Sunday’s weather was as nice as Saturday, but instead of a lazy morning, I packed up and hit the road. My goal was to drive all the way through to Pahrump, Nevada, where I’ve stayed before and could end my push south away from cold weather.
Following my rule of not letting the gas gauge drop below 1/2 tank in the desert, I filled up in Hawthorne, the first town I got to. There I met Jerry, who was filling up his Jeep and off-road camper at the pump next to me. We talked a little bit, and it turned out he was heading to Pahrump for the first time, so I gave him some advice on where to find free camping on BLM land just outside town.
Unlike the previous day, the drive got windy, which doesn’t work so well for a tall van and trailer like mine. The speed limit on the two-lane US 95 was 70 mph, which is already faster than my personal top speed of 65, but I had to slow down to 60 or even 55 at times to keep control in the wind. This made a lot of people cranky, but fortunately, they could pass me pretty easily. Most of them even did it legally, but not all.
By the time I reached Tonopah, I was down to half a tank again. When I’d left Hawthorne my estimated range to empty was 50 miles more than the drive to Pahrump, but with the headwind that number was plummeting rapidly. I pulled into a Love’s to feed the van, make sure it would definitely make the trip, and to feed myself as well. It turned out the car behind me, which was keeping a safe distance and not passing, was Jerry again, doing exactly the same thing as me. We talked a bit more, and I was able to answer his question about how the showers are at Love’s. (Short answer: excellent, but expensive if you’re not a trucker collecting diesel points to get them for free.)
Tonopah itself is the biggest town I passed through until I reached Pahrump. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a western town in the middle of nowhere, complete with high gas prices. I had to pay them because they were literally the only game in town. I passed by the Clown Motel, which calls itself “America’s Scariest Motel.” Some friends of mine have stayed there and confirmed that this was absolutely true, even if you don’t have a phobia of clowns. I kept on driving.
Another 100 miles or so down the road there were signs for a rest area. I decided to make a pit stop, as well as take Lister for a leash walk. He’d been handling the longer drive well, and he deserved to stretch his legs as much as I did. Technically I could’ve spent the night here, as there are signs posting an 18-hour stay limit, plenty for a relaxed overnight. Pahrump was within striking distance, though, and I know that even at my slower-than-average speed I’d reach Pahrump a bit before sunset, with time to find and set up a campsite.
I couldn’t resist checking out the Area 51 Alien Center across the street. This appeared to be little more than a typical gas station convenience store with a large section dedicated to alien and Area 51 merchandise. I couldn’t resist picking up a sticker for the collection. Some websites say this is also a brothel (which is legal in Nevada), but other than some alien brothel-themed merch, I found no evidence of an actual operation here besides a travel stop with an alien theme.
Soon I turned off of US 95 onto Nevada Route 160, which would take me the rest of the way to Pahrump. The speed limit was still 70, but there was virtually no traffic on this road, so I didn’t hold anyone up. The wind had died down a bit, so I was able to resume my maximum cruising speed of 65 anyway.
It was strange coming into Pahrump from the west. Previously I’ve come in from the east, through Las Vegas, and left by crossing Death Valley to reach the California coast. Yet from miles away, I was able to see the high-tension power lines that cross just to the northeast of town, beyond which lies vast amounts of BLM land with free camping. I’d set my course to the Home Depot close to where I’d camped with the HOWA caravan, then went from memory to return to the area where we’d camped. I settled down in a slightly different place than before, with a smooth entry and exit to the “main road,” if you can call it that, not far from the paved road back into town.
Temperatures are back up in the 80s, and there’s no shade, so I unhitched my trailer and made my own. Interestingly, this completes the trailer’s loop around the country. I bought it in nearby Las Vegas a year and a half ago, and came straight to Pahrump to camp out and set it up. It took two vans to get it here, but here we are. Personally, I don’t consider The Big Loop (TM) officially complete for myself until I get back to Quartzsite, where I started the journey back in late February. It’s still too hot for me there, so it’ll be at least a few weeks before I do that.
As I was setting up camp, I heard the crunching of rocks of a vehicle pulling up. I looked outside, and it was Jerry again! I guess my vague directions to the BLM land just outside town worked. He ended up parking a respectful distance away, and we chatted for a while yet again. It’s funny how you keep meeting the same people again and again in this life, but it’s happened to me so many times now that I’ve stopped being surprised about it.
I pulled up a chair to take in my first desert sunset since last winter. I didn’t get real sunsets at Walker Lake because of the mountains just behind me. There’s something extra special about a desert sunset. Lister jumped in my lap to enjoy it, too.
It was a quiet, cool night, with open vents and no need for the heater. I’ve successfully escaped the cold for at least a little while longer. Friends in the general area are already inviting me to come camp with them, which I probably will once spend a little time here. I’ll need to do some grocery shopping soon, and laundry will be necessary sometime in the next few days as well. With Home Depot just down the road, I’m also considering tackling another project or two I’ve had in mind. Like I said before, while it doesn’t exactly feel like I’m home, it does feel good to be back in the desert again. My rate of travel will slow significantly from here. I’m back in the southwest for the winter, slowly orbiting until it cools down enough in Quartzsite to set up a home base there. Even then, I’ll be bouncing around the area a bit this winter, not sitting still for months like I’ve done in the past.
I’m still dealing with a fly infestation in the van. Walker Lake gave me the worst fly infestation I’ve ever had. It’s better now that I’ve driven away, but of course, I ended up taking a bunch of them with me, and they’ve been hard to get rid of. So I’m doing some extra cleaning and trying to remove reasons for them to stick around, like potential food sources. Lister’s food and water may live outside during the day for a little while so the flies don’t find it in the van. The flyswatter racket is still working well. Sometimes it sounds like firecrackers when I sweep through an area full of flies, like where I usually keep the cat food. But these flies are fast and nimble, making them difficult targets to hit this way. I may look into spray-bombing the inside of the van and living outside for a couple of hours. I’ll have to find something safe for humans and cats.
Smokey Da Van 