America 250 – Road Trip Adventures: From Texas to Reno

Hello friends! I am back home after a two-week roadtrip first to Reno, Nevada, and then onto Northern California. My mother-in-love and I were meeting up in Reno for an assembly of the California International Order of Odd Fellows. Grab a cup of tea or your favorite beverage and settle it. Lots of photos to share, y’all… What a great way to kick-off summer!

The First Day ~

I got on the road at sunrise on the first Sunday in May, stopping by McD’s for breakfast (these first sunrise views), then headed southwest from North Texas hoping to make El Paso by evening. I knew the trip would be very long and I’d be driving over at least three days.

I did plan for small adventures and a day of rest on Day 2. 😉

Now that I am retired, I am normally looking for things to do which don’t cost any money. This roadtrip was planned a couple of months in advance and began as a way to visit with my mother-in-love Gini while also attending an IOOF assembly as a guest.

Gas prices were double ~ and even triple ~ what I was used to in Texas, depending upon where I was driving. I budgeted for that by saving up money from the previous months.

I brought some of my own food for easy breakfasts, which saved on one meal each day. This is something Mr. Ethereal and I have been doing on our roadtrips for years. 🙂

The scenery began with Texan hills then onto Texas’ western arid desert areas on into El Paso. I enjoyed the changing scenery which even just three hours away brings! So much changes as you head across country which is something I really love about travelling by car.

Seeing mountains again, passing through desert areas, chaparral, and areas where cattle and antelope and other critters roam freely (with warning signs posted!), has made my heart sing!

I did make it to El Paso, but had to go another 40 miles beyond to stop overnight in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Unfortunately for me, every hotel was booked up with a MAJOR CONCERT going on that evening. Jelly Roll, if I remember correctly, with some other entertainers. I saw a sign as I was driving by the arena just off the freeway.

I could have reserved a room ~ but at 3x’s the price! I did try at a Comfort Inn just off the highway.

Once checked into the Marriott, I picked up some dinner from the hotel’s dining room and munched while resting in bed…

That first day I covered 688 miles.

The Second Day ~

This was the easy day of driving with just a few hours up to Albuquerque, New Mexico (about 250 miles). I planned for this to be an easy day as I wanted to take a trip up to the Tramway for an easy hike in New Mexico’s Sandia mountains. (Post coming!)

Day 2 dawned bright and early and I was on the road about 6:30am (late, actually) and drove through more incredible scenery. New Mexico’s deserts and mountains are stunning!!! As I drove along , I was thinking about the wars between the Apache tribes and the US Army cavalry, cattle raids, outlaws and gunfights, and how wild the southwest used to be.

Doesn’t this flower look like a fried egg? I think this is some kind of sage, but we had “fried egg plants” in Murrieta, California. According to Google, fried egg plants are really a type of poppy ~ Matilija Poppies. I looked this bush up online and it commonly called Apache Plume (fallugia paradoxa). 😉 Found right near the Carl’s Jr. shown below.

After many miles, I was ready for food. Isn’t it funny how some foods are more regional as I found Carl’s Jr. fast food restaurants along the route. We don’t have any close-by in North Texas. There are a very few in South Dallas and over in McKinney, Texas, but not near us.

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Reno or bust

Driving Highway 20 west to then HW 45 to Albuquerque was one several routes one can take across the southwest to arrive in Reno, Nevada.

Day Three ~

Getting to Reno included a whole lot of miles in between! This leg of the journey topped out about 1800 miles.

I added 200 miles by going out of the way to Albuquerque, but the stop was worth it. This photo was taken at dawn of Day 3 driving out of Albuquerque and on towards Las Vegas, Nevada… I had already been on the road for over an hour. I was pretty tired but still excited to be heading west.

Gentle rains accompanied me as I drove out of New Mexico. Just a few hours later, we had semi-cloudy skies.

I shot these photos with my Canon 600mm wide angle long lens set to automatic. With the view finder, I don’t even have to look to point, hold down the button to focus and take the picture. I tried to get just a few shots when other cars weren’t around me, keeping them and me relatively safe.

This was the toughest day driving ~ almost 1000 miles ~ which is why I was on the road by 4:00am. On this and the next day (Day 4), I took hour-long naps in shady spots in busy parking lots ~ one a Walmart (Nevada somewhere) and a Home Depot (Sparks, NV). 😉

I drove into Las Vegas about 2:30pm, and it took an hour to drive a fairly short distance. Soooo many people were heading there! I found a Baja Fresh for an early dinner around 4:00pm and had FISH TACOS! My favorite!!!

And I was stuffed…

It’s was a treat to eat at either of these places mentioned! Baja Fresh is really healthy eating. The fish were grilled fillets ~ soooo delicious!!! The cooking oils used out west for cooking must be lighter than what are used in Texas, or so I’ve found.

Cruising through Las Vegas and upwards towards Hawthorn, Nevada, I haven’t been so happy in a long while!

The sunlight out there is just different. Maybe because there is a brightness which comes off the Pacific Ocean, I don’t know??

But it is a different quality of light. Makes for great photography!

As the sun was going down, I drove through Death Valley and could have stopped overnight in a small rest area just for cars and small campers, but I didn’t see it until too late.

As it was, I got to Hawthorne, Nevada around 9:00pm and just didn’t have any more energy to keep going. Fifteen hours of driving with just stops for stretches and restroom and/or food breaks was long enough…

I stopped at a Travelodge and my room smelled of old cigarette smoke. I had asked for a non-smoking room and really wished I’d braved the 48 degrees of the morning at that rest stop! I slept with the sheets covering my face to breathe through.

Shades of things to come sleeping at a casino in Reno…

Day Four ~

I woke up around 4:00am and was out the door around 5:00 with all my bags and ready to roll. The sunrise was beautiful in Hawthorne despite the crappy room. Nobody was on the road. I stopped dead in the road to take this photograph with my iPhone 12 Pro.

On my left there was a cute mini outdoor military museum ~ a tribute to the US Army base just on the outskirts of Hawthorne and to Nevada as a bombing testing ground, nuclear and otherwise. So, I flipped a U-turn and came back around, pulled over, and took a few photos to share.

Don’t you love little roadside attractions like this? I think it is what makes small towns highly unique!

So kitsch but very cool at the same time! It obviously wasn’t open until later ,so it’ll have to wait for another day… 🙁

Little adventures by the wayside…

After that, I think it was about four hours more to Reno where I stopped at a park which I will share in another photo essay.

I know this post has run long, but I thought you’d enjoy seeing the beautiful mountains and scenery along the way here in Southwest…

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Happy trails,