Part Five of a 35 Day Journey

We arrived in Pahrump late in the afternoon.  When we came into town, we were starving so stopped at the local McDonald's and had a "fine" meal.  Actually, their salads are very good & I was dying for a salad.  We then went over to the Wal Mart, where I had the first 188 pictures printed. 

The next morning we woke to a beautiful sunny day, it wasn't real hot and there was a nice breeze blowing.   We went into Terrible's for breakfast  (they have great & inexpensive food by the way) and they sat us next to this other couple.  We got to talking (rather I got to talking to them, Bob doesn't do that. My kids used to get upset with me because I'd always talk to the person behind me in the checkout line at the grocery store & I still do.  LOL)  Anyway, this other couple were from Utah or somewhere in that area and were also on a little road trip. It came out that we were from Washington state and they lit up and said, "wow..that's great, we're moving to Castle Rock this fall."  Castle Rock, Washington is a couple hours south of here.  What a small world.

 The camper has two propane tanks in a compartment in the back that supply fuel to the stove top & oven, the water heater, the refrigerator and the wall furnace (for those cold desert nights).  One of them had a broken valve or something and Bob checked before we left and all the guy wanted to do was sell him a new tank for $120.  When we got gas in Pahrump ($2.91) he also had the one good propane tank filled up.  And asked the station attendant if there was somewhere in town he could get a new valve for the other tank.  The man referred us to a RV supply place, so we went there and they referred us on to a propane place.  When we got there, the man came out and looked at the tank and said he could fix it...no problem.  But, he was on his way to a service call and asked us to come back in about an hour or so.  As were were driving down the street,we saw the library, so we stopped there and both of us got on their computers to check email, etc.   Anyway, when it was time we drove back to the propane place and the man quickly replaced the leaking/broken valve and filled the tank all for $37.  Bob couldn't believe it...here he almost paid $120 for a new tank (and it would have been empty) when all the time all the old tank needed was a quick fix.

I'm sure at one time, Pahrump was a small town, but it seems to be really growing.  There's new construction everywhere you look....and it's in such a great location, right smack in the middle between Death Vally and Las Vegas. I think if I were going to move to Nevada, I would certainly give Pahrump serious consideration.

By 3pm we were on our way to Las Vegas...I was so excited because this was going to be my first visit there.  I wanted to see if it's true that "what happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas."

Until next time....Linda

Part Four of a 35 Day Journey

Easter Sunday morning found us waking up in the campground in Death Valley.  It was our goal to drive thru it as neither of us had been there before and we wanted to see this Death Valley we had heard about.  We didn't take many "side trips" in the valley because we knew that would take longer and since it was so hot and we had no air conditioning, we didn't want to be totally miserable.  The drive thru the "Artists Palette" area for instance was 16 miles off the main road but well worth the drive.  We would have loved to have gone to Emigrant and other areas but they were really off the beaten path so skipped them.   We had left the campground at 7:30am and didn't climb out of Death Valley until after 4pm.  So as it was, it was a long day.

The Furnace Creek Resort is truly a fabulous place. There are lovely cabins, green grass, tennis courts, laundromat, service station (gas was $4.91 a gallon...we got 5 gallons, enough to get us out of the Valley), a post office, golf course and an air strip to get there.  I would love to go back there and stay for a few days.  We had our Easter Brunch in the Forty-Niner Cafe'.  I have included a picture of the tables & the chairs, they were so unique.  And the food was delicious. 

The Borax Museum was another interesting place at the Furnace Creek location.  I am old enough to remember Ronald Reagan in those old 20 Mule Team Borax TV commercials.  This museum is the oldest structure in Death Valley, built around 1883.  It was moved to it's present location in 1965 by the Borax Company.  The famous 20 mule team wagons hauled the processed borax 165 miles across the desert to the railroad at Mojave.  (I can't even imagine what it was like for those men who made that trip over and over again.)

The Devils Golf Course was another interesting spot in the Valley.  Lumpy and bumpy is the only way to describe this landscape.  I wonder if any covered wagons came over this area ?   It would have been enough to jar your teeth loose.  You could hear the tiny pops and pings as billions of the salt crystals contracted and expanded in the heat of the day.  It sounded like someone rattling a piece of tin or sheet metal.

Death Valley gets an average of 1.9 inches of rain per year. Occuring usually in October.  Some years of course there is more rain and it's not unusual for roads to wash out, etc. They say that in spring after an unusually  wet fall & winter, the wild flowers are really spectacular.  We saw very few, the 2006 fall & winter rainfall  must have been normal.

