Day 9, Westward to eastward and still on the road

Starting point: Ely, Nevada
Ending point: ???
Miles: 216...

We left the KOA in the morning, ready for our final push. We hit the dirt, divided roads that fished all across the Nevada plains, outlined by sagebrush and dust. Sand storms erupted in the distance and often crossed paths with us. The riders and the vehicles struggled, traveling less than 20 mph at some points. We were so close...



In 1861, Abraham Lincoln addressed the country with a message of unity. He was on the east coast and with the lack of communication technology, some worried that his message wouldn’t reach the west coast in time to unify the states before infant America exploded in a conflict of interests. The message reached St. Joseph, Missouri, the birthplace of the Pony Express. Majors, Waddell and Russell (Pony Express owners/founders) stationed extra horses along the route and riders rested and geared up. The weather stayed the same, threatening them all with the possibility of disaster. Riders assumed position and raced as fast as possible. Seven days and seventeen hours, the message reached California. Shortly afterward, the sunshine state decided to support the union and helped the cause of unity during the following Civil War. Not only had Pony Express riders made a record delivery time, but they made history.






In 2009, the ALT Project challenged those riders. We raced across the country, headed westward. We faced similar weather, although we were not forced to travel through snow and dark. We met rain, sand and blistering heat. Our riders had already struggled through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and we were ...


Seven days, seventeen hours ...

Thousands of miles from home ...

Exhaustion and excitement ...

The DVD will finish the story. Check out www.jma.duq.edu/alt for more information. Our post-production should be completed by the beginning of 2010, so if you want to find out the outcome of our journey, just hold on tight and we’ll take you for a ride.



Thanks for following our journey through the less traveled roads of this beautiful country. We are planning more productions, and if you are interesting in donating to or sponsoring our educational explorations, please contact thealtproject.us@gmail.com.