Driving Days … Prescott to Las Vegas and Onward to Tonopah

Saturday, 5 May 2018
Boondocking @ Millers Rest Area — Tonopah, Nevada
Temps: 79F (26C) / 46F (8C)

We’re two days out of Prescott now.  We stopped over at a military campground in Las Vegas last night.  Tonight we’re at a boondocking site off of US-95 just west of Tonopah.  Nothing really exciting about either day, so this will be a round-up post to make the blog whole.

256 miles (410 km) from Prescott to Las Vegas …

This was a fairly straight shot on a day that started with a sunny 60F (16C) morning in Arizona and ended with a sunny 95F (35F) afternoon at Nellis AFB in Nevada.  We went up and down over mountain passes along the way … our highest elevation right around 6,000 feet (1,830 m) with grades up to 7%.  The Phaeton had no problem managing these grades.

The highways on this stretch of our drive — I-40W and US-93N — do not have any rest areas per se, so we didn’t dally much.  Stopped @ Flying J in Kingman to top off on diesel … lunch at what the sign described as a commercial vehicle rest ramp.

Commercial vehicle rest ramp with a view.

Soon after we crossed into Nevada, I got a decent-ish view of Hoover Dam from the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.  I don’t do much drive-by-shooting these days, but I clicked off a few shots of the dam … and later of Lake Mead, too.

Drive-by photo shot of Hoover Dam.

Negotiating the Boulder City, Henderson, and Las Vegas traffic, we arrived at the Eagle Creek RV Park — a famcamp at Nellis AFB.  This is a campground that is popular with snowbirders and getting reservations can be tricky.  Not this time of the year.  In fact, because we didn’t want to unhook for our overnight stay, they gave us two sites in one of the small circles for the price of one site.  50A-FHU … a lovely landscaped ‘garden’ where we took advantage of the shade from the plants to enjoy the rest of our afternoon.  The circle would be a cozy fit if all four sites around it are full, but it made for a spacious place for us to chill after a day of driving.  Should we return for a longer stay, however, we will try to get into one of the older sites in one of the wagon wheel loops … spacious and plenty of shade.

We have this 4-site camping area all to ourselves.

The patio gets the afternoon sun, but the plants provide plenty of shade to sit outside.

T-Mobile Update: Lost cell signal on and off for short periods of time, but nothing onerous.  Had good signal strength for most of the drive.

227 Miles (363 km) from LV to Tonopah …

It was already 85F (29C) when we left Nellis at 9:00a for another day on the road.  RV Trip Wizard wanted to take a shortcut through the base, but this being Saturday we knew the gate at the other end was closed.  An alternative route suggested by the campground manager got us to US-95 … thus bypassing the I-15 traffic.

The drive looked and felt flat.  Some might describe it as boring.  I found it to be neither.  For one thing, we had some elevation gains and drops … greater than 7% in a few places that took us from around 1,800 feet to over 6,200 feet (548 m to 1,890 m) at our highest point near Tonopah.  The desert scenery was broken up by interesting mountains … some with sharp, jagged peaks. … others with a more rounded silhouette.

We made one short rest area stop at Amargosa Valley … actually pulled into a place across the road that did not necessitate maneuvering.  Lunch was at another commercial vehicle rest area … just a paved flat spot at the junction with NV-267, which leads to Death Valley (closed today … not sure why).  Shortly after 1:00p, we were on the road to complete the remaining two hours of today’s drive to our planned overnight stop.

Amargosa Valley Rest Area … unexpected and convenient.

Millers Rest Area is a popular overnight spot for RVers … commercial trucks not allowed.  The actual rest area has plenty of trees … there are also picnic tables and facilities.  Behind that area is the RV overnight lot that allows stops of up to 18 hours.  It’s dirt, but level.  And there are a couple of trees that shade the picnic tables.  No hook-ups, but there is a dump station and a freshwater line for those who need to take on water.  Oh, and excellent T-Mobile 4G signal for internet connectivity from the nearby cell tower.

The RV that arrives just ahead of us, is all the way at the front for
unobstructed views … but they later get a lot of company up there.

We arrived just after another RVer pulled all the way to the front.  Since we can’t back-up with the toad hooked up, Mui didn’t want to get boxed in by others who might stop for the night, so we parked in the back.  Turned out to be a smart move as the five other rigs that arrived later all parked side by side next to the first RVer.  We had more privacy where we were … especially since we were angled such that they were outside our peripheral vision.

The desert is bathed gold as the sun starts to drop.  This is the view from our
makeshift patio …the six other rigs overnighting at Millers Rest Area are hidden
behind the trees on the left side.  The trees on the right mark the actual rest area.

Having arrived mid-afternoon, we could have unhooked and gone into Tonopah to look around.  Nah … decided to enjoy a quiet afternoon in the desert.  Our solar panels did a good job of keeping our batteries charged up and provided what minimal power we needed.  Our onboard propane served to heat up our dinner — which we enjoyed al fresco at the picnic table nearby.  Once we were settled inside the Phaeton after nightfall, the generator kept the heat pump running to keep us toasty and powered up the TV for entertainment.  I don’t like running the generator after we go to bed … our trusty comforter tends to be sufficient to keep us warm overnight.

Left: Al Fresco dinner in the desert.
Right: I step around the tree to take a photo of fellow-campers.

Now, at 10:00p, Mui’s already in bed.  I’ll be following him soon.  Traffic on US-95 has trickled down to nothing.  That means we’ll get a peaceful night’s rest.

A 180-degree panorama of the sunset on the right and the reflecting colors on the left.

T-Mobile: ranged between no service to full bars all day.  Loss of signal never lasted very long.  I really expected no signal in this area in the middle of nowhere.  Maybe it was our proximity to California that made the difference.  Regardless, happy camper.

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