The day started with our most challenging mountain pass yet. Up and over Cedar Mountain at 10,000 feet, which is the mountain that Dot & Rich Dillon call home. Rich and I talked it over yesterday and since I had driven it without the camper to go see them, I knew what I was in for... Of course, I hadn't seen the entire climb, but Gigantibeast did what he always does - he pulled us up and over like champ.
From there it was a short drive to the Nevada border and then essentially cross the entire state. Let me first say that this will go down in the history of the Olsen's travels as the strangest and most nerve racking trip EVER. We fueled up in Utah to top off and prepare for a long stretch which turned out to be a long stretch without gas stations on Rt. 375... For those that don't know Rt. 375 in Nevada, it lies to the north of Area 51 and is called the Extraterrestrial Highway. There are alien references everywhere... As I drove along that stretch with half the suburban asleep at different times, let's just say that the place just had an eerie feeling. There was a strange absence of vehicles - I passed less than 10 vehicles in 200 miles which is absurd.
Then Maribeth and I started calculating our next gas stop and things got weird. With 150 miles to our next station, I had a 3/4 tankful - close, but in good shape to make it. Less than 5 minutes later, I had just over 1/2 a tank. I have never, while pulling the camper, ever gotten more than 100 miles out of a 1/2 tank of gas. About 10 miles later, the needle recovered a little, but not nearly enough... I went into conservation mode immediately - no more than 2,500 rpm's, pulling up hills at 40 mph, flats at 55 mph and putting it into neutral down hills. The fuel needle continued to play games - with 70 miles to go and just over a 1/4 tank, the needle dropped to just above E in one mile. I've never seen my fuel gauge do this. And outside - this road and this part of Nevada is nothingness - it was worse than Kansas since nothing was growing here. It was 98 - 101 degrees. No cell service. The mountains that we weaved in and out of looked like rolls of suede and as far as the eye could see, there were no signs of life or towns. And I kid you not - I passed 10 vehicles in 200 miles. And some of these mountains would randomly have strange designs on them - everyone was asleep when I saw these mountains and I didn't want to wake anyone to point out the weirdness, but it was unsettling to me and I had to focus.
With 40 miles to go and under a 1/4 tank, I was beginning to prepare mentally to pull the bike off the roof and bike to Tonopah. How close would I get and could I make it there and back with fuel? Everyone would be out in this godforsaken, weird place with no AC. I'm not going to lie - it was a terrifying thought to leave them. As we got closer to Tonopah, my fuel gauge became more consistent - it still dropped more than I wanted, but things started to look like we were going to make it. With 15 miles to go, my warning light hadn't come on yet and I started to breath again. Then out of the nothingness - Tonopah! I was never so relieved to see people, cars, buildings and a Shell station!!! That's what the fuel gauge looked like at the pump. Way too close for me. |
| Tonopah!! You can tell by the "T" in the mountain... |
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| The only real "trees" we saw on Rt. 375 |
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| Walker Lake |
After filling up, it was time to push north and I will say that for our entire drive across this part of Nevada, the poverty was awful. Even as we drove past Walker Lake, a good-sized lake, it appeared that they attempted to make it a waterfront resort and no one came. It was deserted. The resort, boat launch, beach, campground - it was all there, there just weren't any people.
We were relieved to pull into Dayton RV Park and were immediately met by a character - he manages the campground, but spent a good amount of time in Upstate New York when he was younger working for the circus. You can't make this stuff up...
Tomorrow, I hope to get some new connections for this hard drive and take care of some odds and ends on the camper - our awning isn't quite working the way it should. Life on the road...
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