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travelingtheusa · 2 years ago

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NEVADA

2023 May 9 (Tue) – We stayed around the campground for the most part today. We did run out to get fuel for tomorrow’s move. While we were out, we stopped at Fratelli’s Pizza for lunch.

2023 May 8 (Mon) – We drove to Wendover Army Air Base in Wendover, Utah. The base was established in the early 1940s as a training base for the Army Air Force. At the height of its operation. The base had over 600 buildings and 2,200 soldiers assigned there. Project Manhattan was also active here. The bombers learned how to drop the atomic bomb there. Paul Tibbetts flew the Enola Gay from Wendover to Tinian Island then on to Japan where he dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The base was later turned over to the city who then turned it over to the county. They are in the process of restoring several of the buildings. We toured two museums and climbed up five stories to the tower. It was a great view of the area and the salt flats in the distance. They go on for so many miles that you can actually see the curvature of the earth. We will drive over there tomorrow.

After the air base, we drove into town and had lunch at the Copper Kettle. It was rated #2 of 5 restaurants in Wendover, Utah. Needless to say, it wasn’t much of a choice. There are a lot more businesses and restaurants on the Nevada side. I guess because of the fact that they have so many casinos in that one town. Paul says they must get folks from Utah and Idaho to this town. That’s why they have that one huge hotel and several hotel and casino combinations.

The weather was crappy today. It was overcast and we had some rain on and off throughout the day. It was cold, too.

2023 May 7 (Sun) – We packed up and left Ely at 11:15 a.m. It was a short drive (just 2 hours) to West Wendover. There was a time change from Pacific to Mountain Time. Wendover straddles the border of Nevada and Utah. Guess they decided to adopt Utah’s time zone. We are staying at a KOA. The owner called us on the way here and asked what time we would arrive. When we said 1 p.m., she said she would be out but planned to return at 4 p.m. She gave us our site number and advised us to park then come in to pay when she got back.

After set up, we drove into town to mail off Mother’s Day cards and a book to Barbara. She is Joan’s friend who gave me some supplements and a signed book from Dr. Duane Townsend. In turn, I mailed my book to her. Then we went food shopping at Smith’s. When we got back, the owner had returned and we settled our bill.

2023 May 6 (Sat) – We drove into town and had breakfast at Denny’s in the Hotel Nevada. The hotel was very historic and at one time, it was the tallest building in all of Nevada with six stories. Today, it is the tallest building in Ely. There is some kind of motorcycle event going on in town. This may be the same group we watched drive by in Pahrump three days ago. I looked up their logo online and found the group is called P.O.B.O.B. (Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington). They have an interesting history. Started in 1945, most of them now are old men. At any rate, there are hundreds of motorcycles all over town. It’s almost like Sturgis! Denny’s was full of bikers and we snagged one of the last tables. The meal was ok but the service was so slow. I don’t think they were equipped to handle all the bikers.

After breakfast, we drove to Ward Charcoal Ovens up by Ward Mountain. It was about six miles off the main highway. Clouds were hung up on the mountains and as we drove closer, we got rain, sleet and snow. There were six large ovens in a row that had been used to melt ore from the nearby mines. When the mines closed, the ovens were simply abandoned. Miraculously, they survived over 140 years without vandalism or graffiti. And they seems to be in excellent condition. Our tour of the area was brief as it was cold and sleeting.

We left the ovens and drove through the desert on a graded dirt road. We came across a campground and drove through it to take a look. It really started to snow then. We drove back to the highway and the snow stopped. Then we stopped at the KMGH Robinson Mine. The nearby town of Ruth was being revived and we wandered through there marveling at the huge piles of overburden from the mines. There are several active mines in the are that are mining gold, silver and copper

We then drove to the Nevada Northern Railway and took a ride on the #40 steam train. There were two passenger cars, about half filled. The ride was seven miles up and back (14 miles total). The train rode back up to Robinson Canyon where we were this morning when we drove to the charcoal ovens. When the train ride was over, we toured the engine house. It is a fully functional engine house servicing a steam engine. Paul says there aren’t many of them left. Then we looked through the small museum.

