In front of the infamous 'Shoe Tree'

Today we took a little side trip from Fallon, NV via Highway 50, better known as “The Loneliest Road in America“, to a little spot about 50 miles east and near Middlegate, NV. This is the site of “The Shoe Tree” which we first spotted by happenstance back in 2003 when traveling by RV for the first time on our way ‘Out West’.

Since we were so close to this unique little spot, we decided to revisit it and leave a little something this time – a pair of Chuck’s old tennis shoes. We wrote our names on them (including Chiisai’s who was with us the first time we were there) and the date. After a few (actually several) tries, we finally got the shoes in the tree.

It was interesting to see the tree again, now that we knew a little of its history and that it’s actually not the only one in the world. It certainly had a LOT more shoes in it that it did six years ago. After our nostalgic trip, we continued on to Old Middlegate Station, which is just a mile or two away.

"Just how much money is up there?"

Middlegate is the site of an old Pony Express stop, and it certainly looks it. We highly recommend stopping here if you’re ever traveling along Highway 50. The people are friendly and the place is just unique. There are dollar bills all over the ceiling that patrons have signed and stuck up there. There are all manners of interesting memorabilia (some might call junk) in and around the place. We were told that you can camp overnight in your RV for free, though we didn’t as this was a day trip for us. There is also food if you’re hungry, cooked fresh and hot.

We got to Middlegate right around lunchtime and were told by the cook / waitress / cashier that they had the best hamburgers around. We’ve heard that a million times before, only to be sorely disappointed with yet another frozen patty burnt to a crisp, but we decided to give it a try anyway and were pleasantly surprised. Our cheeseburgers were thicker than usual, juicy, and had a nice flavor. They were served on fresh kaiser rolls with fresh, piping hot fries on the side. We ended up taking about half of our burgers back with us, as they were big and very filling. The prices were a little high in our opinion ($7.95 each) but it was okay for a day-trip lunch.

Shadow making friends again.

The best part of our stop at Middlegate was the friendly reception that Shadow received. Not only was she welcome on the premises, but she was allowed right inside with us while we ate! Now, that was a first. We were all ready to eat outside under the shade trees at the picnic tables they had available, but while Chuck was inside ordering and Shadow and I were outside waiting, he was told to bring her on in. Turns out the cook is a dog lover with two of her own at home, so was more than happy to serve a cute little furry face. It’s interesting how we’ve noticed the further west and the more rural we go in this country, the less uptight people are about pets – dogs in particular. It’s SO nice!

More photos of the Shoe Tree and Middlegate, NV are in The Shoe Tree Gallery at Chippewa Marine Photography.