Hwy. 50 ~ Moab, Utah to Reno, Nevada

Our current location:  Klamath Falls, Oregon

Welcome Aboard to a new "Follower" today.   THANK YOU very much to An English Shepherd for joining my group.  Hopefully, you will find something of interest to you as you read though my posts.  I appreciate you coming along for the ride!

It was never our intention to completely travel Highway 50 from coast to coast.  We didn't have time for that this year.  We originally picked up this terrific highway in Northern Virginia near Front Royal.  Our plan was to leave this road in Reno, Nevada.  And we did.  We stuck with that plan. 

Let's back up just a bit today so I can bring you up to speed on how the journey went from Moab to Reno.   Coming out of Moab you continue west using Interstate 70/Highway 50.  They are joined together for several miles.  The scenery along this route is quite fabulous.  Even though you are no longer in the national parks, the rock formations and the colors are great.

We had made reservations at an RV park in Delta, Utah (already posted review on that) and the drive was good.  At the town of Salina, Hwy. 50 once again takes off on it's own and we left I-70 behind.  It was a short 29 miles to Scipio.  Along the way the 2-lane road was a feast for the eyes with mountains and green pastures to look at.

At Scipio we had to join I-15 South for 10 miles to pick up "fifty" once again.  It becomes disjointed at I-15.  It was a short 26 miles and we were in Delta.  Stayed the one night and were on our way West in the morning.  West of Delta, Utah is where the name "The Lonliest Road In America" really takes shape.   Just east of the Nevada state line you come to a pass with a dowhill grade of 8%. 

As I posted last time, we pulled off the highway for a few hours to see the Great Basin National Park.  After that visit, we began our journey West once more.   There were two more mountain passes before we stopped for the night in Ely.  (pronounced E-Lee)  Before going to an RV park we stopped and refueled.  There were several fueling options in the town of Ely.

In Ely we searched out the cheapest location for an overnight stop with full hook-ups.  We found a listing for the Prospector Hotel & Casino with RV Park in the Trailer Life Directory.  It was only 1 mile north of our highway.  It listed 22 gravel sites with FHU and 50 amp.  The price?  $15.00 was all.  We passed a KOA prior to refueling and the listing for that was $31.95.  It also had gravel/dirt roads and was nothing spectacular.  Why pay so much more when we only wanted a place to pull off the highway, hook-up, enjoy TV and do some laundry?  Plus, they had great FREE WiFi.

The next morning we found some more of the Lonely Road to be interesting to drive through.  This time of year we saw a lot of "green" out there.  There were a lot more mountains to cross also.  Between Ely and Austin there were 7 more passes to negotiate.  The road was very winding, too.  In fact, just before reaching the small town of Austin it was the curviest and most winding road we'd encountered since West Virginia.  We took it slow and there was no problem. 

Once we got to Austin we decided to make a pit-stop for our Annie.  It was an interesting little town situated right in the center of a 7,484 foot pass.  We parked the RV and wandered around a bit.  There aren't many towns along Highway 50 in Nevada, and when you come upon one you may dismiss it as a "nothing town."  Well they aren't "nothing" to the folks that live there.  Just like all of us they are living their lives, raising their kids, working at jobs, or just hanging out being a curmudgeon like Al up in Bayfield.   We saw a small cafe and a little antique (junk) store beyond that.  A nice looking, rusty old stove stood in the yard. 

After Austin there were only 2 more passes and they were a snap after the ones we'd already traveled on.  We continued our way toward our connection with I-80 East of Reno.  We stopped first to get more fuel and this was where we parted ways with good old Highway 50.  In Reno we took the turn for Highway 395 which would take us to the Bordertown Casino and RV Park for a one-night stop.

I received a comment recently from John and Sandy who travel in the Mothership and are planning to go from West to East on Hwy. 50 thru Nevada.  They were wondering if there were adequate refueling stops for their DP "Mothership" before they began.  We found enough fuel stops to please our thirsty motorhome, John and Sandy.  We always use The RVer's Friend, especially when choosing those smaller highways.  This directory lists diesel truck stops that invite RVer's to their locations.  The directory listed diesel locations along Hwy. 50 in Fallon and Ely.  The price per gallon there was $2.99 to $3.08.  I hope this helps in easing your mind about traveling through this area.

We had always wanted to cross the continent without going on an Interstate highway.  Well, we sort of did that this time.  The only time we got on an interstate was in Missouri after our mishap with our leveling jack and we picked up I-70 for a few miles to get to Independence quicker.  Then in Kansas Hwy. 50 runs along with I-35 for a while and likewise in Utah with I-70 for a distance.  Other than those instances, we stuck with our plan to stay off the multi-lane roads in favor of the 2-lane roads. 

We're going to be hanging out in LaPine, Oregon for 8 or 9 days now.  It will be good to stay put for a few days.  Did we enjoy the small, slow trip from East to West?   YES and we plan to do another one in the near future.   Even though this part of our RV fulltime journey will be coming to a close, don't leave us!  I plan to keep blabbering...I mean blogging about our continuing life as fulltime RVer's.  We will be going over to Seaside, Oregon after we leave LaPine.  We are really looking forward to that. 

Coming up:  more RV park reviews

Until next time.....so long for now!