Message posted by JB737 on October 01, 2007 at 18:53:09 PST:

I'm sure you'll enjoy the adventure.

The most important thing is to stop at a grocery store soon after getting your rental car, and get some nonperishable food and drinks in case you are stranded. For that purpose, I like PopTarts (plastic-sealed breakfast pastries), plastic-packed tuna fish ready to eat, and the ubiquitous $5 case of 24 water bottles. You might as well get this stuff before Alamo, in case you break down on the way there.

For the more perishable food that you may actually eat voluntarily, the grocery store at the Chevron in Alamo is excellent and larger than you would expect, with some excellent prepared foods also, and priced about the same as in Vegas.

Before I return a rental car that has been on Groom Lake Road or otherwise gotten very dirty, I take it to one of the carwashes between Las Vegas McCarran airport and Henderson, NV. Not sure what city you're returning your car in, but in most places it is even easier to find a carwash than in Las Vegas.

Most rental car GPS nav units are no better than a Garmin i2, which can now be bought at newegg.com for $120. I'm not sure of the US map-unlocking implications if you instead buy one in the UK loaded with UK maps, but any i2/i3 bought in the US has the map-unlocking license for the USA and Canada included. Both countries will fit on a 1GB microSD card costing $12, but you do have to take the time to hook it to a computer and load the detailed maps onto it. Or the i5 has it all preloaded, which I consider a disadvantage because you can't just swap in a different card with different maps (e.g., UK maps).

Last but not least, if you are concerned about the car breaking down, it would be cheaper to rent a 2nd car than to rent an Iridium satphone or bring every conceivable survival/repair supply. For instance, on hotwire.com you currently can get a minivan for $24/day from noon Oct20 to noon Oct22 in Las Vegas, $70 total with fees and taxes for 2 days. That is, if you and your buddy don't mind driving in convoy rather than together on this best part of your adventure.

JB737

In Reply to: trip to A51 in a fortnight posted by Rob on October 01, 2007 at 8:18:37 PST:

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