The "Red Roads" Rock!

We head out of Valley of Fire on a Friday morning.  We decide to take as many "red roads" on the way home as possible, avoiding most of the Interstate Hwy routes.  After the challenging driving on Mex #1 it feels like this is possible because these two lane roads in the U.S. actually have shoulders.  Wide shoulders!  And, a bonus of not much for traffic as most take the Interstates.  A short hop on I-15 and we exit 11 miles later to 93 northbound.  That leads us to...wait for it...The Extraterrestial Highway...#375!  Who could possibly pass by this opportunity?????

#375 Nevada

 We are interested in taking this state highway as it is rumored that flying saucers, and the like, use this area for landing excursions!  We are on high alert...looking UP, looking DOWN, looking ALL AROUND!

Yep, we're on the right road!

Pretty straight, STRAIGHT....road...

We head north toward the "town" of Rachel.  Not much to see, for sure no traffic...and, no space vehicles either.

The Little AleInn in Rachel

Arriving in Rachel about noon, we pull into the parking lot at the Little AleInn Restaurant and Bar.  (It's also a curio shop for alien stuff!)  After lunch in the RV we wander into the restaurant / bar / shop.

Make new friends...but keep the old...???

We billy up to the bar for....

Boo-Berry Pie!!!  And ice cream, of course!

A little time for conversation with the bar keeper (owner) and learn they have 10 guest rooms (look like single wide trailers to us) and 5 RV spaces (couldn't really figure those out)...and of course, 5 different kinds of pie and vanilla ice cream....and lots of booze, but, heck, it's 1:00 p.m. and we're northbound.

More of 375 northbound

Too early to stop, it's back on the road for us.  We'll have to see our UFO's in the daylight, if we do!

Next is red road NV#376, also called the Big Smokey Valley scenic route....and scenic it is!  Wow, what country and weather!

Oh Nevada!  You surprise me!

We figure in the next 200 miles we will find the perfect place to stop.  Why?  Who knows, as there is nothing around here, but beautiful country.  No traffic, no towns, no wide spots in the road, no rest areas, no gas stations, no...no...nothing.

More beauty

Perhaps when we get to "Austin, NV" there will be a good place to stop for the night?  Not much shows up on my apps for "RV overnight."  We find at the end of this 100 mile stretch, a mountain pass, right before Austin!  What?  Snow?

ICK!

Once we are safely down into Austin, I think, surely this is where we STOP.  But, we are through Austin before we blink and on to the next stretch of red road, # NV 305.  This stretch is another 100 miles.  Feels too long to go all the way to Battle Mountain, but look where we spend the perfect night! (It's perfect because we are stopped.)

Flying J truck stop Battle Mountain, NV

Not hard to get going fairly early...no reason to dally here!  It's off to the last stretch of northern NV, through Winnemucca and up, yep, red road NV#95.  Before we know it we are crossing into Oregon.

More red roads in Oregon!

This is now day 3 and our goal tonight is the rest area west of Ellensburg, WA.  So, it's red roading it up central Oregon, crossing into WA above Hermiston and on toward Ellensburg, and now a short dash on the Interstate.

Welcome home!

Roll on Columbia...roll on...

 Our plan is working great, until it's not working at all.  Suddenly right before the much anticipated rest area, there is a huge sign saying "Rest Area CLOSED."  What??????  Much disbelief fills the RV.  And as we are actually passing the exit to the rest area (many orange barrels) I see that, wait, no, it's OPEN!?  But, as I said we are passing the exit.  And the next exit is Cle Elum.  Another few miles...so we drive through town and wind up at, yes, the Cle Elum railroad crossing parking lot!

Cle Elum railroad crossing

I bet you want to know how many trains pass through here each night?  Or at least on a Sunday night!  We know!  FOUR!  All eastbound, all blowing lots of whistles and having many, many cars.

On the plus side we know from our horse showing days, there is a Dairy Queen in this town and we are walking distance!  (because we are NOT at the rest area....)

Guilty as charged

What you can't see is that as I am snapping the photo, oops...the sundae tips over and spills all over the table top (grate) and the dogs wait underneath...very happy dogs.  :)

Chocolate cherry sundaes are my favorite!

Another easy early departure from this fine night's rest....and we are off over the pass by 8:00 a.m.
That puts us on the ferry at 2:40 and driving up to Froglanding by 4:00 p.m.!!

Tight squeeze

Home sweet home....

The pups are sticking their heads out the RV window all the way up the last bit...and what a homecoming run they do!!  Door open, paws on the ground...and well, off the ground too!

Sparky being...very sparky!

                                         There truly is.....really...NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

  Steve & Nan, Skipper & Sparky, 5,600 miles, 560 gallons of diesel, 130 days, 6 states, 2 countries!