Welcome to the Hotel Nevada

I'll say one thing, there's no shortage of rest areas and basic unmanned campsites about in which one can park up and snuggle down. This night's room with a view was at the Hickison Petroglyphs - a site of prehistoric paintings and marked rocks - about 15 miles East of Austin, Nevada.

Sleeping in the car is actually pretty comfortable, I have choice of fully reclining leather seats or folding the rear seat backs down to spread out full length in the boot/trunk. A $15 walmart sleeping bag and travel pillow keeps things comfy and warm. Most rest areas and camp sites have facilities for attending to business as long as you remember to bring your own loo roll, it's pretty hard to go wrong!

Unlike the UK where the old bill would no doubt come knocking if you parked up somewhere to sleep, out here there's just so much space to go round I don't think anyone would notice. It's not glamourous by any stretch but what it does do is let you enjoy sunrise and sunsets in great remote parts of the country for free. I've started to really enjoy the 2 hours from first light to the sun rising properly above the horizon and beginning to warm the world below. Guaranteed a better view than from a Holiday Inn or Best Western.

Short video clip below shows how fierce the winds get as they get funnelled up the valleys across the plains.

More photos from Hickison