Jen shares the same birthday as Cindy and so we were able to make this into a toofer! Below are a few photos highlighting the good times we had. I hope you enjoy 
In addition to heading way out into the middle of nowhere Nevada, we knew there was a good chance of there being snow and that always eats up a lot more gas. Needless to say, I spent some time the day before the trip getting Moby prepared.
Of course, Cindy made sure to bake some survival cookies and enough for all our friends.
In spite of the fact that her birthday is in January, we've always found it to be unseasonably warm and to the point where it was down right balmy. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case for 2017. On the morning of our trip, it was a frigid 7° out and very much still winter.
All packed up and ready to head out.
But first, we met up with Trail Bud over at one of our favorite breakfast spots in town, the Red Hut.
On our way down, we decided to make a stop along the shores of the ancient Walker Lake.
Once a part of the enormous Lake Lahontan that spread clear across northwestern Nevada just 15,000 years ago, it continued to remain a massive body of water in its own right or at least, up until the 20th century. Today, it stand at a fraction of it's size from just 50 years ago and various markers have been erected to show where the shoreline had been over the years.
Shortly after leaving Walker Lake, the landscape quickly turned into a wide open desert winter wonderland.
A shot of the towering White Mountains with peaks reaching over 14,000 feet above sea level.
On our way to Tonopah, we decided to make a detour to do some exploring.
Just about to our destination.
And here we are - The Sump!
We're definitely gonna have to come back when there isn't so much snow covering all the colorful rocks that are normally here.
Millions of years ago, this area out in the middle of the Nevada desert was once a swap teaming with trees and prehistoric life. In fact, spires like the one Trail Bud is standing next to were created as the earth eroded around the root systems of the petrified trees that once stood here.
After our fun exploring some of the cool things you can find out in the desert, we made our way to an unusually snowy Tonopah.
Ahhh, home for the night at our favorite haunted hotel - the Mizpah!
Time to chill with some whiskey while we wait for more of our friends to arrive.
With everyone present and accounted for, it was time to have some fun. Here's Steph making considerable headway with just a dollar.
And here's Chris losing his $20.
To good times with good friends and a very happy birthday to Cindy and Jen - CHEERS!
In addition to heading way out into the middle of nowhere Nevada, we knew there was a good chance of there being snow and that always eats up a lot more gas. Needless to say, I spent some time the day before the trip getting Moby prepared.
Of course, Cindy made sure to bake some survival cookies and enough for all our friends.
In spite of the fact that her birthday is in January, we've always found it to be unseasonably warm and to the point where it was down right balmy. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case for 2017. On the morning of our trip, it was a frigid 7° out and very much still winter.
All packed up and ready to head out.
But first, we met up with Trail Bud over at one of our favorite breakfast spots in town, the Red Hut.
On our way down, we decided to make a stop along the shores of the ancient Walker Lake.
Once a part of the enormous Lake Lahontan that spread clear across northwestern Nevada just 15,000 years ago, it continued to remain a massive body of water in its own right or at least, up until the 20th century. Today, it stand at a fraction of it's size from just 50 years ago and various markers have been erected to show where the shoreline had been over the years.
Shortly after leaving Walker Lake, the landscape quickly turned into a wide open desert winter wonderland.
A shot of the towering White Mountains with peaks reaching over 14,000 feet above sea level.
On our way to Tonopah, we decided to make a detour to do some exploring.
Just about to our destination.
And here we are - The Sump!
We're definitely gonna have to come back when there isn't so much snow covering all the colorful rocks that are normally here.
Millions of years ago, this area out in the middle of the Nevada desert was once a swap teaming with trees and prehistoric life. In fact, spires like the one Trail Bud is standing next to were created as the earth eroded around the root systems of the petrified trees that once stood here.
After our fun exploring some of the cool things you can find out in the desert, we made our way to an unusually snowy Tonopah.
Ahhh, home for the night at our favorite haunted hotel - the Mizpah!
Time to chill with some whiskey while we wait for more of our friends to arrive.
With everyone present and accounted for, it was time to have some fun. Here's Steph making considerable headway with just a dollar.
And here's Chris losing his $20.
To good times with good friends and a very happy birthday to Cindy and Jen - CHEERS!