By this time, I was famished (we didn’t have any lunch). We went to Racks Bar & Grill for an early dinner. I had tavern cod and Paul had a pastrami sandwich. It was good. Finally, we returned to the camper where Sheba greeted with a great hunger. She got dinner before I even got my coat off!

We prepare to move tomorrow.

2023 May 5 (Fri) – We packed up and left Goldfield at 8:50 a.m. We had 200 miles to go and wanted to get an early start. What a long, deserted drive it was. For over 150 miles, we didn’t see 5 cars pass us headed back where we came from and only 2 cars passed us going our way. We drove past desert scenery, several valleys, and through the mountains with no developed areas. No businesses. Not even any houses. The mountains were beautiful. The larger mountains still had snow on their peaks. We were surprised that snow still sits up there at this point in the year. You’d think it would all be melted by now.

We arrived at the Valley View RV Park in Ely (pronounced Ee-ly). It is a large campground in a good sized town. There are only 20 transient sites and the rest are taken by permanent/seasonal campers. After set up, we drove into town to have margaritas at La Fiestas. It is, after all, Cinco de Mayo. 😊 After lunch, we drove to White Pine Public Museum. It was a collection of old stuff from around the area. Outside, they had trucks, trains, and old buildings to include a log cabin, on display. The town seems to be prosperous enough. We drove around a little and didn’t see any abandoned or falling down buildings.

2023 May 4 (Thu) – We left Pahrump at 11:15 a.m. We had to stop and get the key to the dump station so we could empty the tanks. The secretary did not have the key. The person who could get it had left 5 minutes ago. She called him on the phone and he gave instructions to her assistant as to how to get into the bar to get the dump station key.

The drive was about 2 hours to Goldfield. This used to be the largest gold mine camp in the world. Sadly, today it is mostly abandoned with lots of equipment and many buildings dilapidated and deteriorating. The campground is a real desert campground. Clarks Custom Camp has a few sites sitting on a small hill with no paving or stones. The surface area is simply packed dirt. We have full hookups for $30 a night. We did laundry as soon as we were set up. They only had one washer and dryer so we had to walk back and forth several times to get everything done. But we got it done.

2023 May 3 (Wed) – We went out to dinner with Joan & Peter and Barbara & Preston at Milano in Town Square. The meal was outstanding. The two restaurant owners came to the table to talk with Joan and Peter. They told us that Kevin Costner had been in the restaurant this past Saturday. One of them even showed us a picture on her cell phone of the two of them standing with Costner. How exciting!

Barbara, who works for a company called 4Life, gave me some supplements along with brochures about them. She contends that she and Preston have not been sick in the last 25 years because they take these supplements. She practically guaranteed that I will lose weight with these. Barbara also gave me “Maverick Medicine” by Duane Townsend. I had just gotten this book but haven’t read it yet. I have to send her my book since the one she gave me is marked with special passages for me to read.

2023 May 2 (Tue) – We went out for lunch to O Happy Bread, a French cuisine bakery and café. The sandwiches were absolutely scrumptious! Why haven’t we found this place sooner? After that we went to the Pahrump Museum. We were there many years ago but stopped by again. They have enlarged the building. The outer buildings were all closed. Paul said they had a flood here two years ago and all the buildings were damaged. The additional space included details about a radioactive waste storage facility they built to store nuclear waste but it never opened. We also found out that there were large cotton farms in this area. They grew a special kind of cotton with long fibers , like Egyptian cotton, but when the government wanted to keep the price high, they started demanding the farmers harvest less cotton. This was to make the supply smaller, driving the price up with higher demand. The program eventually put the farmers out of business.

We pulled up to a traffic light only to have it blocked by the Sheriff’s deputies. Soon, a couple of sheriff’s cars drove by with flashing lights followed by over 100 motorcycles. Then came about six chase cars. I guess it was some kind of club move. I thought maybe it was the group that goes to Washington, D.C. every year for Memorial Day but Paul didn’t agree. He doesn’t know what they were but they aren’t going to D.C. Hmmmmm.

There was a model home dealer that we stopped to look over. There were only two units we could look at. One was a triple wide and one was a double wide. Weird layout in both of them. Then we stopped at Albertsons to pick up a few groceries.

