Camping In Vegas

 After the blizzard conditions that the van with a name pulled us through without so much as a slip, or a skid , we continued to travel south through eastern Nevada. In one end and out the other of  Elko.

We did a run down 229, and intersected with US 93 the original Lincon highway in Nevada.

What Is Left Of The Linclon Highway Marker

Then it was south to Ely and on a night in a KOA that I gave low marks to a couple of years ago, but this time the showers were hot. The night was not as the low temperature got down to 9 above zero.

The van with a name, heater did a lot of running overnight , sometimes on high, and the noise from the thing made for a restless night. Needless to say, in the am the water was frozen, but would thaw out later in the day, and without any damage.

The infamous Trones noticed that she needed to be at the Las Vegas sooner than we anticipated, so we started to make a more direct trip to be able to meet the deadline. This provided us with a unique opportunity to sample some motorway food.

Is The Box More Nutritious?

It was quite exciting to arrive in Vegas and be treated to combat driving on the city’s many multi lane highways full of fast-moving cars.

After getting tied down at the world-famous Arizona Charley’s RV paradise we were treated to auto acrobatics by a couple of uber drivers who invented the traffic laws as the speeded through the traffic.

Trones got to the airport on time and Kriss got her hired camper van picked up in time.  

I put  all my money on red 32, and well I may not have any change left for blog ink.

 

 

 

Free Flying

 As any real laskan sourdough or sour Jill knows just about the only way to get in or out of laska is in a plane, and as I was getting ready to go on a holiday that involved air travel I was getting just a little more apprehensive than  normal, because, as everyone should be aware by now our great felon 47 and his pal musk have been dismantling our government , and stealing the money for themselves, and as my travel day grew closer who knew if there would be a FAA by then.

No Rules No Problem

When I called the airline, they said there shouldn’t be a issue but just in case they suggested arriving at the airport early to practice on the slides, they had installed at the gate,  so in case of evacuation I would be ready.

Straight slide for high class passengers and twisty slide for everyone beyond row 4

The flight went off without a hitch and soon enough  I was sitting in the high-class lounge in SEA trying to get club soda out of a overcomplex soda machine. 

Ice Cold Back In The Day 

The flight into Spokane was also uneventful and soon we were on the ground bags in hand, and off to see Buster.

Buster Will Eat Your Ice 

The next day it was time to fire up the van with a name.  The van had had quite a winter sitting in some cold temperatures. My clear dishwashing liquid was now white. A can of club soda left in the refrigerator had exploded and ripped the can to shreds. The tabasco sauce left over the winter was fine after a few shakes of the bottle.

The vans battery was dead, but the engine came to life after a jump. Hoping that the battery might take a charge we went for a test drive, got the tire pressure checked, and returned to the vehicle with the jumper cables. The battery was having nothing to do with taking a charge. All it took to get the battery replaced was a call to a local shop, a short drive, and a credit card. The van was back in business.

The trip  out of Spokane and into Pendleton Oregon was a smooth ride, and just about long enough for a first day on the road.

It was Sunday so there were no tours at the famous Pendleton Woolen mills. But you could peek into the works of the mill.

Since Planning is everything when starting off on a couple of months road trip,  I like to start off in some lousy weather, and I was not disappointed on this trip.

Just A Minor Blizzard

The second day our we ran into snow. More snow than I had driven in all winter. The snow was followed by a frigid night in Ely Nevada.

Finally dropping down out of the very high desert into the high desert the temperatures warmed up and by the time we pulled into Las Vegas the weather was just about perfect…

 

 

Great Basin

 

It was good to get out of Utah. I had only spent one night there in the holy city of provo, but that was more than enough.

Being a former Tahoe resident  crossing the border into Nevada felt like coming home. Even though it looked the same as Utah.

Now I didn’t travel very far into Nevada for this first night because I wanted to stay in Great Basin National Park. I even stopped at the park's visitor center to check to see if the campgrounds were open.

The Lower Lehman camp was indeed open, the road and sites had been cleared of snow, but some snow was still hanging on, I was told. The tours of the caves were still closed for the season, and that was all right with me.

Nothing That A Gingham Table Cloth Couldn't Handle

To get to the paved road that goes up to the accessible part of Great Basin Park you have to go through the town of Baker.

Lot Of Area To Cover When The Road Is Open

Now one of the reasons I wanted to stay in the park was because I thought I had never been here but looking around I had previously been in Baker on a motorbike road trip I think around 2018.

