As our name ‘Fly Drive Explore‘ suggests, we love a good road trip. It could be a short local drive through the Welsh valleys. A few days exploring the rugged beauty of the Scottish Highlands or three weeks crossing America on the iconic Route 66.
As travel restrictions to the US have finally eased for our latest road trip, we decided to return to Las Vegas, Nevada. We visited Las Vegas on our Route 66 trip, but this time, instead of heading west, we planned to head north to Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Once we had planned the route, next on the list was the playlist. This is nearly as important as the route itself. Especially when travelling with people who may have very different musical tastes. As well as musical differences, studies have shown that music can affect the way you drive. It’s not only petrol cars which are affected by driving styles. A recent study led by Kia shows the driving range of electric cars can also be influenced by the music being listened to.
In the test, they compared the impact on the driving style of up-tempo, pop and hip-hop to the slower ambient sounds of classical music such as Beethoven. It possibly comes as no surprise that the relaxing classical music helped achieve greater range when driving than the high-tempo music
From our experience, it also helps to play relaxing music when driving during rush hour. Although the USA has some great open roads, they do have some very busy highways. Try driving in Las Vegas on a Friday evening or anytime in Los Angeles.
The Las Vegas To Lake Tahoe Playlist
So for this road trip and combined with the Kia Drive Style Playlist Campaign, we put together a new playlist for our drive from Las Vegas to Lake Tahoe. Hopefully, the information in the Kia study and our music choices would help us not only with driving range but also with making it a relaxing experience.
So here’s our eclectic Las Vegas to Lake Tahoe Playlist, ranging from classic ‘Trip hop to Country“.
The Start – Leaving Las Vegas
When you drive down the Las Vegas strip, especially at night, it feels like you are on a film set. The bright lights, the insanely large hotels and the crowds must be experienced at least once. During the day, the traffic isn’t too bad but at night, the traffic can be a nightmare. As the Kia study suggests, this is where relaxing songs on your entertainment system can help relieve the tension. Our playlist started with the ethereal sounds of the Cocteau Twins and Massive Attack.
As a side note and totally opposite to calm driving, Las Vegas will be hosting Formula 1 in November 2023. It will be a night race with the Vegas strip being used as the main straight. It’s going to be an amazing spectacle but you’ll need some deep pockets if you want tickets.
We understand that the excess of Las Vegas isn’t for everyone. However, less than an hour’s drive from the centre of Las Vegas you’ll find some amazing countryside such as the Valley of Fire (the picture at the top). We’ve visited Las Vegas several times but this trip was the first time we ventured out to the Valley of Fire State Park. Imagine being in a classic western driving through those red rock canyons under that big sky.
We were glad we had made the trip along the I15 to Valley of Fire before heading back to US Route 95 towards Beatty and Death Valley. Definitely time for some country music on that playlist.
Beatty And Death Valley
Only two hours from Las Vegas is the old town of Beatty, described as the ‘Gateway to Death Valley’.
In the height of summer, the temperature in Death Valley reaches the high forties °C. Despite the heat, people flock there to experience this extreme heat. Bizarrely, they all try to fry an egg on the hot tarmac.
During November, the temperature in Death Valley is manageable. You can go for a hike longer than 5 minutes. Some days, it can actually feel chilly.
Next, from Beatty, we continued up the US95. This is where you’ll find long stretches of road dispersed with small roadside settlements. This is the time for some classic 70s US driving music.
As we continue towards Reno, we begin to see the mountains in the distance. The road starts to climb and there’s snow on the hills and verges. We were surprised at how early this area gets the winter weather.
Luckily we missed the snow and ice, but if we were doing this stretch again. We would recommend a four-wheel drive from November onwards.
Welcome To Reno
Our next stop was Reno, the ‘biggest little city in the world‘. For this section of the trip, we had to have REMs “All the Way to Reno” on the playlist.
When we parked up and got out, the cold hit us. Reno has an elevation of 4500 feet. It does get cold during the winter months, especially at night. The temperature was -9°C.
Reno is a mini Las Vegas, it may not be the most interesting of cities but the surrounding countryside is worth exploring. One town near Reno that you must visit is the old silver mining town of Virginia City.
Old Virginia City
Just 25 miles from Reno is the old mining boom town of Virginia City. As you drive down the Victorian building lined high street. It feels as if you are in the old west. Again, time for some classic country music on that playlist. It reminded us of the old town of Oatman, Arizona. An old western town we passed through on Route 66.
Virginia City developed after the discovery of silver in 1859. There are still some mines you can visit. Also, there are some wonderfully named old saloons such as the “Bucket Of Blood“.
At an elevation of over 6000 feet, Virginia City gets even colder than Reno. It can get some severe winter weather, so take care when driving those hilly roads.
Lake Tahoe
After a few days In Reno, the last leg of our trip was a short drive of about an hour to Lake Tahoe. This deep freshwater lake lies in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the border of Nevada and California. During the summer months, there are some popular beach resorts around the lake. However, in mid-November, the skiing season starts. Lake Tahoe was the venue of the winter Olympic games back in 1960.
The drive around the lake is just over 70 miles. Although there are so many beautiful towns and bays, it’s not a drive you would do without stopping. To really appreciate the area you need to stay at least a few days in Lake Tahoe.
The mountain scenery was so different to Las Vegas and the desert landscape we encountered at the start of our trip.
After spending a few days in the mountains, it was time for the 8-hour drive back to the craziness of Las Vegas and our flight home. Luckily, the playlist helped pass the time and the return trip even involved a sing-a-long session. We’ll spare you the details, but the singing was not good.
The post is a collaboration with Kia, but the experiences described relate to our own personal road trip.
