Needles, California - A Day Out - Hoover Dam and Route 66

Probably one of the best day out for us was a drive from Needles, California to Hoover Dam and back through Kingman, Arizona, and Oatman, Arizona, along Route 66.

Big trip ahead so we were up early.  Here is our route:

Needles to Hoover Dam to Kingman to Oatman to Needles

We started by driving mostly on the US95 towards Boulder City.  Searchlight is a good stopping spot for coffee, however, the drive to Hoover Dam is only about 1 hour 30 minutes (95 miles).  When you approach Hoover Dam you will see a new bridge which you can go over later.  The Hoover Dam tour is a must.  There is ample parking and a choice of tours to take.  We stayed there for a couple of hours and did one tour.  (Note:  Have a look in the mirror before you go into the Information Centre.  If you go on a tour, your picture will be taken which is available for purchase after the tour.)

After our visit at Hoover Dam we wanted to go to Kingman which is on Route 66.  Our plan was to have lunch stop there.  The drive is across the desert, over mountains for about 1 hour 30 minutes (80 miles).  Kingman is loaded with fast food restaurants and is a typical stop-over spot between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon.  Actually, Kingman has a lot more to offer than just a quick bite to eat.  There is a Route 66 Museum, City walking tour and loads more.  Click on the link - About Kingman, AZ.

After an hour in Kingman (and we could have stayed longer), we headed back to Needles (about 30 miles)  via Oatman.  This drive along Route 66 is SENSATIONAL.  We can't say enough about how much we enjoyed the views.  The road was a bit narrow - so you need to pay attention to where you are driving.  But, well worth it!!!!!

We stopped in Oatman (see link - Oatman) and had another coffee and enjoyed watching the visitors mixing with the donkeys and enjoying this super former mining town.

Back to Needles for a sit by the pool and dinner!

Tomorrow we are off to LA, California.  

Days 11 - 13 - In and around Needles, California (Route 66, Oatman, Kingman, Hoover Dam, Laughlin)

We would love to say, 'DON'T STAY IN NEEDLES!!!!!!' but that would be selfish to try and preserve this location as it is now for ourselves.  Read on.......!

Where to stay and eat:  There are several motels.  We chose the Best Western, Needles.  You will see from the Trip Adviser Link that it is rated No. 1 at the time of writing.  Do not be deceived by the hotel price.  It includes a first rate breakfast at Juicy's Famous River Cafe.  In fact, we ate most of our meals at Juicy's and believe me it offers delicious food, great staff and a wonderful atmosphere.

What we love to do in Needles - Go to the golf club.  Wow!  When we found this 18 hole course on our first visit it must have been 110F outside and people were golfing.  Rivers Edge Golf Course is along side the Colorado River.  The Clubhouse is good with great food to take with you on the course or just go there for a bite to eat and enjoy the view of the Colorado River.  

  

Great day trips:  

Hoover Dam - Easily reached in a day with plenty of time to take the tour and see the new bridge.

Laughlin, Nevada - A mini Las Vegas.  Big hotels, factory outlet all along the Colorado River.

Oatman, Arizona- A must!  Gold mining town with plenty of shops, shows, places to eat located on Historic Route 66. Plenty of burros which have the right of way.

Kingman, Arizona - Drive between Oatman and Kingman along Route 66 is spectacular.  Kingman hosts the Route 66 Museum.

Lake Havasu City - Home of the London Bridge.  Great boating and outdoor pursuits location.

     

Next Blog will be a day trip we made that you might like doing too.

Day 10 - Henderson (near Las Vegas), NV, to Needles, California (111 miles, about 2 hours drive)

We have given directions from Las Vegas to Needles (for your information).  We were staying in Henderson.

Our plan was to leave Henderson early in the morning and go to Boulder City and then on to Hoover Dam before driving to Needles.  We were delayed and found ourselves in a lot of traffic on Route 93 and decided to turn off at its junction with Route 95 and continue on our way to Needles.  Remember this.  Hoover Dam is a popular tourist site and is easily reached from Las Vegas.  (More about that later on in our trip.) We stopped in Searchlight for lunch and arrived early in the afternoon in Needles.  

