The Extraterrestrial Highway

For Star Trek fans, cosmologists, astronomers, geeks (OK - so they're all geeks) and any one else interested in "what's out there", a short trip north of Las Vegas brings you to a really fascinating place.

When Laura and I crawled out of Death Valley, we cleaned up for a few days in Pahrump, a small city en route to Las Vegas. When we were in Pahrump, we stopped into a store to get a few things for the motorhome. Turns out they didn't have what we wanted, but on the way out one of their sales people stopped to chat us up (and sell us a forty foot condo on wheels).

Once he determined we weren't going to buy anything, and with one foot back in the store, he asked us where we were going to next. We had planned on going back through to the Napa Valley in California on the way home, and told him that.

He said that next time we were down, we should really venture into eastern Nevada, north of Vegas, into the ET Highway, Cathedral Gorge and Great Basin National Park.

While Great Basin would be a bit far, the other destinations are easy.

Our first stop was a short drive north of Las Vegas - I-15 to I-93, about 150km - into a town called Alamo, Nevada.

We used Alamo as a base for our trip to the ET Highway. There's not much to see - it's about 60km each way from Alamo to the Little A'Le'Inn - but you could spend all day doing it.

Our first stop was the Black Mailbox (which is actually white). If you enter "Black Mailbox" into Google Maps, it'll show you exactly where it is. It's at the intersection of Highway 375 and a dirt road. Apparently if you follow the dirt road for about 13 miles, you'll reach a sign (and shortly after, a guard shack) for the famous Nellis Air Force Range. You might know it better as Area 51.

People set up camp at the mailbox and wait to see any night-time activity -and sometimes there is some. Just park well off the highway and the grid road and you should be OK. The night skies there would be incredible. We didn't stay, but the skies in Alamo were fantastic too.

Once we had "done" the mailbox (and Laura forgot her camera on the running boards of the motorhome subsequently destroying the camera on the highway) we went another half hour west towards Rachel,
Nevada. Rachel is home to the Little A'Le'Inn. And nothing else.

You have to spend an hour or two at the Little A'Le'Inn. At least have some lunch and take a bunch of photos. You can stay overnight as well (they run a small motel) and take in the night sky. Pat (the owner) is a wonderful host, and can tell you all about the area.

If we were driving anything different - like a car or a pickup - we could have also gone to see the petroglyphs at Mount Irish (spooky).

We spent most of the day going to Rachel and back (and searching for camera parts on the road), and were up early the next morning for the drive to Cathedral Gorge State Park.

Leaving Alamo, you have and easy picturesque drive through to Calliente (about 100km). After an ice cream and some gas it's only another 30km or so to the south entrance of Cathedral Grove State Park.

This is one on the nicest, smallest, best run, least expensive state campgrounds we've ever been in. Next time we'll stay for a week. Caves, gorges, ravines, great off-road biking, lots of hiking, and sipping beer under a tree all made for a really nice time.

As a bonus, members of the astronomy club from Las Vegas were up for the weekend with their telescopes, and they made sure we had lots of opportunity to ask questions and look through them (at stuff I could never see in my scope).

We left Cathedral Gorge after only a couple of nights, and traveled further north to Great Basin National Park. You couldn't really do this as a day trip from Vegas (500km one way).

Great Basin reminded me of home. Higher up out of the heat of the valley, and into the trees and mountains. If somebody dropped you there and said you were in Yoho, you might believe them. The big attraction the Great Basin is Lehman Caves. These are pretty neat and we took a 90-minute tour of them with thirty of our closest friends. Needless to say, if you've been on one easy-access cave tour and seen stalactites and stalagmites before, this is nothing particularly special. I would say the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana are more spectacular (and harder to tour).  I would imagine, though, for people living in the desert to come to a mountain would be something special.

Needless to say, next time you're near Las Vegas, go a little bit north. Who knew?

Climate Change and Motorhomes

Back in January, Laura and I bought an older motorhome (2002). We found ourselves back into a RV after good friends were on the road long-term (Al and Jody - so it's not just us), and were left frustrated after our drive/hotel adventure last fall. Sleeping in someone else's bed every night, and lugging your suitcase into a different place all the time was not something we wanted to do a lot of.

So we went back to sleeping in the same bed, cooking in the same kitchen, and lounging on the same couch - all while having a different living room window view most days.

This trip in the new (to us) motorhome was mostly a "shake down cruise" to see what worked, what didn't, what needed to change, and whether we liked it or not. Turns out we like it, and the machine worked flawlessly. Even the gas mileage was better than I expected.

But the point of this post isn't only about the RV. It's about the weather. And the economy.

Weather

Although this could be just an aberration, we experienced a huge variety of weather in our 30 days on the road. Weather that would normally be a little more consistent and predictable.

Terrible, gusty wind for more than half the entire journey. The wild weather in the East starts off in the West - where we were. The wildfires in California have started again.

It snowed for a couple of days as well. In all, there were only a handful of "typical late spring days" in the whole trip. Climate change is here, and the SW USA is feeling it.

Economy

Cathedral Gorge

There is a real demarcation when you cross the Oregon-California border. The highways in California are in awful shape. You would expect the same in Mexico or Bolivia, not North America.

It's said that the people that work at WalMart can no longer afford to shop at WalMart. They now shop at the Dollar Stores. We saw this for real in the small towns we were through. There are no more small businesses - just WalMart and Dollar Stores. And gas stations. There is a real disparity in the USA that you used to have to look for - it isn't hidden anymore.

Highlights

The Black Mailbox (That's really white)

Despite what I've said above, there were a couple of neat places we visited. And we'll return again.

Actually, with the state of California right now, we'll likely start heading south through Nevada Route 93 - less traffic, better roads, and lots to see.

My personal favorite was Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada. Absolutely breathtaking with a small, friendly, well-set-up state campground. We'll stay a week next time.

Next up would have to be the ET Highway. Talk about minimalist. A mailbox and a diner. Perfect. Loved it (and recommend the Alien Burger at the Little A'Le'Inn).