August 3-4-5, 2007

From Flagstaff,AZ to Las Vegas, NV to Mammoth Lakes, CA

Homeward Bound

Leaving Flagstaff meant miles of sand, rocks and sagebrush, interrupted only by lunch at the Hoover Dam overlook. From there we ‘stumbled’ into the Oasis RV Park, missing the 215 on-ramp enroute. This gave us an unplanned tour of the north of the strip area, plus got us involved in a traffic jam. Arriving at the Oasis, we were prepared to pay $96 for 2 nights, even knowing that we were going to be staying at Casa Julie. Expensive parking! Fortunately, Janice was able to obtain 2 nights ‘storage’ at the park for $5 per night. That put us $86 ahead in Las Vegas, and we had just arrived.

The heat (108 high,90 low) was absolutely unbearable, so we just hung out, laying low, though we did catch a movie at the Red Rock. Nary a nickel was wagered there,though.

Leaving early this morning, we got the rig out of hock and hit the road by 7:30,heading for Bishop via Hwy 95 and Hwy 6. A more boring route does not exist in America. The high spots were Goldfield and Tonopah. Now, Goldfield is our “Trona” awardee (if you’ve seen Trona,CA this ain’t no compliment!) for this trip. What a hole! Nothing but collapsing doublewides (and single-wides), dilapidated shacks and a couple of time-worn brick structures. One was the old Goldfield Hotel, which no doubt could tell stories about its hey-day. Today, it is a home to rats and spiders. In front of the hotel, a singular young lad of about 10 stood, straddling a new bike. He loved that bike, oblivious to the squalor in his hometown, Poor kid! Pawn the bike and get outta town!

Moving on to Tonapah, we were ripped off by the first gas station in town, which featured regular at $3.14.9 per gallon. We bit, only to discover that the stations in town (known by the locals) were selling it for $2.99. Won’t be back here! (Even if they were giving gas away, we would not return to Tonopah!) Any town that features itself as the “Stargazing capital of the US” would rather have you looking up in the sky at night than looking around during the daytime. Ugh! Double ugh! If you are ever so unfortunate to be in the vicinity, consider stopping at the Miller Rest Area, 12 miles north of town. A veritable oasis for RVers. Along the route there were a couple of legal brothels, the “Shady Lady” and the “Cottontail Club”. No cars/trucks were parked in front of either. All were in church??? Nearby RV Parks were touting $7.00 and $8.00 “full hook-ups.” (Sorry, but I won’t comment further on that.)

Arriving in Bishop after more miles of nothingness surrounded by towering mountains, we stopped for provisions. Noting that it was about 98 degrees outside, and ther ain’t much to do in Bishop, we headed north 41 miles up steep grades to Mammoth Lakes, coming to rest in the Mammoth Lakes RV Park. Cool winds rock the rig. Our main slide was squeaking terribly when we attempted to deploy it, so we stopped halfway, waiting for a fresh day to give us a new perspective on this potential disaster. Once again our gas refrigerator will not function above 5500 feet, so our plans for a couple days of dry camping may be doomed. We may be home sooner than we thought, but I think that’d be OK with Carly, who is just plain ‘wore out’ with this road stuff.