Needles, California, is basically a stopover town between the west coast of California and the Grand Canyon.  Some years ago we did just that.  Unexpectedly we were forced to stay a few days because Ace had put his back out.  Talk about every cloud having a silver lining!  What a fantastic location.  The town is situated right on the Colorado River, a short drive away from Laughlin to the north and Lake Havasu to the south.  Best of all it is nice and hot - guaranteed.  We found a great golf course too.  There is plenty to do.  On this trip we stayed for 3 nights.  Our next entry will give more detail about what we did during our visit.  We'll add some photos and video too.

Tomorrow - In and around Needles, California.

Day 9 - Caliente to Henderson, NV, via Valley of Fire & Lake Mead (200 miles, about 3.30 hours drive)

We can see that Caliente, Nevada, is not a destination point (judging by the number of views of our last posting).  What a shame.  It is a nice town which we liked and made a point of visiting twice.

Today was our day to get back to civilization.  However, we had one more particularly special stop to make at the Valley of Fire.  If you haven't been to the Valley of Fire (VoF), it is A MUST.  VoF is located about 45 minutes from Las Vegas and is probably as breathtaking as the Grand Canyon.  Here is the Nevada Division of State  Parks link - Valley of Fire info.

Our trip - We set off in the morning after breakfast.  We stopped in a small town called Alamo for a coffee and snack.  Because we were going to be spending time in VoF we decided to buy some sandwiches and drinks for a picnic later.  Good move.  The drive took us down Route 93 to the junction with Route 168 to Glendale and then on to Route 169 to Overton and on to Valley of Fire turn off.  Allow a couple of hours to drive and walk around VoF.  They have a good Information Center.  Have a look at a couple of our films for a taste of what you will see:

The next film shows 'someone' trying to copy John Wayne's pose from the film, The Searcher:

From Valley of Fire you can drive to the other side of the State Park and take the I-15 to Las Vegas and/or Henderson.  We wanted a bit more scenery so we continued on Route 169 and follow the signs for Henderson.  You will see lots of Lake Mead along this road. 

Henderson is a great town just outside Las Vegas.  We chose Henderson because we wanted to stay at the Sunset Station Hotel.  What a good choice. Here is the view from our room:

Tomorrow - Off to Needles, Caifornia.

Day 8 - US Route 50 Eureka to Ely, Nevada then south on US 93 to Caliente, Nevada (210 miles, about 3.30 hours)

Our destination here is Caliente, Nevada.  Important:  Before you do anything - book your motel before you leave Eureka.  Caliente has several small motels and is a stop-over destination.  In the evening the rooms evaporate.  You will most likely have to phone ahead rather than book online.  We stayed at the Rainbow Canyon Motel.  It is clean and not expensive.  


Okay.....now on to our trip for the day.  You will see from the map that the drive from Eureka to Ely is only an hour.  So you can leave after breakfast and get there in the morning, have a coffee, do something like the Nevada Northern Railway, have lunch downtown and do a walking tour and then drive on to Caliente.  


We arrived at about 10 am and had a coffee and picked up some leaflets to help us decide what we wanted to do for a few hours.  Ely is a bigger town but still historic.  It started out as a stagecoach stop along the Pony Express Route.  It later became a copper and then  gold mining town.  There are plenty of things to do indoors and outdoors.  In truth it is a place that is almost worth a stopover.  (See link Things to do in Ely)


So what did we do.  We headed into town which is so interesting.  Two attractions that particularly caught our eyes where the fantastic murals on many of the buildings and the historic Nevada Hotel.  The 1929 hotel is six stories tall and was the tallest building in Nevada well into the 1940's.  The hotel has a classic casino, restaurants and is just wonderful.  Be sure to take a look at some of the 20 murals and artwork downtown financed by the Ely Renaissance Society.  Here is a short clip showing part of the town.

We really enjoyed Ely but it was time to take the two hour drive to Caliente.  We needed to do our laundry and knew that there was a nice laundromat there which we had used on a previous trip.   The drive to Caliente has a more 'out in the middle of nowhere' feeling.  It is a slow decent from 6,437 ft to 4, 300 ft.  (That surprises me.  Because it is so warm, I thought we were closer to sea level.)   We didn't see many cars on the road and the high desert was quite green when we passed through. We stopped in Pioche for a very late lunch.

