This chronicle of trucking in the Silver State begins with the Teamsters of the late 1800s and follows the transportation trail as it progressed from bullwhacker to throttle jockey. For truckers and non truckers alike it provides an insight into the building of Nevada-based trucking companies along with those folks that provided food and fuel. It is a narrative of early trucking and some strong willed people that worked hard to make their living over and along the roads and highways that traverse Nevada’s high desert. Some business owners would expand and continue as part of today’s Nevada trucking industry, while others remained small or disappeared into antiquity.
In the minds of old-school truckers, it will evoke memories of their time behind the wheel and the camaraderie between the drivers of their day. The modern-day trucker will come away with an understanding of how the trucking industry evolved, not only in Nevada, but across the country. It tells of the times when truckers were respected and their trucks received the full service treatment at the fuel islands. It recalls a time when drivers ate in little greasy spoon cafés and filled their bellies full of cholesterol before it was taboo and when black coffee was their energy drink.
The book will place the reader in the cab of a trucking time machine that covers over a hundred and fifty years of Nevada’s transportation industry. Come and ride along the roads of the past with hardworking teamsters and truckers. Sit on a stool at a truck stop run by those special and sometimes eccentric people who chose to cater to the travelers of an earlier time in remote areas of Nevada. As you open the pages of this book, over 200 hundred photographs will bring to life the stories as your adventure unfolds.
More and more people are hitting the road to the middle of nowhere. Along less-traveled paths they are heading up mountains and down dunes in converted mobile homes, campers, trucks, or vans. They are enjoying the drive and the view through mud-splattered windshields as much as the stops and evening campfires amid stunning terrain. Although many of us love living in cities, we have a growing longing to escape into nature. The outdoor scene is booming and many people are heading off to discover it with their own converted vehicles. This way, they can determine their own routes, itineraries, and pace, as well as how many challenges they’d like to meet along the way. After a day on the go, these multifunctional vehicles also serve as kitchens, campgrounds, and sleeping quarters that offer a great deal more improvised fun than a standard, perfectly equipped RV. Conventional luxuries are eschewed for the sake of greater freedom, tranquility, and adventure. Off the Road captures the special mood of such trips by solo travelers, couples, or families who are seeking an alternative to a more standard vacation or want to live their lives differently ―at least for a while. On the one hand, the book shows how familiar models, such as VW buses, Land Rovers, jeeps, and Toyotas are being rediscovered and repurposed for these exploits. On the other, it presents automotive dreams turned into customized, homey vehicles that offer tailgate breakfasts or roof beds to better admire the stars and that can, in an emergency, cross a river or drag a fallen tree from the road. Whether exploring the desert, showing children the world, or navigating polar landscapes, the journeys collected in Off the Road are as unique as the people who take them. From radical escapists to fans of nature looking for their next trip, the book celebrates the joy of being on the go on four wheels.
Ghost towns lie all along the Mother Road. The quintessential boom-and-bust highway of the American West, Route 66 once hosted a thriving array of boom towns built around oil mines, railroad stops, cattle ranches, resorts, stagecoach stops, and gold mines. Join Route 66 expert Jim Hinckley as he tours more than 25 ghost towns, rich in stories and history, complemented by gorgeous sepia-tone and color photography by Kerrick James. Also includes directions and travel tips for your ghost-town explorations along Route 66!
