Wendover

Wendover is in Utah and the name usually refers to the combined cities of Wendover, Utah and West Wendover, Nevada. A line painted on the main street shows the Utah-Nevada boundry. The two towns, of course, are virtualy indistinguishable except for the fact that West Wendover has 5 casinos lining the main street and Wendover has some dumpy stores and motels. The combined town has 2 of everything - police, city government, etc. Only in America.

We stayed at the State Line RV Park on 1st Street (you figure out where it is - there are no street signs) for two nights. Concrete pads, 30 amp service, water, cable (we did not use) and sewage. Small trees dot the Park. They will produce some shade in maybe 10 years. No pull thrus that I could see. It is clean. I did not see a laundry room or showers. If one parks next to the parking garage, there will be shade after 6pm, but the parking lot lighting will shine down on the RV all night and a bright morning sun will shine in the front window.

The park is on the Utah side of the state line and to get to the Nugget Hotel and Casino in Nevada we have to climb some stairs to get to a parking garage, then walk across the parking garage, then climb another flight of stairs and cross a double driveway to the casino that is in Nevada. The Nugget is a nice little casino: clean with good restaurants and other amendities like a pool that is available for campers to use. Our rate was $16.95 per night, however during Bonneville Speed Week (August 12-17 this year) they charge $30+ a night. The park is totally booked up during Speed Week with advanced reservations, otherwise it is a first-come-first-served park.

There is a Nevada visitor's center that is worth stopping at on the Nevada side of the state line. One of the ladies working there (very tall) was a fountain of knowledge of Wendover and the area. She knew facts about everything from the nearby caves (closed to the public) to brine shrimp production. There are lots of pictures and information available there.

Wendover has been the location for a lot of movies, and served as the training base for the pilots that flew the planes that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

A good free wi-fi spot is at the Econo Lodge. We could not get a connection outside and had to go inside to take advantage of the free connection. There is seating and one electrical outlet in the snack room. It is not the cleanest or best place in the world to spend time, but it is free.

We checked out the KOA on the Nevada side. It is on a sloping lot, has dirt roads and little shade. It looked as if it was pretty old and delapidated. The swimming pool water was a nice shade of green. We would dry camp rather than stay there or pay $22-$35 a night for a hotel room at one of the casinos if we had to.