So I’m on 95, driving from Las Vegas to Reno and it’s late. I have to make decent time and notice the speed limit is 70 mph. It should take about 6 hours to arrive in Reno. The open desert, untainted by human consumption is it’s usual beautiful self. The road quickly turns to a two lane highway. Passing by Indian Springs for my first time, it has the feel of a small town, kind of nice with it’s lack of congestion and miles of buildings and strip malls.
Worry slowly sets in because I don’t see any road signs that tell me the distance to Reno. Could I be on the wrong road? No. I should have brought a map. After all I do have maps for California, Oregon, and Washington. But who would have thought I’d need a map to tell me how to get from Las Vegas to Reno. My gosh, they are the largest cities in the state. The roads should definitely be marked for Reno. It probably took about 150 to 200 miles before I saw a sign saying that I’m headed towards Reno. Ugh! That teaches me to always have a map.
Now it’s time to pass a large semi on this narrow two lane highway. I’m already doing 70 mph. That means there needs to be plenty of open road for a pass without killing myself or anyone else. Dang, I have to do 80 mph to pass. After a few times I get used to passing and it’s okay.
Tonopah’s okay too! I see old historical buildings that I’ve seen in RJ newspaper clippings and promotional literature contained in the Nevada State Museum.
I get out of Tonopah and don’t find a highway sign. I turn back to town, review the road signs and find that highway 6 is also highway 95. Yeah, I’m still on the right path. After about 50 miles a sign posts the distance to Reno. What’s with Nevada’s highway signs? They’re virtually nonexistent!
Wow! Walker Lake in Hawthorne, Nevada is beautiful!
Past Hawthorne, the sun has just gone down and I see some road signs. Neither says anything about Reno. There’s an alternate route and a regular route, each pointing to different towns. I take the regular route and start to worry, again, when I see a sign that tells the distance to Winnemucca but not to Reno! Feeling lost, I turn around and drive back to the signs. Which way do I go? I know, call someone on my cell and they’ll tell me. Ugh! No cell service out here in no man’s land! Okay, turn on the cars flashers and wave at a trucker driving by. Yeah! He stops and tells me that both roads go to Reno but the alternate route is the longer one.
It’s 10:30 at night and I finally make it to Reno! That’ll teach me to always have a map.