When we arrived in Caliente we went ahead and check into the Rainbow Canyon Motel and then headed off to the laundromat (only to find it wasn't there!!!).   Happily, there was another one just down from the train station so off we went.  We did our laundry, had a walk around the station and then went to dinner at a restaurant up the street from our motel.  Most of all we enjoyed the sound of several freight trains passing through during the day and night.  It didn't keep us awake.

We first discovered Caliente when we traveled from Chicago to Las Vegas on Amtrak.  Caliente has the most beautiful train station and it was hot there and we decided to go back some years ago.  Unfortunately, we couldn't do it by train because Amtrak stopped going into Las Vegas. A real shame.  So we went to Caliente by car.

Tomorrow.....off to (no, not Las Vegas) Henderson, Nevada.

Day 7 (Part 2) - US Route 50 Carson City to Eureka, Nevada (240 miles, about 4 hours)

For about 30 minutes we found ourselves slightly climbing until we reach the Toiyabe Mountain Range where Austin, Nevada, is located at an elevation of 6,605 feet.  Austin is basically a ghost town but it does have a population of over 300 people.  The buildings are well preserved and it is a pretty neat place.  Here is the drive into town:

This is a perfect place to stop for lunch and go for a walk.  We had lunch at the International Hotel (Click on the  link - International Hotel for more information) which is said to be the oldest hotel in Nevada.  (There seems to be a lot of the 'oldest' this and 'oldest' that in Nevada.)   We had a lovely lunch there and met some very nice people who were travelling from Eureka to Lake Tahoe.  


Our walk around Austin was pretty much up the hill to the end of town and back to our car outside the International Hotel.  (See this link about the history of the town - Austin, NV, history.)  Actually, we could have spent much more time here.  There is lots to see and it is a very friendly and welcoming town.

Leaving Austin, we continued to climb and stopped to see the magnificent view.  Fantastic.  Now here is something to bear in mind.  When we were just outside Austin we had to stop for a pick up truck and horse trailer  which had transmission problems.  The cowboy/driver could not get a signal on his mobile phone....so he asked us to call the Highway Patrol when we could get a signal further up the road.  Don't count on having a cell phone signal all the time.


When we were finally out of the mountains, we passed a chap who was pulling a 8 foot long cross along the highway.  We stopped to offer his some water, have a chat and then drove for about another 45 minutes to the historic mining town, Eureka.  Upon arriving we shouted, 'Eureka', of course.  


We stayed in a Best Western Hotel which was probably the most expensive hotel on our trip.  But having said that, it was very nice and, of course, the price included a decent breakfast.  We had dinner in an interesting, no frills Mexican restaurant just up the street called La Fiesta.  Eureka seems to be in the heart of mining country. It has a sensational, state of the art High School complete with running track and football field.  We believe that its construction is with the compliments of the local mining companies.  The Fire Department (across the street from our hotel) is unmissable and also funded by the mining community.   Quite a few of the people staying at the hotel were miners/riggers that travel quite away into the mountains.  Here is a little clip of film showing our hotel and the main street. 

Well folks, this has been a long day.  It feels like it has taken longer to write about our experiences between Carson City and Austin.....but we did it.  Must mention one more thing about Eureka.  The town is located in Eureka County.  Not a bad place to be if you want low taxes :).  


Next to Caliente, Nevada, via Ely.  More soon.

Listen Up - A little more about going from Las Vegas to Lake Tahoe (via Tonopah or Independance)

There seems to be some interest in traveling from Las Vegas to Lake Tahoe via Tonopah.  If you look to earlier entries you will see what route we took.

Alternatively, if you want to try something different you could go into California and up the most beautiful Route 395 from Lone Pine almost the whole way to Lake Tahoe.  See the Map:

You can stop over-night in Death Valley or if you are not too bothered about Death Valley, stop in Independence, California. The driving time as detailed on the map is 8 hours and 35 minutes (Las Vegas to Death Valley, 2.30 hours, Death Valley to Independence 2hrs, and 4 hours from Independance to Lake Tahoe).  If you feel a stop-over in Independence would be good, you must stay at the ~Winnedumah Hotel.  The views of Mt Witney are fabulous and you can enjoy a beer on the porch and watch the world go by at night.  An experience not to be forgotten.  Here is another link - Winnedumah Hotel.  It is a 1930's sort of place with losts of movie history, local courthouse with history and good food and company.  

