SPRING TRAVELOGUE
PH0OENIX TO VERNON VIA MANY SCENIC BYWAYS
Many of you know how much I love to write – especially during our RV travels. I have come to love this continent of ours and since there is so much to see, have lost the urge to travel by aircraft! So, pull out a map and follow along. It promises to be on some roads you have not driven along !
It is a quiet Sunday morning in Sun City West and we are pulling away from our house. The plan today is to drive a short 3 ½ hours up to Parker, Arizona. We will drive northwest through Wickenburg, then onward to hwy 72 where we turn north and then turn on to 95 north which finds us in Parker. Joe has found a lovely State Park we can stay in and I have always wanted to see the Emerald Canyon Golf Course. I hear it is a stunning layout amongst canyons and arroyos.
We weren’t disappointed when we arrived. The drive through Parker was challenging in the RV because we were detoured through the narrow streets of town. But we managed to get through the disaster zone and find our way to the most beautiful State Park. Buckskin Mountain State Park is situated along the Colorado River ~ specifically the “Parker Strip” which is an 18 mile stretch between Parker Dam and Headgate Dam. Mountains line the river on both the Arizona and California sides. There are some stunning big boats that run up and down this stretch of river. Your typical sounds of summer !! But it dies down come sunset and the area becomes so peaceful. We weren’t able to sit out long into the evening because the wind was strong and cold. But the park is beautiful and we have already decided to spend 3-4 days there next fall to enjoy the ambiance of the Colorado and the golf! For my fellow RV’ers … campsite 66 is the best in the park !!
Day 2 Monday finds us continuing north with Tecopa Hot Springs as our final destination. We continued north on hwy 95 through Lake Havasu City then turned West on I40. Continuing West on I40 we turned north on Hwy 78. This is where our next adventure started. The road is paved but challenged us with many pot holes. But the rockery was absolutely stunning and if our RV can drive this road … any car can. We highly recommend you make this drive “The Mohave National Preserve” is spectacular. You can almost feel what it was like for the homesteaders in their covered wagons to cross the country as you drive along this stretch of road. We passed through the small village of Kelso and in hindsight, were wishing we had turned into the fascinating historical building which was their museum and visitor center. I have a feeling there was some wonderful history to be learned in that building. We know for a fact we will take this drive again and will stop in next time. Our guess is that it was a big stage coach station. Or part of the Pony Express route.
Past Kelso we ran out of wonderful rock formations and started seeing huge sand dunes. The Kelso Dunes are magnificent mountains of sand emerging out of the desert floor. This area is also known as the Kelso Dunes Field. It is the largest field of eolian sand deposits in the Mohave Desert. I would have loved to driven over to one of them and run barefoot up the mounds ! Too rough for the coach to make it all the way over to where they were. We also saw a highway sign “Turtoise Crossing”. They have the desert tortoise in this area (and in the Buckskin Mountain area as well).
When we intersected I15, we continued north on hwy 127 towards Tecopa. The town of Baker was at this intersection and it was time for lunch. When we saw every trucker, everyone in town, and every tourist heading towards THE MAD GREEK RESTAURANT, we decided we just had to see what it was all about. It was the mecca of wonderful Greek meals and desserts/pastries. We had yummy Gyro’s and passed on the baklava !! If you are ever driving down I15 and get to Baker, you must experience this diner! You won’t be disappointed.
Heading north on hwy 127, we passed some more amazing dunes ~ The Dumont Dunes. And found ourselves on the “Spanish Trail Highway”. It reminded us of driving through the badlands as we approached the area where we turned off to Tecopa. In fact, it felt a bit creepy it was so ‘moonscape-like’ ! But then again, we are in Death Valley ! The very edge of it … but Death Valley it is !
When we arrived at Tecopa, we pulled into Tecopa Hotsprings Resort. That was our first mistake. It was a pretty rough spot and the ‘hot springs’ were two private soak rooms/tubs with the mineral waters. No inflow-outflow. We passed on the swim because you had to wait your turn for the room !! In the morning, we turned out of the resort and as we were heading through town, to our dismay, we discovered several RV / hotsprings resorts … nice ones !!! Some with little cabins or motel rooms as well. We were somewhat mad at ourselves for pulling into the first one – but we did think it was the only one !! Live and learn. Since we are going to take this route again for its beauty, we will know next time that there are some lovely mineral pools that we can soak in.
Tecopa residents are quite different .. .but it is a real artisan community and even though the place looks rough, pop into some of the offices and you will find some lovely artwork – oils, water colors, jewellery from local gemstones… lots of great stuff !!
Day 3 Driving north of Tecopa we are on Hwy 127 California Scenic Byway. And it definitely was scenic. Just north of town we spent several miles driving through Fragile Mud Hills. They really look like huge ant hills. Like most photos of landscapes, they are more magnificent and interesting in real life and their beauty can not be captured on film.
We enjoyed driving through the town of Shashome (north of Tecopa). It too has a campground and warm springs pools.
