Betty's Motorhome Travels: 10/20/2009 - Rockport State Park, UT to Carson City, NV

With the application for health insurance completed, it was time to move on. Since Salt Lake City was less than 40 miles away, I decided to mail the application at a post office on my way through SLC. Good ole internet.....after using the satellite view of the post office parking lots, I printed a couple of maps of those that looked like it would be easy access & parking for my 32' motorhome!

On my way out of Rockport State Park, I passed the dam that created the beautiful lake that made the park so nice to stay in.

I didn't have too much trouble finding the post office and it totally amazes me how people who have (probably) never driven anything bigger than their car or truck park in such a way that they block those around them. I even parked in such a way that the likelihood of getting "trapped in" was ALMOST impossible....& still not taking up too much space so others could still park.

Wouldn't you know, here is this huge parking lot with lots of open spaces, and someone HAD to park so I couldn't move until they left! As it turned out, I didn't mind! Instead of getting irritated, I take time like this to get my messages on my business line back in Anchorage or make lunch and if they still haven't moved, I eat lunch! I haven't had too many times when I had to wait too long, but there is always something that I can do if it's longer.

However, when the driver of the vehicle that blocked me came out and seen a woman in the driver's seat, he smiled and started to wave before coming over to ask if I "really" drove my motorhome all the way from Alaska (I have Alaska license plates). I didn't think about it until later, but maybe he parked that way just so he could talk to someone who lives so far north!

Not far out of Salt Lake City off I-80, I came upon the Great Salt Lake and not much farther, the Bonneville Salt Flats. Looking back, I am really disappointed that I didn't have enough time to stop and check out the area. Following are some pictures taken right from the freeway.

The drive from the Bonneville area was freeway all the way to Carson City, so only a few pictures were taken.

The picture below was taken when I exited off I-80 onto Hwy 228 south of Elko, NV. I was looking for a state park that had RV parking for the night. However, most parks in NV do not provide electricity and this one was no different. Normally, no electricity wouldn't have influenced me to leave, but this park had only one other camper...and it was out in the middle of nowhere (see the picture below)! I do not make a habit of staying at places like that....sooooooo, since I still had some daylight left, I turned around and headed back to I-80 and hoped "very hard" that I would find someplace down the road that had a place for me to park for the night!

Once I was back on I-80, I discovered that Nevada is not the state to be in when you have only a few hours of daylight left and you want to find a place to park before dark for the night! I ended up having to drive another 132 miles to Winnemucca, where I parked at a Pilot Gas Station, a trucker's stop. I parked way over in a corner so as not to attact too much attention, lighting was not so bright and I could crawl out of the drivers seat and go directly to the coach without anyone seeing that I was a woman traveling alone! I wasn't there for more than 30 minutes, when there was absolutely no daylight left! How lucky is that!

In the morning, I was awake early....as soon as I could see that it was getting lighter outside, I was up and outta there! I didn't even stop to make my morning coffee....I drove until I could park & turn my generator on without bothering anyone with generator noise!

From Winnemucca, I had another 185 miles or so to Carson City, NV where I would stay for a couple of nights to get my laundry done, get some supplies & follow up on my business calls. Although the picture below looks more like open spaces, it was actually coming a long grade on Hwy 50 on the northeast side of Carson City. Whata view!