2023 May 1 (Mon) – We went to breakfast at Mom’s Diner this morning. The special was creamed chipped beef on toast. It was pretty tasty. We then ran some errands. Dropped off the license plate for the RV at the post office to mail back to New York. We now have South Dakota license plates on both the truck and RV. We stopped by Tractor Supply looking for batteries and fasteners but they didn’t have any. We got propane then drove to Home Depot where Paul found the batteries and fasteners he wanted.

I began calling and emailing places for the Alaska caravan. It is now less than 2 months to go and I am starting to place deposits and confirmations. I mailed off a check for $3,700 to a campground in Skagway for 3 nights camping for 20 rigs. Things are starting to get close now!

It was time to empty our onboard tanks. We brought in the sides and slowly rolled forward to the dump station. Paul dumped our tanks and we slowly rolled backward into our campsite. It was the shortest ride Sheba has ever taken. 😊

2023 Apr 30 (Sun) – We went to dinner with Joan & Peter to the Italian-American Club in Las Vegas. The small dining room was crowded and there was a live performer playing a keyboard and singing at the front of the room. We had appetizers, a main course, and tiramisu for dessert. We had drinks for each course – cocktail before dinner, wine with dinner, and cappuccinos with dessert. It was a lovely evening.

2023 Apr 29 (Sat) – We drove to Joan & Peter’s for a swim in the pool. The hot tub really helped my back, which has been pretty sore after bowling yesterday.

We went over Preston & Barbara’s condo tonight with Joan & Peter. Barbara made a delicious meal and then we all played 31. We got into a spirited discussion about guns in America. Barbara is German and claims they have no violence in their country. The Internet proves them wrong but living in America, they just don’t hear about it in Germany.

2023 Apr 28 (Fri) – We drove 65 miles to the Santa Fe Station Casino to go bowling with Adam, Diane & Devin, and Joan & Peter. Unfortunately, when we arrived they told us they had no open lanes. So we all climbed into our cars and drove 12 miles to Red Rock Casino bowling lanes. Joan sat out and Diane quit after one game. The rest of us played two games. After years of not playing, we were happy with the results.

Adam, Diane & Devin had to return home to relieve Diane’s dad. Her mother is sick and living with them. Her father comes in Monday through Friday to sit with his wife until Adam & Diane come home from work. We stayed to gamble. The casino was giving away a serving bowl with 300 points earned from gambling. So we all played the machines. I couldn’t get the points – the machine didn’t work right. But Paul got a bowl so that’s OK.

At 4:30 p.m. we left the casino and drove to Adam & Diane’s house. We visited with them and Nit, Diane’s mom, for a while, then went to the Camino Real Mexican restaurant for dinner. Everything was delicious.

2023 Apr 27 (Thu) – Joan and I went to the Skin & Beauty Institute for facials this afternoon. We went into a room together, each of us with a beauty consultant. They spent over an hour with us, applying lotions and masks. They did some massage but I found it a little too harsh.

After getting our beauty treatments, we met the guys and all went to dinner at the Village Pub. The food and company were very good.

2023 Apr 26 (Wed) – We drove up to Mt. Charleston today. It was over an hour drive there. There is still quite a bit of snow up on the peaks and around the slopes in and around the trees. It always amazes me to see how the topography changes as the altitude increases. We started out in the desert with scrubby plants among the sand and rocks. Then lots of Joshua trees appear. Apparently they like the cooler temperatures. After them comes some kind of trees (I don’t know their name). Then there are lodgepole pine trees. These are tall, straight trees that were used to built lodges for the Native Americans. That’s how they got their names. There are quite a few houses built into the mountainside and whole communities with signs telling everyone to stay out. They don’t like visitors.

We stopped at the visitor center and looked over the display they had there about the Mountain Springs Recreation Area. Then we stopped at the Lodge for lunch. We both had chili and wings. The chili had some heat to it. I couldn’t finish the bowl.

