I made the 6 miles into Searchlight by 10AM, passing from desert to derelict trailer outposts to solid homes as I approached the main drag, US95.
For a town of 500 people with two motels, rooms had proved remarkably hard to come by. As I was setting out water caches before the trip, I thought I would reserve a room and drop off my resupply box. The El Rey was full up for the next two weeks, but fortunately the BV Motel had one room left and were happy to hold it as well as my resupply.
10AM is a bit early to check in, but the folks there were accommodating and even asked if I like beer. When I gave my answer, the manager popped back out with a cold Rolling Rock. Can’t ask for better hospitality than that.
After grabbing a couple of cold sodas at the adjacent gas station/convenience store, I returned to my room, stripped off my clothes and tossed them into the shower stall. After a long hot soapy shower they were much cleaner, ready to be wrung out and hung up.
The dining options in town were a Denny’s and a McDonalds. I mostly patronized the former, which was conveniently attached to a bar (which was also a casino, it being Nevada).
They were enforcing mask rules and serving $3 Coors Banquet bottles, so I spent most of my town time there getting fully rehydrated.
Searchlight was (and sort of still is) a mining town, but its major resource now is speeding drivers. The town sits on a high-speed 4-lane highway between Las Vegas and Laughlin. It is up on a hill and you don’t really see it until you are in it. And you probably don’t see those 25 MPH speed limit signs either.
But you are very likely to see red and blue lights in your rearview mirror. I walked from my room to the bar several times a day, and there was not a single time that the town cop did not have someone pulled over, writing up a ticket.