We have also driven to Tonopah and then across to Route 395 via Bishop.  That works too.  The good thing is that on California Route 395 you go close to Yosemite turn-off which seems a logical idea.  I think I would plan on stopping overnight twice if I were going all the way to Lake Tahoe and not including Yosemite.  If you were thinking of a nice week's trip then this is a wonderful choice when arriving in Los Angeles and perhaps leaving from San Francisco.  (Now I won't get you from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco - you can figure that out pretty easily.  Just use Mapquest link to create a Map - Lake Tahoe to San Francisco.

Okay, better get back to our trip East from Carson City to Eureka....tomorrow.

It is taken me as long to write this as it took the man we saw pulling a cross to travel the same road

Yes, that is true.  There was a chap pulling a huge wooden cross from the West Coast to Missouri.  Anyway, I am getting back to our trip to Austin shortly.  Honestly.  More about this when I get ourselves to Austin, Nevada.

Day 7 (Part 1) - US Route 50 Carson City to Eureka, Nevada (240 miles, about 4 hours)

Today was to be a day of great excitement.  We set out to drive along 'The Loneliest Road in America'.

Now, if you look at the map above, you'll note that there aren't may towns along this route.  Hence, the name.  What our drive lacked in population it excelled in beauty and enjoyment (for us).  'The Loneliest Road' was inspired by the July 1987 story in Life magazine that dubbed US-50 “The Loneliest Road".  The state-run Nevada Commission on Tourism latched onto the idea suggested in the report and sponsored a tongue-in-cheek promotion in which trans-Nevada travelers can earn themselves a certificate saying “I Survived the Loneliest Road in America.” You can get your official US-50 travel passport stamped at visitors centers along the highway and instructions on how to receive a certificate from the Governor of the State verifying your achievement.  


We did stop along the way and our first stop was at Dayton just outside Carson City.  Dayton claims to be Nevada's oldest settlement.  (Hummmm, I think Genoa, NV, might be disputing this claim.)  There are a few old buildings to look at, a mining town theme and a nice gas station on the main road which sells coffee.  When we tried to find out more about the 'passport', no luck.  No worries, we pursued.

The drive is entertaining.  You will learn about the Pony Express along the way and see a lot of open space.  For example.  To the East of Fallon, NV,  you will most probably hear and see the occasional plane or two.  The Navy has a training facility here reported to have the Navy's longest runway, 14,000 ft.  Just beyond that you will see an enormous mountain of sand, known as Sand Mountain.  How appropriate.  Here is a picture of Ace at Sand Mountain.  We had a little drive off the main road to what looks like a popular dune buggy spot.  Lots of campers about.   




Our trip took us through passes, over mountains and ever so occasionally there was a nice spot to stop for a cup of coffee or something to eat.  We stopped at a place call, Cold Springs, at a rather new bar/restaurant.  I think (like many places in Nevada), the original building was destroyed in a fire.  


We had a coffee here.  (You'll see me in the video. We goofed and call this spot, Salt Springs.) Here is a little film showing this Pony Express stop.

Next we drove on to Austin, Nevada, for a longer stop and lunch.  Let me tell you that that views are spectacular.  You are at high altitude, going even higher over mountains and in between you have fantastic views as you cross high plains.  We were lucky in that there was snow on the mountains.  Beautiful.  Take time to look back, every now and again.


Will write more tomorrow it is on to Austin, Nevada.  Cheers for now  

Day 6 - In and around Carson City (Virginia City, Lake Tahoe, Genoa)

Busy day ahead but I can already tell you that we did it with ease even in spite of covering quite a few miles.  After breakfast in the hotel, we headed out to Virginia City.  It is about 30 minutes away.  We enjoyed the drive there which took us up into the hills.  Here is a good link - Virginia City info.  We arrived about 9 am and had a good walk around with a stop for coffee at the local saloon.  There is a great little tour that takes you around the whole ghost town which was fantastic. 

