Leaving Yosemite, Traveling to Reno, Ely and Bryce Canyon

Leaving Yosemite, Reno, Ely, Bryce Canyon

Friday morning the birds woke me up with a chirp fest near my tent cabin at 5 am. After about 30 minutes of “dozing” during their serenades, I finally gave up and got up. I dressed got my things together and started loading up the car for the trip to Reno, NV. Around 6:45 am I went over to the Café at the Bug to get internet access and see if the BlogSpot site was back up, which it wasn’t and noticed my blog from Wednesday at Hetch Hetchy was not viewable. They were in the process of restoring blogs that were lost.

I went into the café when it opened at 7 am and ordered breakfast. Dara came in a few minutes later and sat down with me with her breakfast. She was having her first of several exams for her EMT training and was stressing out a bit over it. I asked it I could pray for her and her exam and she accepted, so I did. She finished her breakfast and we said our goodbyes and she went back to study some more before the exam. She was one of the bright spots in my visit to Yosemite this week. I got everything packed up and checked out and was on the road around 8 am for a 5-6 hour drive to Reno.

The trip to Reno was an adventure for Samantha and me. I had a route planned that would take me back to Mariposa and pick up CA-49 up to Placerville and then connect with US-50 through to Tahoe and then on in to Reno. At one point just outside Sonora she wanted me to take another road, so I said OK let’s see what happens. It turned out to be shortcut on a back road to bypass Sonora and reconnect with CA-49. A little further up the road she wanted me to take CA-188 instead of CA-49 which I refused. After a couple to tries to redirect me to CA-188 she seemed to give up and let me continue on CA-49. At Placerville where I would connect with US-50 she wanted me to take another road. Since the last time it turned out to be shortcut I figured it must me the same thing. I was wrong! She led me down a two-lane country road for 16 miles most of it behind two dump trucks going 20 mph. Finally when we got off that road and onto another it ended back at CA-188! Now I don’t know if Samantha is stubborn or smart, because when we got on to CA-188 there was a sign for US-50 detour, alternate route since it was closed at some point. So, maybe she knew and was trying to keep me out of trouble that being a full time job sometimes. The route on CA-188 went south of Tahoe and connected with US-395 south of Carson City and on in to Reno. It was a nice drive over the mountains at up to 8,000 feet with snow still on the ground in a lot of places and on the mountain tops. Even one lake I passed by still was frozen over with some thawing beginning at the shore line.

Going Across the Mountains

I arrived in Reno around 2 pm at Jerry and Neysa Regent’s home. They recently moved from Garland, TX to Reno about two months ago. They used to work out at the same fitness center as me and that is how we met and struck up a friendship. We talked for a while, catching up then we met some of their friends, Joni and Harvey at a Basque Diner for Happy Hour since the appetizers were supposed to be good. We dined on grilled lamb, home made fries, calamari, prosciutto, bread and cheese, meatball sliders and garlic shrimp. It was all good and no one went away hungry. Saturday morning Jerry and went for a walk on his three mile route through their subdivision which included a lot of up and down walking. We returned, had breakfast, cleaned up and went and ran a couple of errands Jerry needed to take care of. When we returned we headed up to Arrow Springs where they own a lot in a development and had lunch at the country club. We then returned to their home and it was time for me to leave. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to visit with them and appreciated their generous hospitality.

Jerry and Neysa

Jerry, Joni, and Harvey

So, I was on the road again for another 5-6 hour drive across Nevada to Ely, NV. I picked up US-50 (Samantha was in total agreement all along the route except for two items which I will explain later). I stopped in Austin, NV for a break and to gas up the car again. The drive from Fallon, NV to Austin was 110 miles of mostly straight, flat driving. After I got back in the car and started back off, Samantha wanted me to get off US-50 onto an unpaved road. But after yesterday’s experience I was having none of it and stayed on US-50, which she agreed. Another 70 miles of mostly flat, straight road brought me to Eureka, NV. Two signs caught my eye there and I didn’t have time to get a picture of them. One said US-50, the loneliest road in America. The other said Eureka, NV the friendliest town on the loneliest road in America. From Eureka to Ely it was another 100+ miles of lonely road to which I can now attest. I contemplated seeing what the Acura was capable of on some of those desolate straight stretched, but then reconsidered because they were desolate. In Ely Samantha had me turn on The Great Basin Highway (Also US-50) and indicated the KOA site was on my right, which it wasn’t. It was another 2+ miles down that road. To her defense, my AAA maps also showed it the same vicinity where Samantha indicated it should be, so all is forgiven!

The Loneliest Road in America and Some Scenery

I checked in and got my key for the one room cabin I reserved, since I decided not to set up the tent just for one night. Got my things unloaded the night and checking on my trip in to Bryce Canyon tomorrow, which should only be a 4-6 hour drive. Hopefully I will get a good night’s sleep and be ready for the next leg of the journey.

View outside my cabin

 Moonlight over Ely, NV

My cabin suite for the night

I awoke Sunday morning and dressed and headed back up the road to the McDonalds for some breakfast burritos and coffee brought them back to the cabin. The wind had started blowing sometime in the night and was pretty ferocious. I ate my breakfast, got my things together and checked out of the KOA and started the drive toward Bryce Canyon. The wind made the driving intense at times.

There was another 280 miles of the loneliest road in America to travel to get to I-15 in Utah. About 60 miles down the road, Samantha wanted me to get off US-50 onto another road which I couldn’t tell where it might lead. I said lets continue on US-50 and she didn’t object. About 25 miles from where I expected to connect to I-15, Samantha again wanted me to take another road off US-50. This time I could see from my maps that it was a shortcut so off we went and saved maybe 15-20 minutes. Once on I-15 I stopped at Arshel's Café in Beaver, UT for lunch. The café has been is operation since 1950, so it is not “older than Dad”. I continued on US-15 to my cut-off toward Bryce Canyon and arrived at the KOA campground a little after 3 pm. The wind was still blowing as it had been all during the trip. I got my tent site and set up my tent and everything in about an hour. There is some rain expected Tuesday and Wednesday so I changed my reservation to check into one of the cabins Tuesday night so I don’t have to take a change breaking my tent down in the rain. The way the wind is blowing and sometimes bows the tent down almost to the ground, if it keeps that up through the night, and keeps me from sleeping, I might switch to a cabin tomorrow. It wind is also stirring up a fine dust or sand which seems to be covering everything. I might wake up tomorrow morning with a layer of dust on me! The view from my camp site in outstanding as some of these pictures attest, and I’m not even at Bryce Canyon yet. I went and did some laundry and read over the Visitors Guide. Currently it is about 60F outside and 81F in my tent but that will change as the sun is about to go down. It is supposed to get to the high 30s tonight so I am glad I have my little space heater.

 Scene in my rear mirror

Scenes along the road

Red Rock Canyon on the way to Bryce Canyon

 Total Trip Data To Date

Miles from Reno to Bryce Canyon

 View from my tent site

 My tent site

View the other direction from my tent site

I got a copy of the latest visitor guide from the campground office and looked over the places to see in Bryce Canyon. Tomorrow (Monday) I will go to the Visitor Center to check on things and then take the shuttle tour to the major scenic spots and possibly walk some of the rim. On Tuesday I plan to hike some of the trails.

The sun has set and the wind has died down somewhat, but still gusts occassionally, so maybe tonight won't be so bad. We'll see!

See you down the road!