Sandoval kicks off 'Discover Your Nevada' campaign

Bruno's Country Club, A Cowboy's Dream Bed & Breakfast and the earthquake faults in Dixie Valley are on the itinerary for springtime road trips for Nevada's top elected official.

Gov. Brian Sandoval hopes thousands of Nevada residents will follow his footsteps this summer into the far reaches of the state. And to spur Nevadans' imaginations, the Nevada Commission on Tourism is seeking residents' thoughts about their favorite places in voting that ultimately will lead to a list of six of the state's top treasures.

The "Discover Your Nevada" campaign, kicked off Thursday by the tourism commission, seeks to bolster the state's tourism economy. About one-third of the state's workers rely on tourism in one form or another, said Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, and a dollar spent in a rural hotel by a visitor from Carson City is just as helpful as a dollar spent by a tourist from Europe.

"This campaign is an example of Nevadans helping Nevadans by doing something they do every summer, anyway: travel," said Krolicki, who also serves as chair of the commission on tourism.

But, Krolicki said, "This isn't just about dollars. This is a lot of fun."

The fun starts this week as state residents are invited to submit their nominations for Nevada's treasures. (To vote, see www.DiscoverYourNevada.com.) Voting over the next couple of weeks will begin winnowing down the nominees, and further rounds of voting will follow until the top treasures are announced May 15.

Sandoval, meanwhile, plans at least three road trips this spring. The itineraries include visits to Bruno's Country Club in Gerlach, A Cowboy's Dream Bed & Breakfast near Alamo, and the earthquake faults in Dixie County northeast of Fallon.

The governor said Thursday that he already has many fond memories of trips to rural Nevada, including a visit to the ghost town of Berlin and the near-ghost town of Ione, which are between Gabbs and Austin.

The importance of those trips was reinforced recently, he said, when his son chose the journeys as the subject of a high school essay about special days in his life.