Driving Day … Tonopah to Bordertown (Reno)

Sunday, 6 May 2018
Bordertown Casino RV Resort — Reno, Nevada
Temps: 73F (23C) / 39F (4C)

I woke up from a restful night’s sleep at 5:00a to Mui cranking on the generator.  The batteries had done well overnight, but they were just under the 12 volts Mui likes to see on the controller.  I debated going back to sleep.  Nah … better to get up and enjoy the peaceful desert setting.

Breakfast and then a walk around the rest area x2 to get some steps in.  That’s when we encountered a scene right out of the Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz movie … The Long, Long Trailer.  You know the one where Lucille Ball’s character is collecting rocks along the way to use in her garden to remind them of their road trip.  Yeah, RVers know that’s not a good idea.  (Here’s a link to the blog post I wrote about the movie when we first got the Phaeton in 2010.)

Anyway, here’s the scene we came across.  A couple of RVers who had overnighted in the day-parking area were washing a bunch of rocks and placing them on a picnic table to dry.  By the time we came around the second time, they were loading the rocks into a bucket and carrying them to the truck they were towing!  We chuckled and wondered if they were planning to use the rocks in a garden, but didn’t stop to query them.

Back to the story of our driving day.

At 8:30a, we set off for our 236-mile (378 km) drive.  It was 72F (22C) when we started out, but 45minutes later — at Redlich Summit, which is at just over 5,000 feet (1,500+ m) — the temp was down to 66F (19C) … and remained thereabouts for much of the day.  Sunny … blue skies … interesting scenery.  Distant Montgomery Peak, The Jumpoff, Dubois Mountain, and White Peak — all frosted with snow — added another dimension to the landscape.  We had some ups and downs through mountain passes … only a few 7%+ grades.

We made a couple of pit stops at wide spots on the side of the road since there were no ‘real’ rest areas along this stretch, and topped off our fuel at the Golden Gate Truck Stop in Hawthorne … which I found on the Allstays Truckers app.  Our main stop — and a fun one at that — was at a turnout about 12 miles (19 km) north of Hawthorne … overlooking scenic Lake Walker.

The timing worked out for an early lunch, so after climbing the rise on the opposite side of US-95N for a photo op or two, Mui set about preparing a light meal.  I was tempted to pull out the picnic table, but decided that would be a little over the top on a driving day.  Mui agreed to get our chairs out, though, so we had a lovely lunch break in the shade provided by the Phaeton and enjoyed the scenery.

Couldn’t have planned for a better lunch spot today.

By noon we were back on the road.  An easy enough drive put us at the Wadsworth Rest Area at 1:45p.  Ten minutes later we were following the Truckee River on I-80W for the last 40 or so miles to our overnight campground north of Reno.  There was quite a bit of wind, causing the Phaeton to shimmy some, but nothing that we really needed to worry about.

We were settled in at the Bordertown Casino RV Resort by 3:00p.  The sites here are rather tight … but we’ve seen worse.  50A-FHU, level concrete pad, with mountain views to our rear.  Only the back row can accommodate big rigs … especially if one is overnighting and not planning to unhook the toad.

Big rigs to the left … small rigs to the right.

It was 78F in the sun when we finished our set-up chores … with a pretty stiff breeze that made it feel cooler.  No complaints … loving this dry weather … which we took advantage of to do a bit of sightseeing.  We didn’t have to go far.

On our way to Bordertown we had passed White Lake.  From a distance it looked like it was a dry lake bed.  In fact, my Google Maps app showed it white on the sat image.  But as we got closer to the shoreline, I saw waves.  Huh?  There was water in the  lake … and it was the color of watered down café au lait!

White Lake … first glimpse from the Phaeton.

Turns out the lake is walking distance from the campground.  Off we went down the hill, found a convenient pedestrian path to safely cross US-395, and picked our way through the shrubs to get to the shoreline.

To get to White Lake, we need to walk down the hill to a bridge
with a pedestrian path to safely cross US-395.

All I found on the web about the lake is a mention that it is a sinkhole and that it is an alkali lake that is generally dry, but can have water in the spring.  (Interesting drone footage at this link.)

There really is water in the lake bed.

My soil scientist friend Sue (of The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales fame) explained it further when I queried her on Facebook …

Many playas like this one in this part of Nevada. They are basins with no outlets so the only water in them is from recent rains. They were once real lakes a few thousand years in the past but are part of the desert landscape. There are also huge playas in Death Valley, and throughout the Mojave. Probably not much more information because they are fairly common. If you are sure they are dry, they are fun to play around in.

Our lake is not dry, so we play along the shoreline.

We returned to the Phaeton around 5:00p, had dinner, and wrapped up our day with a colorful sunset.  We have a longish drive to Oregon tomorrow.  Sue has warned us that the state park where we will be staying a few nights is pretty adamant about the 4:00p check-in, so we have plenty of time to get to our destination.  I’d like to get an early start anyway so we can take it easy on the way there.

Reflection of the colors …

… of the sun setting behind us.

T-Mobile Update: Lost signal soon after leaving Millers Rest Area.  But we picked up USA-CommNet 3G at four bars.  I was set to no-roaming for data, but test calls to Mui — both with the phone and the WePhone app — went through … though the connection took longer than usual … good enough for emergency calls for sure.  The GPS on the iPad was working, so no worries about getting lost ;-)  On the downward leg towards Carson Lake no service until we reached Fallon for full-bar T-Mobile LTE.  From then on, no problems … and here at the campground we have full bar LTE as well.

© 2004-2018 Two to Travel's Phaeton Journeys.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by ERIN ERKUN.