30 miles North of Shashome is Amargosa at Death Valley Junction. It was closed but they have a very historical and beautiful Amargosa Opera House. I was very curious about it and googled it … here is the website. After reading it, I do wish it had been open ! http://www.amargosa-opera-house.com
From here, we continued north to the California Nevada border on hwy 127. It turned into Nevada hwy 373. We knew we were in Nevada when we started to see the brothel signs. “Angels Ladies” or “Shady Lady” We saw some wild burros just outside of Tonopah. We continued north through Tonopah. This is a very old town and was clearly a mining town hundreds of years ago. The strange thing is that people are still living in these small wooden mining shacks from 1900! Mine production from 1900 to 1921, the peak years, was almost $121 million. The biggest single year was 1913, when almost $10 million in golf, silver, copper and lead was mined. By World War 2, only four major mining companies were operating. I’ve driven through Tonopah a few times over the years and finally learned some of its amazing history. http://www.tonopahnevada.com/history.html
Continuing north on 395 towards Austin, our final destination for the day, we pass the huge Smokey Valley but the drive was somewhat repetitive. We turned off on to hwy 50 and after one long journey waaaay up and waaaaay down (and windy) we found Austin. A little town built on a mountain side. We found a cute little campsite at a Baptist Church and had a quiet evening.
Austin was born an old silver mining town and was home to some of Nevada’s more colorful prospectors and silver miners. Today, with the expansive Toiyabe Mountain Range as its backyard, it features some of the best mountain biking, hiking and exploring in the state.
Day 4 and we are heading to one of our favorite hot springs spot. We travel north of Austin on 305 along what was once the Pony Express Route until we get to I80 and the city of Battle Mountain. All along the way, we are witness to mountains frosted with snow. We also were witness to some very large mines that literally take mountains apart. The Phoenix Mine is one of them. Another mine in the area “The Ruth Copper Pit” is one of the largest “Glory Holes” in the mining world. It is brilliantly colored with each type of ore.
At Battle Mountain, a sign reads “you are at Basecamp to Nevada’s Outback”. From Battle Creek, we head west on I80 for a while until we get to Winnemucca and then turn back on to hwy 95 north making our way through some very boring driving. Boring for scenery. We were fighting some nasty winds so it was 100% percent attention to the road for my driver Joe. When we got to hwy 78, we turned west and an hour later were pulling into Crystal Crane Hotsprings. www.cranehotsprings.com The hotsprings are literally a big pond on a prairie. But, without a doubt, were what my driver Joe needed for his back after the stressful two days of driving in high windy conditions. But we love it here. They have little cabins for the non-RV’ers. And a cookhouse if you bring along some groceries and want to barbeque and cook. We enjoyed a long soak shortly after we arrived and another long soak just before bed time. The wind was cold so the 100 yards back to the RV became the 100 yard dash !! The combination of the flannel sheets and goose down duvet on our bed after a mineral water soak made for an incredible sleep! The coach was 45 degrees when we woke up in the morning. Just the way we like it !! The furnace goes on the minute one of us wakes up and we are soon toasty warm and brewing coffee.
Day 5 has come and I am finally catching up on my travelogue. We spent the day driving a little further west from Crane Hot Springs then turned north on 395. We drove down on 395 last fall and loved this beautiful drive. It takes us over 3 or 4 steep and windy mountain passes. I really struggle with anxiety on these types of highways as good as they are and spend a lot of time with my eyes closed, holding my breath and wishing the phobia would just go away!! But today I found a new friend ! The friend is called ADAVAN !! No folks, it isn’t just for fear of flying ! My friend had given me one to stay calm when we took Ube in for dental work last month. I was amazed at how it completely removed that anxious feeling. So this morning, knowing the passes we were going to be driving over, I popped the second one she had given me. I am truly amazed how the anxiety/phobia completely went away with one tiny little white pill. As I said to Joe ~ “it’s nice to enjoy the scenery and the beauty instead of driving along with my eyes closed” … So my quest upon arrival back to Vernon is to get a supply of Adavan for our RV trips… and I will no longer worry about high roads and windy, steep, long roads.
John Day is a lovely little town we passed through. It is nestled between two of these mountain ranges we drove over. Got a few groceries, gassed up (the cheapest diesel in two states) and had a coffee from McDonalds. Continuing north to Pendleton on 395, we left the beautiful forested mountainous roads and were in high country with nothing but rolling hills as far as the eye could see. Along the way today we passed a sign that informed us we were half way between the equator and the North Pole ! Nice little bit of trivia.
At Pendleton, we headed north through Walla Walla and on hwy 12 and up to Dayton which is a lovely little town. I could have spent some time walking the streets there. We turned west on hwy 261 towards Starbuck.
Around 3:30 we arrived at our beautiful spot for the night. We are at Tucannon River RV Park. An absolutely delightful place with acres of lush green grass for our Ube to enjoy prancing around in. They have cleared a long path all along the river which made for a wonderful evening walk after dinner. For my RV friends – all sites are lovely but 1,2,3,4 would be my pick.
Joe tells me he has an interesting NEW route for our journey tomorrow. So, it’s time to re-read this and put it away for the night.
