Road trip Portland OR to Las Vegas

[Manfred]

Hi all, we need to get to the Las Vegas airport 6/24/20 to complete an interview for a Global Entry application with the Trusted Traveler Program. We're not too excited about flying so thought we would take a road trip with the Northstar camper. Thought is to drive day one, spend night in the camper about halfway down, drive second day and spend night close to Vegas and make our appointment on the third day. Question - for those of you who have made this drive, which route would you suggest considering availability of gas, camping/RV park. Thanks

[Eric_Lisa]

stevenal wrote:
We did our interview at PDX a few years back. Did something change?

I had mine up in Longview, WA. I distinctly recall it was an independent agency that did the interview, it was NOT a government/TSA official. I suspect they will open up just like any other business.

[stevenal]

We did our interview at PDX a few years back. Did something change?

[Manfred]

I did some checking today and it looks like the TTP is going to extend the time for getting the interview completed, extra 100 days. We may cancel the road trip and get a more local interview or, take the road trip just to get out of the house and on the road. 🙂 Thanks for the helpful info.

[Bedlam]

Many of the restrictions are state driven and this is a Federal agency. It would create a nightmare trying to track status of every location in the US and adjust deadlines based on this.

[wnjj]

Manfred wrote:
Thanks for the thoughts/suggestions. I'm a bit concerned about the availability of gas and places to stop for the night if I take the shortest google maps route - I5-58-95S. We had an interview scheduled in April at SeaTac airport but the feds cancelled, no interviews available at SeaTac or Blaine WA due to COVID. We need to get the interview completed by Sept. or we have to start over and pay another 200. If we make the road trip, I'll definitely need to do some good planning and recon to make sure places are open and accepting travelers. Strange times...

I would think they would extend the deadline, given the situation and they fact that they cancelled, not you.

[specta]

Utah is open and so are the State Parks.
Camping and fuel is not an issue here.
Don't expect to see people wearing masks.

[Kayteg1]

x2 on fuels everywhere. This is not Yukon. I drive diesel and even not all stations had it, plenty to choose from. Good idea to check with gasbuddy as some stations charge at premium, but then some on Indian reservations have low prices.
Some small stations have tanks sitting on the ground, so in June the fuel might have 130F. You better have thick glove to hold the nozzle.
For your last stop I think Beatty would be good. Being Death Valley junction they have plenty of campgrounds, hotels and casino for good prices. Than 2 hr drive to Vegas.

[bighatnohorse]

Manfred wrote:
Thanks for the thoughts/suggestions. I'm a bit concerned about the availability of gas and places to stop for the night if I take the shortest google maps route - I5-58-95S. We had an interview scheduled in April at SeaTac airport but the feds cancelled, no interviews available at SeaTac or Blaine WA due to COVID. We need to get the interview completed by Sept. or we have to start over and pay another 200. If we make the road trip, I'll definitely need to do some good planning and recon to make sure places are open and accepting travelers. Strange times...

This route will work just fine. There's gas and diesel everywhere.
There's only one spot on a section of Hwy 95 where there is no gas for 100 miles - and your route does NOT take you there.

[Manfred]

Thanks for the thoughts/suggestions. I'm a bit concerned about the availability of gas and places to stop for the night if I take the shortest google maps route - I5-58-95S. We had an interview scheduled in April at SeaTac airport but the feds cancelled, no interviews available at SeaTac or Blaine WA due to COVID. We need to get the interview completed by Sept. or we have to start over and pay another 200. If we make the road trip, I'll definitely need to do some good planning and recon to make sure places are open and accepting travelers. Strange times...

[ksg5000]

I suspect if you wait a few weeks you can get that interview near your home.

[time2roll]

Not a lot of time for the distance. I would haul straight down 5/99/58/15 and locate some RV parks accordingly. Rest stop or truck stop if needed. Best of luck.

[Kayteg1]

Last year, on our Alaska trip we took 2 different routes in this directions.
From central Oregon down to Vegas you'll be driving via mostly deserts, so not much differences. Scenery was nice, but after couple of days become boring.
Icing on the cake was running into Hot Springs camp in So Oregon than hitting Death Valley with 124F.
We took advantage of cheap RV parks at casinos, but who knows if they will open by then.
If you like ghost towns - Goldfield is 1 of the best.
Than Rhyolite
"Shady Lady " is no longer in business.
Driving via Idaho will give you more green landscape and rivers, but for additional 200 miles.

[Bob_Olallawa]

Just came back to WA on US-93, more to look at than US-95. Gas in Nevada can be a challenge which ever way you go if you push your luck. Just keep the gague on the top half and all should be good.

[jimh406]

Ironic. Any way, I’d find out what campgrounds will let you camp, and then decide the route.