Tri-State Travel Days

START:     Primm, NV     TODAY:        343   Miles

END:         Visalia, CA     TOTAL:     3,469   Miles

Five minutes 
after leaving Whiskey Pete’s we crossed into the great state of California.  It was a crisp 48 degrees and traffic was heavy, but moving nicely.   The Mojave landscape was nominated by sagebrush and cactus with mountains in the distance.  Several large solar panel farms sprawled across the desert land with mirrors looking like a lake.

It took a while for us to realize what we were seeing in the distance as we approached the town of Baker.  Ron finally concluded it was salt flats.   The wind was still very strong today and our gas mileage was dismal since it was a headwind.  But California has wisely installed wind turbines on to mountain tops.  

Turning more northward, towns became more frequent and industrial.  The oil rigs in Bakersfield were pumping away as the refinery tanks and stacks changed the landscape again. 

But, no more than thirty minutes later, it was all about agriculture.  Citrus groves, vineyards, olive groves, and nut trees surrounded us.   

We settled for the night in a small campground in Vasalia, where we secured the last site available.  Tomorrow we head north toward Yosemite.

SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2017

While eating breakfast, Ron researched alternate routes to the west entrance of Yosemite.  The snow plows have been hard at work, but Tioga Pass is still not open. It was in the high forties this morning, but we dressed for the forecasted 90 degrees in Las Vegas.  

The morning drive took us through the Paiute Reservation, a great valley surrounded by a plateau range. 
A stop for gas in the small town of Fredonia was an example of what full service means out west; get your gas, lotto ticket, guns, ammo, beer and T-shirts all in one spot.  

Continuing on 89A, we approached Hurricane, UT which was a lovely, clean town with a tree-lined Main Street and town square complete with flower beds. 

Our Jeep worked hard as we began a seemingly endless climb up the Virgin River Canyon Mountains.  The serpentine roadway crossed the Virgin River numerous times as we made our way over the range.  At times the highway seemed to simply disappear into the rocks.  

We had read that Nevada was under high wind alert today, with expected gusts of 40-50 mph.  The strong cross winds were especially noticeable on bridges where the drafts were crazy.  We were slow lane lovers today.  Many rigs drove the posted 75 mph, with trailers swaying side-to-side as they passed us.  

I was driving under Ron’s navigation guidance when we exited I-15 toward Las Vegas.  Driving a trailer on The Las Vegas Strip was an experience I don’t need to repeat!  

A visit to the TV reality show World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop was the method to our madness.  You see, Ron served as the Operations Officer on the U.S.S. Chowanoc with Rick Harrison, owner of the shop.  He was not on site since it was Sunday, so we just snapped a  couple of photos. 


Back on I-15, our goal was to drive to Baker, CA, but 30 minutes later traffic was bumper to bumper moving at 20 mph.  After an hour of that mess, we decided to stop for the day.  There were no campgrounds in the area, so we pulled into Whiskey Pete’s and booked a room for the night.  We might have spent time in the Casino, but we could not tolerate the smoke-filled air. 

Our day complete, we had travelled through three states; Arizona, Utah, back to Arizona, then into Nevada.