This is a quick trip report on our trip from the Bay Area Friday to Santaquin, UT and back over the Memorial Day long weekend of 2025.
Night 1 Friday: Gold Run Rest Area, CA
Traffic leaving the Bay Area friday afternoon is a real bear, even more so on long weekends. So we took the advice of more experienced friends and hung back a bit. Which we probably needed to do anyways because between work meetings and prepping the van there was no way we could have gotten an earlier jump. So we had a slightly more relaxed pace. Dinner at home, then hit the road around 7pm. Indeed traffic wasn’t too bad by then. The goal was to get put a 3 hour dent into our 12 hour trip out, and Gold Run worked out pretty OK. It was literally off the i80 freeway, pretty clean and safe. I stopped to use the restroom and the girls were getting tired/cranky so just went straight to sleep in the back of the van. The main bummer was that we parked near a bunch of semi-trucks that were idling all night, so it was noisy. Even more so where I slept in the pop top. It was not great sleep (I had a weird dreams about a Mormon police) but sufficient. I was back up by about 4:30a, closed the pop top and got back on the road while the girls kept sleeping in the back.
Night 2 Saturday: Clover Spring Campground, UT
I was excited to check out the Salt Flat and my very brief research indicated plenty of dispersed camping opportunities in the area. So after breakfast in Winnemucca and Lunch in West Wendover (literally on the edge of NV and UT), we drove past the Bonneville Speedway turned off the Knolls exit and headed south for BLM land. It looked promising enough with plenty of signage and even a QR code to pay for the night. As we drove it looked quite active with OHV activity. In some regards we were sticking out, it seemed as if almost everyone was there for Moto / ATV / SXS activity. The girls spotted some colorful flags and played in the sand as we parked for all of 10 minutes. The sound of 2-stroke engines and its energy were just not right for us. I was quite tired after driving for 12 hours and just wanted to rest, as I’m sure the girls were too. But I’m glad I trusted my gut on this one — I figured what ever vibe I wasn’t feeling at this stage was only bound to get worse as the day turned to night. So we bailed. And I’m so glad we did. After about another hour of so drive, past a surprisingly green landscape, we pulled into the Clover Springs campground. It too was full, but we were able to grab the last spot. And boy what a world of difference. There was actually vegetation, a creek running nearby, and a much more wholesome family vibe. We were only there for the night but the peace I felt there was so worth it.
Night 3 Sunday: Water Canyon Campground, Winnemucca, NV
Puppy success!
Eager to meet our new puppy, the next morning we had a light breakfast, packed up, and headed straight to meet the breeder in Santaquin, UT. This was another scenic drive due southeast from where we were. We skipped out on plans to eat more “metropolitan” food in Provo or SLC, though we did pass back through there and instead had a pretty nice brunch right in town. A “millennial greasy spoon” if you will. Then we booked it back west on I80. By late afternoon we stopped for gas in Battle Mountain, NV and got Chinese takeout there too— the lady seemed pleased that I was chatting her up in mandarin. That took longer than I hoped, but by around 6p we were back in Winnemucca and driving through what seemed like a pretty residential area until we got to the Water Canyon campground. All the spots were taken but fortunately at the end of the road there was a flat spot near the bathroom that we were able to set up at. This was also a beautiful place, I wish we had more time there.
Night 4 Monday: Back Home
New puppy in tow, we were home bound the next day. I let the girls sleep in again and was driving by 6ish. By 11 we stopped in Sacramento for brunch at Chic-fil-A. We made it home later that afternoon. A few days later we decided on a name for our pup: Padook, but we've been calling her Dookie.
