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There is a lot more to discover around southeast Oregon, but I was ready to make my way towards home. I'm finding that my travel time has been between 4.5 and 6 hours on average which has been working out good. I have been using a trip planner called
Roadtrippers with
Campendium that helps me find places to camp along a route. I try always a plan B incase my first selection does not workout. I continued to take the less travel route into Nevada stopping at the
Virgin Valley Dispersed Camping, yes another free camping area in the
Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. There was quit a few campers for being in the middle of the week. The rigs range from car campers to 40' mobile homes, with everything in between. I parked in a gravel space that was pretty clean, however there was some trash in the fire ring. I settled in and had an uneven-full evening.
The next days destination was
Kinston Campground USFS Auston Nevada, a 5 hour drive through Winnamucca, a short time on Interstate 80, then South 1/2 way to Tonopah NV. This is another free campground and being later in the season, the campground was pretty empty. I imagine it is much busier in the summer. The trip in was fine for a front wheel drive Promaster, but the narrow bridge make it difficult for a bigger rig. 7092' Elevation, beautiful fall like temperatures. I did not have T-Mobile cell service but Starlink mini worked good. I arrived right a 1600 so I had plenty of time to get setup and settled before dark. I know in the future I will be driving to and from Washington, so it will be likely I will stay here again.
Right behind the van was a flowing stream and a nice place the sit and just think. This is where I was when I finally decided to go ahead with another Cochlear Implant on my right side. This got me thinking of getting home and all the things that need some of my attention. I left for Indiana a month ago, so I was feeling it was about time for me to get home and get these life balls rolling.
So I was off early in the morning headed south. Fueled in Tonopah and onto the 95 which goes through Las Vegas. My destination was Silver Hill Dispersed Camping located between Las Vegas and Kingman AZ. The horizon started to turn dark and then it started raining. I made it through the Vegas traffic and passed the Hover Dam and it was still raining when I stopped for gas in
White Hills AZ. This is when I realized that I'll be camping in the rain. So I got a footlong Subway tuna to have for dinner. The sun was low on the horizon when I arrived at the dispersed camp area. There was only one area that was not flooded and there was a big rig there. I pulled in and just did not have a good feeling, so I head back through the small town to the highway. I pulled over and ate my sandwich, then took a 30 minute nap with the rain pounding on the van. My plan B was
Hualapai Mountain Resort , I've had my eye on this for a while, but with the pouring rain, I was not eager to go driving in the mountains after dark and I was only a little over 3 hours away from my desert habitat (home 🌵).
Considering game 3 of the ALCS was on the radio, I decided to
break my 6 hour driving time rule and drive all the way home. It was still raining when I pulled onto Willowbrook Dr. at 2148, but surprising enough the game was not over. I was able to watch the 18th inning on my TV! My 30 day trip I drove 126h 22m 14s averaging 50 mph and traveled 6,334.9 miles.
Here is a link to my map:
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