Nelson?! Where's Nelson?

Another day of gorgeous weather.  Ninety degrees feels just right out here.  Being such a beautiful day, Pam, Dennis and I jumped in the car and drove to Nelson.  Nelson, apparently unknown even to most Vegas locals, is an old mining town once known for its huge gold and silver deposits as well as its concentration of rowdy Civil War deserters.  It's roughly 20 miles southeast(?) of Vegas, and it's a wonderful drive through the desert and into the mountains to get there.  The outskirts of the town are made up of trailer homes.  They look kept up, though we never actually saw any people.  Leave that behind and head further into the mountains.  That's where the fun begins.

After driving through a mountain pass, Nelson comes into view, looking very much like I imagine it did in 1861 when it was established.  

Okay, the metal roofs probably weren't around at the time,  And of course, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that Nelson is filled with a bizarre collection of junk.

Apart from a handful of tourists, I'd venture to guess that the population of this part of Nelson was somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.  Two of those five work at a small shop, which is also filled with junk.  It was hard to tell what was for sale and what was out for decoration.  

Notice that the building below is called The Willard.  Every city needs a Willard, even the ghost towns.

After Nelson, we drove to Boulder City, home of the Hoover Dam.  There's a little bit of everything in Boulder City.  Parts of the place look like they date back to when cheap housing was put up quickly to house the Dam workers back in the 30s.  The main drag has been spruced up with lots of fun antique places and little restaurants.

There was also an Area 51 themed store, called Area 52, catering to all of your alien and anal probe needs.

I snapped a quick picture of my favorite of the antique stores.  Of the many I've seen since heading west, this one reminded me the most of Midland in Indy.  Certainly not as large, but they had some awesome furniture for cheap.  

My absolute favorite piece that I saw is the toreador pictured below.  He is missing his right arm, but if you looked at him at just the right angle, he looked like he's inconveniently adjusting his pants from behind.

Poor guy.  Will he never be comfortable in his pants?!