Laguna Seca & Nevada – August 2021
In memory of Mom, Dad and I continued with the annual (but somber) trek to Laguna Seca Raceway for the Rolex Motorsports Reunion. Because the Reunion has much of the same cars every year, I didn't take any racing-related photos. Our plan after the event was to venture up to Montana, but nearly the entire West was on fire by the time we began heading that direction, thus altered our adventure: Go across Nevada, since neither of us had ever seen the middle section of the state.
Home to Apple Valley, CA:
Left home bright and early in an effort to beat the heat. Upon arriving in Hope, called Dad to see where he was. He wasn't too far behind, so I cleaned butterfly bodies off
the van's nose while waiting for him to catch up. We then caravanned to friends in Apple Valley, CA to visit and stay for the night.
Apple Valley to San Simeon, CA:
After breakfast, we said our farewells and headed to the coast, this time avoiding L.A. by going to Paso Robles, over the Coast Range, and to the San Simeon State Park
campground. This year, the campground, which normally has plenty of sites to choose from, only had a few and they were up on the hill in the primitive section.
San Simeon to Laguna Seca Raceway:
Drove up the foggy coast, stopping at the elephant seal beach, where not nearly as many seals were hanging out.
to 
Rolex Motorsports Races:
Since the same cars there every year, I didn't take photos.
Monterey to Pine Grove, CA:
Left the track early and made our way northeast. We decided to go through gold country, winding our way to Reno and beyond, since my paternal great-great-grandparents'
house is there, yet we had never seen it except in photos taken by my grandma and her sisters. Great-great-grandpa was a mine superintendent.
When we drove down the narrow street, we lucked out on being able to park on the street across from the house. While I was taking photos, Dad approached the gentleman watering the yard. Upon finding out who we were, he invited us in, to the delight of his wife who was doing research on the house. After chatting for a bit, they offered a tour of the house. The interior, aside from an upstairs modern-looking bathroom addition and modern kitchen appliances, the house is still pretty much original, right down to the window glass, door hinges, and ornate cornices. The current owners are slowly restoring the house, beginning with the exterior: yard and paint. The house had been all-white since at least the early 1980s. The new paint job is a traditional Victorian two-tone and is gorgeous! Thank you so much Jess & Denise!
After spending time at our ancestral home, we were starving, thus went down the street to Denny's. By the time we finished, it was early evening; we needed to find a place for the night. In looking at the map, a campground was seen outside of town and on our route, so we gave it a try. Indian Grinding Rock State Park was virtually empty, so we had the pick of sites.
Pine Grove, CA to Trumbull Lake, CA:
In the morning, yellow jackets and bees were everywhere. Nevertheless, we took advantage of the campground showers. Of course, when it was my turn, the shower's hot water was
non-existant. 
While packing up the vans, a park ranger stopped by and informed us that a new fire had broken out and may impact our travel plans. Driving along highway 88, up on the ridge,
we could see not just the smoke of the fire, but the orange glow of the flamess well. 
Fortunately, the road was not shut down,
but the smoke got progressively worse.
We finally made it to Lake Tahoe, which was covered in smoke and ash. We literally could not see the lake. We pressed on over the mountains, descending into Carson City
where we fueled up the vans and had lunch. While eating, I looked up a fire and smoke map. Fires were burning everywhere. If we continued up to Montana, we would be in
smoke the entire time.
Given that, we decided it would be most prudent to abandon the original trip and head
south on 395.
We pulled over at a large turnout on Conway Summit for a break and to determine our destination for the night. It just so happened that there was a side road right there heading up into higher elevation off of which were a couple of campgrounds. We ended up at Trumbull Lake Campground, which sits at 9980 feet elevation… chilly nights, Ponderosa pines, and bear country!
Trumbull Lake to June Lake, CA:
After breakfast, we went for a bit of sightseeing via mountain bike. Beautiful lakes, graced with bald eagles! Amazingly, no smoke!
After our sightseeing, we headed south, stopping at Mono Lake (vistor center closed yet again).
Continuing spontaneously, we stopped in at Oh Ridge Campground at June Lake to see if they had any sites available and they lots, although, for some dumb reason, we couldn't camp in the same spot. Having arrived rather early, we went for a bike ride.
June Lake to Convict Lake, CA:
Went to bed with the air relatively clear, but woke up with it a bit smokey.
Another short drive down 395, this time stopping at Mom & Dad's honeymoon location of Convict Lake. After setting up camp and while eating lunch, deer stopped by for a visit.
Convict Lake to Big Pine, CA:
After breakfast, we hiked the perimeter trail around the lake.
After our hike, we pressed onward, the smoke seemingly stalking us as we went. We thought that the farther south we drove, the less smoke there would be. Wrong! We stopped in at Baker Creek Campground in Big Pine and were surprised to find it vacated, enabling us to get the primo spot along the creek.
Big Pine, CA to Hancock Summit, NV:
Woke up to a beautiful view of smoke , making the surrounding mountains completely disappear.
