Nevada or Bust

Snookie let me know this morning that it has been nine days since I posted on the blog, so I decided I’d better get off my lazy butt and get something posted today.  Thanks for the nudge, Snook!

We left Declo, Idaho Saturday the 18th and had over 300 miles to cover for the day.  We wanted to make it to Winnemucca, Nevada and stay in Wal Mart parking lot for the night. 

We turned south toward Nevada at Twin Falls, Idaho and crossed the Snake River immediately after leaving the interstate onto U.S. highway 93.  After crossing the bridge, we just had to pull over and get some pictures. 

The river is waaaaay down in a deep canyon and it was hard to get good pictures due to the 6’ chain link fence that stood at the edge, so I had to hold the camera above the fence to take them.  We walked down a hill to get to the fence and met a guy that said something to the effect of “You can get really good pictures if you go down there to the end of the path and go through the fence”.  Okay, I’m thinking, til I actually find the spot he’s talking about.  The sheer drop-off was off-putting enough, but when I saw a WREATH by the fence, I decided it just wasn’t worth it.  I did find a big rock to stand on that gave me a little more of a view over the fence, so I settled for that.






Highway 93 awarded us with views of beautiful farm land where we could see for miles and miles.  The fields of alfalfa were so pretty.  There’s nothing like the sweet smell and deep green of a field of alfalfa.



Then we crossed into Nevada and I got a picture of the sign, but cut part of it off.  But here’s what I did get.

By this time, we were seeing much less farm land and lots more hills and sagebrush.


The first town we came to in Nevada was “Jackpot”, which I thought was fitting for Nevada.  Soon after, we too Interstate 80 and headed west again in the direction of Winnemucca.  The landscape got rocky and we stopped at a roadside park where a stream cut through the rocky cliffs.




I looked up at the sheer rock cliffs beside the park and noticed all the graffiti left by folks dumb talented enough to climb them.
 

Back on the road, we drove through valley after valley of flat lands, occasional alfalfa fields, sagebrush and mountains in the distance.  In places, I wondered just how many miles we could see across to the distant mountains.  Some had snow near the tops.






We made it to Winnemucca and Wal Mart parking lot for the night none too soon.  We were both ready to get out of that truck for a while.  We found a great spot and got set up for the night, ate our supper, and went to bed early. 

We left Winnemucca around 10:00 and got back on the road for the last leg of our trip to Fallon, Nevada.  There were a few clouds around and the morning sky was a brilliant blue.


We only had around 150 miles to cover, so it was an easy day.  The terrain had not changed from the day before.  More sagebrush, hills and mountains in the distance.




When we got close to Fallon, I abandoned the camera to help navigate using the instructions on the website to Fallon Naval Air Station, which took us to the back gate of the base, which was closed.  So we had to backtrack to the main gate, then find the RV park inside. 

The RV park itself is well maintained and the sites are a comfortable distance apart, which I like.  It has concrete pads to park on and the rest is all gravel.  The camp hosts are very friendly and helpful, so we like it here.  I had read on the website that the laundry was free, but I guess it has changed since that was posted.  The washers and dryers each cost a dollar per load, but I’m not complaining.  And the laundry facility also includes a book exchange and a place to work on jigsaw puzzles.
 
The weather is a definite plus!  80’s during the day and constant sunshine.  Ahhhhhhh, love it!

We made a trip into Reno, which is 60 miles from Fallon, on Wednesday so DeWayne could take care of some business at the VA Administration and we could check out the casinos. 

We passed through mountains and some great scenery on the way.




We rounded a bend and there was Reno in the windshield.



And the casinos in the distance.


After visiting the VA office and having some lunch, we drove down to the casinos and spotted the Eldorado, which is where we always stay in Shreveport.

We parked and went in to try our luck, which wasn’t great.  We both went in with $100 and DeWayne went to the black jack tables while I browsed around among the various slots.  After about an hour, we left for home, DeWayne still had 80 dollars and I still had 20, so you do the math.  No big winnings for us, for sure!  So we came back home without the thousands of dollars we planned on bringing back.  Darn….

Our stay here at Fallon NAS has been relaxed and we love the sunshine.  The movie theatre is just across the street and has free movies daily.  We plan to go over there in a couple of hours to watch “Eat, Pray, Love” and I hope it’s as good as the book was.  We’ve gone to the “Flightline” bar and grill a couple of times here on the base for lunch.  They have specials every day for $5 and serve really good food. 

There is also a bowling alley that we can go to, but haven’t yet.  Next door to the movie theatre is a thrift store that is open two days a week and DeWayne has been there to look for movies and books.  We got our flu shots out of the way for the year at the local CVS pharmacy a couple of days ago.

We can look out the kitchen window and watch the fighter jets taking off several times a day on certain days.  Let me tell ya, those navy pilots are hauling a## when they leave the ground!
 