We got a letter from our mortgage company. It is the fourth change in mortgage companies in 7 years. We took the original loan out with USAA. Then two years ago, the mortgage went to Nationstar. Then last year, it was handed off to Mr. Cooper. Today, it is now the purview of Lakeview Loan. Crazy.

2023 Apr 25 (Tue) – We stayed around the campground today. Paul and I worked on Alaska “stuff.” The wind blew hard most of the day. You didn’t want to go out.

Almost every morning I wake up, I see a balloon floating by. There is a winery nearby that gives balloon rides. I guess they have to go up at 6 in the morning. Sometimes, I also see a green balloon float by, too. That one always seems to go low right into the town. The Elks Lodge is up on a hill overlooking the town of Pahrump so I can see the town below.

2023 Apr 24 (Mon) – We were stuck in the campground today waiting for a UPS delivery. I had to reorder my medication and the tracking note said it would be delivered sometime today before 7 p.m. It arrived at 2:30 p.m.

At 3 p.m. we ran into town to mail off the latest Milepost to Johnny. He is the Tail Gunner on the Alaska caravan and is handling the route and group movements. We also stopped at WalMart to pick up batteries and a few other items (always, a few other items).

2023 Apr 23 (Sun) – Joan & Peter drove here to meet us then we all piled into the truck and drove to Death Valley. It was about an hour to get to the park. It was hot (108 degrees) and beautiful. It’s funny that you think of Death Valley as a big, empty desert but it is actually mountains. Beautiful rock in all kinds of colors and configurations. We stopped at the visitor center and looked through their small museum. Then we drove to Furnace Creek where they have a small mall like setting with cabins, shops, saloon and restaurant. We had lunch then walked to the ice cream parlor for dessert.

We returned to the campground. Peter & Joan got in their car and we got in our truck and we drove to “The Hump” where the World Famous Mountain Springs Saloon is located. We ordered ribs and fries at an outdoor shack and enjoyed cocktails in the bar. It was a fun day.

2023 Apr 22 (Sat) – We drove over to Joan & Peter’s this morning. Peter had some windows that needed painting and Paul was going to help. When we arrived, he said it was too windy to paint as seeds from a nearby tree would be blown onto the paint and stick. So we visited for a couple of hours. At 4 p.m. we changed into our bathing suits and went to the pool in their community. Several of their friends also joined us. We swam, drank margaritas, and ate snacks. When we returned to their condo, we sent out for Chinese food for dinner. It was a long day.

2023 Apr 21 (Fri) – Texting back and forth with the new secretary at the Islip Elks Lodge, I was able to get a copy of my new card for this year. The secretary made up a new card for me trusting that I would send the dues in immediately. I am a trusted member of the lodge for 10 years already. So we went in and paid for 13 more nights.

We drove into town to mail off my membership dues and to return the sample jacket we got from the jacket company for the Alaska Caravan. Also sent off postcards for the grandsons. Then we stopped at Mom’s Diner for lunch. It was rated #1 of 50 restaurants in Pahrump. It was a small place that reminded you of an old time diner but looking more modern. The food was good.

At 5:15 p.m. we left to drive to Blue Diamond where we met Paul’s sister and brother-in-law, Joan & Peter, for dinner. We ate at Locale Italian Kitchen. Everything was excellent. We caught up with everything that’s been going with us and made plans for tomorrow.

2023 Apr 20 (Thu) – We packed up and left Barstow, CA at 9:40 a.m. It was a long drive over miles and miles of empty desert. Only one car passed us during the 120 mile drive and I don’t think five cars passed us headed the other way. It was a long, lonely drive. The superbloom is in effect. There are so many yellow, gold, and purple flowers spread out across the landscape. I never thought there would be color in the desert like this. It’s so beautiful.

We pulled in the Elks Lodge in Pahrump, NV, around 12:30 p.m. After set up, we went inside to pay. Weren’t we surprised when we discovered my membership card expired on April 1. The lodge secretary tried to help us get hold of someone back at the lodge in Islip to sort out my membership status. It appears that I did not pay my dues. The secretary, James Kardouchian, died last year and I guess I didn’t get a reminder and the dues lapsed. This lodge let us stay the night but if we can’t get it straightened out, we will have to leave.

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