In looking at the atlas, we decided instead of going directly home, why not go across a part of Nevada we've never seen? The smoke map showed that section of the state pretty clear. With that, we loaded up and drove highway 168 over the mountains, down to 266, and across to 95 in Nevada. Since the smoke did, in fact, clear out as we went east, we turned north, stopping to briefly sightsee the old mining town of Goldfield, and for fuel in Tonopah before resuming eastward travel on highway 6.
That last picture is of a garage that still had a Model T-era truck inside!
At the Warm Springs junction, we stopped for a much needed break.
What little traffic went by continued straight on highway 6. We, however, turned right onto desolate highway 375, also known as the Extraterrestrial Highway.
After driving for nearly 70 miles, and with the sun going down, we began looking for a place to camp, finally coming to a "rest area" near Hancock Summit after
another 20 miles (37.436938, -115.377701). I say "rest area" because it is designated as such, but is on a dirt road and only has a trash can. It is literally just for resting, which
we took full advantage of. 
The full moon and clear skies gave me an opportunity to try out my binocular attachment for my phone's camera. Not having a tripod, I'd say it did pretty good!
Hancock Summit to Cave Lake State Park, NV:
Woke up to a beautiful day for a drive! After leaving the rest area, we stopped under giant shade trees in Crystal Springs, deciding which route to take. We opted to head north on
highway 318. Paying more attention to the sublime landscape than the instrument cluster, I began worrying a bit when finally seeing the gas gauge was reading rather low.
I got a bit of relief when the GPS showed a gas station in Lund. But arriving in Lund, no gas station to be found!
"Sure
hope there's a station up at the highway junction 'cuz we, for sure, ain't making it all the way to Ely!"
Leaving Lund, there was a
billboard for a truck stop ahead in Preston. Sure enough, there was one. But there was very little activity, looking like it might be closed. Fortunately, it was open and the two
gasoline pumps were operational. 
After filling the vans with 14 gallons each, we patronized the little
store, then drove on to Ely, seeing a massive mining operation off in the distance.
Arriving in Ely, Dad wanted to go see this enormous mine. Google Maps led us to the entrance of Robinson Mine, where a friendly security guard kindly informed us that no way, no how would be let in to see anything. Bummer, but understandable. So, we had lunch there at the entrance, amongst the mountain of tailings, then ventured back to Ely where we toured the Nevada Northern Railway Museum.
After buying souvenirs, we drove south on highway 93, destination being Cave Lake State Park. Fortunately, camp sites available! We snagged one overlooking the valley, then rode our bikes down to the lake, which was quite low.
Cave Lake State Park to Echo Canyon State Park, NV:
Woke up to another gorgeous day. Continuing south on highway 93, we stopped into the mining town of Pioche to have a look around and to fuel up (at a friendly Sinclair gas station that still uses the ding-ding).
The Million-dollar Courthouse is now a museum that houses a plethora of artifacts and historical information.
Seeing there was another state park not too far away, and with a lake, we pointed our vans to Echo Canyon. After finding a spot and having lunch, we rode our bikes to the lake and down the dirt road to see what lurked up the canyon.
Echo Canyon State Park, NV to Snow Canyon State Park, UT:
As much we'd have liked to have kept road-tripping, at this point it had been 14 days and my turtle's little indoor pond can't go much longer without a manual re-fill. So, we began heading back to Arizona via Utah. We stopped in Panaca for some ice – now
that we were back in the desert, ice water is very much needed! After cooling off, we started down highway 319, which turns to 56 once crossing into Utah. At Beryl Junction, we turned south onto highway 18. Along this highway is the Mountain Meadows Massacre site
and memorial. After reading Jon Krakauer's Under The Banner of Heaven back when it was first published, which touches on this atrocity, we were definitely stopping to see
it in person.
Somber reminder that evil lurks in every corner of Earth. After paying our respects, we continued south to Snow Canyon State Park, where we found not only a campsite, but a gorgeous canyon we never knew existed.
After biking and lounging around for the remainder of the day, it was time for dinner. Since both propane tanks at this time were having issues, I dug out my emergency
backpacker stove and cracked open a can of chili for us. I happened to have kept my flip-flops on and backed out the sliding door to tell Dad dinner was ready, then walked
back to the van, took the flip-flops off, then stepped into the van to dish up the chili. At this time, the sun was long gone so it was dark, but not dark enough for me to
need a flashlight, or so I thought. Dad walked up a couple of minutes later and said, "What's with all the ants?" Me: 
"Huh, a scorpion!" I looked out
the door and sure enough… It's a darn
good thing I had kept my shoes on because it appeared I had stepped on the giant arachnid upon exiting the van, then narrowly missed stepping on it again when I returned. Ants,
being nature's disposal system, swarmed immediately. Yikes, was that a close one!
Snow Canyon State Park, UT to home:
Arose bright and early to another splendid day and were homeward bound after, what turned out to be, an incredible road trip (except for the scorpion).
Total miles: 2,417
Average MPG: 17.8
Updated: 1-Jan-2024