We plan to visit Lake Tahoe this next week and also plan to take a couple of days and travel into California to see the redwoods while we are here, but I don’t know yet when we will do that. 

I think that’s all the news and I’m caught up finally.  I think I’ll hit the shower and get ready for the movie at 3:30.  I promise to be more prompt with my postings, so stay tuned for the next episode of the “The Breeze”.  And in the meantime…….

HAPPY TRAILS!

Idaho Bound

It’s another long one, folks, so get that coffee and settle in.  Be sure to click on any pictures you like to enlarge them.

The repair man was right on time yesterday morning and spent about an hour working on our misbehaving slide-out, and only charged us $75 (smile) so we once again were on our way and left Great Falls around 11:00, heading south. 

I gave the camera a break til we were almost to Helena since I had already taken pictures of that area to the point that we took the boat tour a couple of weeks ago.  It didn’t stop us from enjoying it all over again, tho.

Past that point, I was so in awe of the countryside that I snapped picture after picture of the gorgeous landscape.  It was cloudy and sprinkling off and on, so some of the pictures are darker than I’d like, but I kept taking them anyway.






I could NEVER get tired of Montana and it’s beauty.  We were noticing some fall colors, so I tried to capture some of that also.






Further south, the mountains looked like they were covered in thick lush velvet.






Then things got “rocky”


Mile after mile of God’s handiwork.

Antelope standing in a a pasture by the road:

There was an entire herd of them further down the road, but the picture was just a blur and I snapped it on the fly.

More “Eye Candy” in Clark Canyon:



We came upon Clark Canyon Reservoir and left the interstate to drive around the lake, then park and stretch our legs for a while. 






Back on the road and I’m still in awe of the scenery.



It began to sprinkle rain again, and then there it was!  IDAHO!

It didn’t take long to make it on into Idaho Falls, where we parked for the night at Wal Mart.  We walked over to Famous Dave’s BBQ and had a great meal before we settled in for the night.  I’ve never seen so many RVs in in one parking lot and it was still daylight when we arrived.  We got up this morning to find even more around us.  We got around and hit the road again and had only 115 miles to go for the day.  Destination:  Declo, Idaho. 

The terrain was much flatter than yesterday with mountains in the distance off and on, but we passed by some beautiful farm land and miles and miles of sagebrush, plus occasional streams and lakes.
 






It was a nice, easy drive to Declo, Idaho and the Village of Trees RV Resort.  What a nice place!

After setting up and settling in, we were really happy about the weather here and the warm temperatures.  It was around 75 degrees when we arrived here and the sun was shining.  DeWayne checked the current weather in Great Falls, where we left yesterday, and it was 33 degrees and light snow falling!  Talk about getting outta Dodge in the nick of time!

It was so nice here that I wanted to sit outside and just soak up the sunshine, the pretty park, and the light breeze this afternoon.  DeWayne was visiting with Brad (owner of the park) at the picnic table, discussing trucks, RV’s, horsepower and all that “man stuff” when I set up my lawn chair and settled into it.  I was about three feet from a tree and in no time, I heard something and looked over to see a squirrel on my side of the tree, just staring at me.  And me without the camera!

Brad said the squirrels around here aren’t really afraid of people because they get fed so much, which explained why the critter came within three feet of me in the first place.

Well, me being me, I promptly ran in the RV to get Camera and peanuts, but Mr. Squirrel was gone by the time I got back out there.  So I scattered peanuts between the tree and my chair and waited.

Still no squirrel, so I settled in my chair and picked up my book and my coffee.  Before long, I heard a noise and looked up to see Mr. Squirrel looking at me again from the tree.

Then he made short work of getting down to the ground and grabbing peanuts, munching them down as he went.


Getting closer and closer to me



When he ran out of peanuts, he marched right over under my chair looking for more, then proceeded to stand on my foot and look around briefly.  Then he ran over to the picnic table and around the little “yard” looking back at me to see if I would produce more peanuts. 




I finally got out of my chair and went back in the RV for more peanuts, but when I returned, Mr. Squirrel had left, probably on to the next “human sucker” for another snack.  Oh well, maybe I’ll see him or some of his buddies in the morning.  I hope it’s warm enough to enjoy my morning coffee outside.

We seem to have a gremlin in the RV.  For some reason ( we have no clue) all the clocks say something different.  The atomic clock says 1:30 a.m., both our cell phones say 11:30, the battery clock in the living room says 10:30, the battery clock in the bedroom says 11:30, my computer says 1:30 and DeWayne’s computer says 12:30.  Is that spooky, or what?  Would somebody please tell us what time it is?  lol
 
Anyway, I could just keep rambling on, but I’ll shut this off and get it posted.  We leave here tomorrow heading for Winnimucca, Nevada for another night at Wally World, then on to Fallon where we will be for possibly a month.  So tune in next time for another episode of “The Breeze”, but in the meantime……

HAPPY TRAILS!