From Virginia City we drove along Route 50 which took us back into Carson City and then over the mountains to Lake Tahoe.  Now this drive is only about an hour and about 40 miles.  The road over the mountains is excellent.  We did see some snow (in May).  We were extremely fortunate to have the sight of the lake with snow covered mountains in the background.  We drove along side the lake into Stateline and stopped at a Carrows for lunch.  Stateline is another gambling town with big casinos in Nevada and then just regular hotels across the state line in California.  After lunch we found a nice beach and spent an hour there enjoying the scenery and sunshine in rather cool temperatures.  We decided to drive back to Carson City via Route 207 which is a quick drive over the mountains (again spectacular views) on a 2 lane road.  We took the turn off for Route 206 to our next destination Genoa, Nevada.

What a gem Genoa is.  It is a quaint town, worth a stop.  Click this link - Genoa - History   You will see that Genoa is Nevada's first settlement and the home of Nevada's first saloon which I might add is open and charming.

We must have spent an hour in Genoa before heading back to Carson City.  Again, the drive was lovely.  We stopped at Costco for some gas and then headed back to our hotel.  What a fantastic day!!!

Next stop - Eureka, Nevada

(Work in progress - will add video & photos.)

Day 5 - Tonopah to Carson City, Nevada

227 Miles, 4 hours driving time.

We woke up fairly early because we had a full day ahead driving to Carson City. Our Best Western Hotel, Tonopah, had a great breakfast which we enjoyed. After checking out we headed north on Route 95. The drive was beautiful.   There were massive ranges of mountains in every direction. The scenery adjoining the road around us was distinctly categorised as being 'green desert'. The month was May and to us is was surprising that everywhere looked so green.

By the time we were approaching Hawthorne, Nevada, we were thinking a cup of coffee would be nice. Now our experience is that one never knows (looking at a dot on the map) how big or what businesses are to be found. Well as we headed down hill towards Hawthorne, our attention was quickly diverted to a very rugged terrain and it didn't take Ace long to figure out that what we were looking at, for as far as you could see, were ammunition bunkers...thousands of them. We found a McDonald's and stopped there for coffee after driving through a delightful town adjoining Hawthorne Army Depot. We soon learned that around us was an ammunition storage site. Construction began on the facility in 1928 and it served as an ammunition staging area for World War II. It is said to be the largest facility of its kind in the world, covering more than 147,000 acres.  About Hawthorne, Nevada

After coffee I had my picture taken with a huge American flag in the background and off we headed north continuing up Route 95. We soon approached beautiful Walker Lake and then onto Alternate Route 95 through Yerington and then at Silver Springs we turned left onto Route 50 (The Loneliest Road in American). More about that later.

It was time for something to eat again so we stopped outside Dayton at a little shopping center, had a burger, went to the grocery store and stretched our legs. We were nearly there.

The last bit of our drive, about 30 minutes, took us in to Carson City via Route 50 and onto South Carson Street. We found our hotel, Best Western Carson Station and Casino located in South Carson Street.  I must say we loved our hotel.  It has a small casino and it close to many local historical sights, all within walking distance.  After we checked in we went out for a walk and found a great 'blue line' walking tour, fantastic historical homes, a museum or two, State capitol buildings, and more.  We had a drink at a local bar before dinner and then ate at our hotel.

Tomorrow - Virginia City and Lake Tahoe and Genoa.

Day 4 - Downtown Vegas and then to Tonopah, NV

We got up early and finished packing, had breakfast and a last little gamble in Casino Royale then headed down town. Fremont Street is a canopied-street that has a light show worth seeing at night. Fremont Street has been successfully regenerated to compete with The Las Vegas Strip. The casinos are old fashioned and many will be recognised from the motion pictures. If you are visiting Las Vegas, you should definitely visit Fremont Street.

Las Vegas to Tonopah

Heading to Tonopah, Nevada
The drive north to Reno or Carson City calls for an over-night stop at Tonopah, Nevada. We left Las Vegas about 11am and drove for some time before we actually got into the desert. The development around Vegas is staggering. Once in the desert we simply followed Route 95. We noticed that we were gradually climbing to higher altitude. Pretty scenery in every direction. We stopped for lunch at a service station outside Beatty to the north of town. They had toilets, Subway takeaway and a large shop selling sweets, etc. We had lunch there in the garden. Next point of interest was the ghost town, Goldfield.  About Goldfield Looking at the attached website, I am sorry that we didn't stop and have a closer look at the buildings. We arrived in Tonopah about 2ish. We had booked at the Best Western. Across the street was a laundromat so you can guess what we did next.