Baker Street Art

We never went into the park on that trip but did stay in a  dated cabin in the towns RV park.

RV Park Cabins My Traveling Compadre Really Liked The Gravel Driveway

Going into the park and spending the night would still be a first so up the road I went to Lower Lehman.

The camp only has 15 or so dry sites, the water wasn’t on yet, and the sites were not level but for $10.00 the fresh smells of the pinion and juniper pines just budding out, the sound of a clear stream, and a night sky if it hadn’t gotten cloudy, made it all worth it.

High  Country Great Basin 

The park road extends all the way to the high country, but the road to the summit wasn’t open yet. Perhaps another visit to this park is required

Not far from Great Basin national park is the town of Ely Nevada, home to the northern Nevada Railroad Museum.

Some Of The Trains At The Museum 

This had been a previous stop too, but as long as I am in the neighborhood, the museum is worth a visit.

The museum has all the regular trains, shops, old buildings, that you can wander around, and look at their collection. The trains also move around, and they offer rides but not today.

Perhaps the most famous thing about the museum was it’s cat Dirt

I met dirt on my last visit, but he only lived until 2023. His sidekick Dirt Junior or DJ has assumed the role of Top Cat. I looked for him but didn’t see him. Perhaps he was out murdering songbirds.

Dirt's Grave

Ely is not a very big place, and food options are limited, but when I found Racks that advertises itself as “Non-Smoking” I figured that was the place to go.

The food was good, the air was clear, the people nice and I remembered eating here on my prior trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blindly Following The Path Of The Beam

 

Not Lost Yet

Being all spiffy clean I was anxious to get back on the road. I left Rock Springs before daylight, found a gas station, filled up the van with a name and was off down Wyoming highway  191.

Now I only made it just past the local prison because right there on the side of the road was a large sign that said, “Road Closed When Lights Are Flashing.” I thought 191 was the main road. 

Let Those Lights Shine

It was dark, there was no excuse for not seeing the flashing lights. I pulled off the road and remembered the not very nice lady eastbound, at the KOA in Pocatello Idaho who asked me “ Don’t you use 511”?

What a great time to try out 511. So, I did and sure enough 191 was closed. Shuttered for winter, or another regressive state that scraped socialist  snowplows.

 The alternative was to go to Green River and take highway 530 through the Flaming Gorge

Highway 530 is maintained all winter.  (winter in Wyoming lol)  (( its over)) 

Now highway 530 I rode both north and south on state of the art “Electra Glides” in blazing triple digit heat. 

Stuck in one  of the van with a name  USB ports, is a memory drive,   with music from one of those bikes.  I wiggled it, music came on. I touched the rolled-up window. It was cold. I turned the music up and danced best as I could from the helm of the van with a name. I danced better on this road on a bike!

My FLHTC From Years Ago

The goal was to get through Utah, but Utah is pretty wide, so I would have to stay somewhere.

I was hoping for a roadside camp, but once again everything was shuttered, because of  “Winter.”

Chupacabra's Along The Path Of The Beam

Leaving the Gorge the scenery was pretty nice, but soon turned to mountain passes and a lot of snow, leaving nothing to do but to carry on.

These Rock Formations Do Look Good With Some Snow Dust On Them

I checked my map, and Google to  look for options in Provo Utah and came up with a state park on the shores of Utah lake, which is a is more of a inland sea than  a huge lake. It was open, and it had camping according to the state web site.

I locked the GPS  to the park and blindly followed the beam. Soon I was in town, and in traffic, still following the path of the beam.

Had there not been so many churches, temples, sacred stones,  sacrificial sites, and pyres of burning witches, I might have been able to look to my right and see the giant lake, but I couldn’t, and soon the beam led me to a city park in a residential neighborhood.

One Creepy Neighborhood 

With the GPS now programed to the actual lake I drove back on the same road past all the religious foolery and was thinking that there are more buildings to religious nonsense on this one street than there are Dollar General stores in Kansas.

Just Floor It And Go By If You See One Of These!

At the actual State park on the lake the Ranger  told me that the campground was closed, and I said I could see that as there was a Closed signed attached to the closed gate.

Fortunately, just back up the road was a commercial RV park that looked expensive and was. The lady checking me in did everything but ask for a DNA sample, and maybe she got that off my credit card as she hung onto it for quite a while.

A Secure Oil Company Sign Forest At The RV Park