Tonopah for the most part is a mining town. My guess is that most of the people staying at our motel were miners. Tonopah is an interesting little town with plenty to do. One rather humorous site is the Clown Motel which is located next to a cemetery. Interesting! If you are into astronomy, this is the place for you at night. You are miles from anywhere, hence, Tonopah has been voted No.1 Stargazing Destination in America by national newspaper - USA Today.

Laundry done, it was time to find somewhere to have dinner. You have probably guessed that we like to drop a few coins in gambling machines. Well, after dinner we had that opportunity at a nice little casino which is part of the Ramada Hotel. We had dinner there and the food was excellent. There is a grocery store next to the Ramada, if you need one.

Tomorrow - To Carson City
Tips -

1. Enjoy the scenery.

2. Remember that there aren't many places to stop and if you have time Goldfield looks interesting.

Day 2 and 3 - Las Vegas

Las Vegas is a must-see City. You could easily spend a couple of days going in and out of all the hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. In fact, you can tour the world as each hotel has its own unique theme. Fabulous fun. However, be prepared to be crowded out as the day goes on. Las Vegas has no low season in respect of numbers of people. Convention traffic, hen/stag parties, wedding celebrations equal lots of people about in addition to holiday visitors.

We have been to Las Vegas a number of times so our main objective for the day was to do a little shopping and see any new hotels that had been built since our last visit. We did not use the car at all today. We did a lot a walking to the newish Palazzo Hotel and along the canal in The Venetian. Trying to economise, we ate at Denny's for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch and then had a very light dinner back at Denny's. We met an interesting man who had call from his son whilst eating to which he reported, 'Don't worried about your inheritance, I have just spent it'. Our favourite gambling spot seemed to be at Casino Royale (next door to Denny's). The only reason is probably because we won on the machines and our hotel (Harrah's) was nearby.

On Day 3 we drove out to Henderson to the Green Valley Ranch Hotel to have breakfast at their Pancake House. Did a little shopping and more sight-seeing and then to Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon for dinner.

If you haven't been before make use of the monorail which goes between MGM Grand and The Hilton. You can get a day pass.

Tomorrow - Time to 'leave Las Vegas'

Tips

1. The Las Vegas Strip becomes more crowded as the day goes on. If you are travelling from Europe, you will likely wake early. Hooray! Everything is open - stores, restaurants, hotels and casinos. Even a Wal-Mart.

2. Trip Advisor offers great suggestions for hotels and what to do - Trip Advisor - Las Vegas

Day One - Los Angeles, California to Las Vegas, Nevada

A rainy day in Los Angeles was our signal that 'it was time to leave town'. We had hired a car in Los Angeles and drove over the mountains on Interstate 15 through Victorville, Barstow, and Baker. The weather soon cleared on the way. It was mid May and unbelievably there had been snow on the mountains which was beautiful. (Note: There is an opportunity to drive along a little of Route 66 which runs along side the freeway. We have done it in the past when the freeway was jammed.)

Los Angeles to Las Vegas

The drive is about 5 hours, including a quick lunch break, and the plan is to arrive in Las Vegas after 3pm, check-in time.

We stayed at centrally located Harrah's this trip. After checking in it was time to go to the casino bar and have our traditional 'Shirley Temple' and then look for a 5 cent video poker machine.

Tomorrow - In and around Las Vegas

Tip:

1. Stop for lunch at Barstow. There is a factory outlet on the west side of town. There are a number of restaurants or fast food places. We ate at Bob's Big Boy.

2. You will need a comfortable car.

3. When you get to Las Vegas and if you are staying at a hotel, use the valet services on your first night. Cost a few dollars and there is less hassle.

Websites: Route 66 - Barstow website for things to do, places to see and restaurants on Historic Route 66 - Click the link -  About Barstow & Route 66