The gift shop at Furnace Creek had many interesting booklets for sale of different historical stories that have occured in Death Valley.  The one that caught my eye was called "Julia, Death Valley's Youngest Victim & The Heroic Rescue of the Stranded 1849ers."  (All one book) It is only 52 pages...a short read but very interesting.  If anyone is interested in this book, contact me by email and I'll give you the information on the inside cover.  The people listed may be able to help you obtain a copy. 

Sunday afternoon as we began to climb out of Death Valley, we were so glad we had taken the time (and the heat) to venture into this remarkable area.  But, we were also anxious for lower gas prices, and cooler temperatures.  The town of Pahrump, Nevada was to be the next stop on our journey.  I was talking to a friend of mine that night on my cell phone and she made me repeat the name "Pahrump" several times...then said "I've never heard of it...what's there?"  Well, it was a charming town and I'll talk about that and show you some pictures next time.

Until then.......Linda

Postage Rates Going Up

I had heard it was coming but today I was in the Post Office and saw the official sign.  First Class postage rates will be 41 cents as of 12:01am Monday May 14. 2007.  I'm sure other classes of mail will go up also, they don't usually just raise First Class and leave the others alone. 

I looked it up and the last postage rate hike we had was January 8, 2006.  That's when First Class went up from 37 cents to 39 cents.  So we haven't even gone 18 months without an increase, this time.

Several years ago I saw a world wide postage chart and at that time the U.S. still had the lowest rates and probably the best service.  I have friends in northern Alberta Canada and their mail service has always been horrible and their rates have always been high.

Anyway, use up those 39's or plan on buying a bunch of 2 cents stamps.  Bob bought stamps the other day and they sold him a book of  39 cent Christmas stamps...I guess they were trying to get rid of them.  I thought that was pretty funny.  

P.S.  it's quite warm here in the Pacific Northwest today.  Up over 70 degrees....that's a good thing.  I have the windows open and the fans going.

 

Part Three of a 35 Day Journey

After our night at Chris Flat campground (Nevada) we packed up and headed south.   Soon after, we crossed back into California on highway 395. As we neared the vista point for Mono Lake I missed the picture opportunity of a lifetime.  There along the other side of the highway was an old bearded man, walking along the side of the road with 3 mules (loaded down with his mining gear, no doubt) and his dog. It was like we had a very brief glance back into the 1800's.  There was a lot of traffic along that stretch of the highway and no place to pull over so Bob decided to not turn around and go back.  I not only wanted to get a picture but I thought we could have made him a sandwich and supplied him with some bottled water.  Anyway, we kept trucking and neither of ever got that old gentleman out of our minds.

We made our usual stop at the official Mono Lake vista point.  There's a huge store/gift shop/restaurant/gas station there, but the place was still closed for the winter season.  This is also the spot where the road to Tioga Pass heads west up into the east side of Yosemite National Park.  However, the pass was closed and I'm not sure if it's even open at this time.  Usually Tioga doesn't open until the middle of June.  After we reached Big Pine, California we headed east on highway 168 towards Death Valley.  To get there from this point you have to watch the map closely...as you change from this highway to another on several occasions (sort of like getting around on the freeway system in the Los Angeles area). We drove for what seemed like hours and finally reached another junction and we knew immediately we were back in Nevada as there was a very large bordello on the Nevada side of the junction.  Bob asked if I wanted him to stop, so I could take a picture and I said "no, I'll pass."   I was thrilled when we started seeing Joshua trees.  I love them, they remind me of my grandfather (my dad's father) Smith. He lived in Ridgecrest, CA (out in the Mojave Desert)  and had a printing business called "Desert Graphic Arts." On all of the stationary, etc he printed...next to his company name was a little Joshua tree.  So when I see a Joshua tree, I immediately think of a grandfather who was very dear to me.

As we continued on it was getting warmer & warmer.  We already knew the air conditioning in the truck was not working and it would take lots of gas money to get it repaired.  We decided if it got too unbearable we'd make the decision to either turn around and head back or  grin and bear it and pretend we were pioneers heading across the desert in our "covered wagon." 

Finally, just a few minutes before 6pm, we came to the famous Scotty's Castle. Unfortunately for us they were closing for the day and the very nice park service people at the gate didn't even let us in to get a better picture and snoop around for a few minutes. We could have come back the next morning but it was our plan to drive thru Death Valley to the other end, so decided...we'd pass.  Later I was able to purchase postcards and a couple books about Scotty and his famous castle.  As I was talking to the park people, I noticed a large cross up on the hill behind the castle and they said that was where Scotty & his dog are buried.   We asked about a campground and they informed us there was one about 8 miles down the road so we headed in that direction.  It was interesting to me that there was a location called the "Grapevine" at this location too.  For those of you you have traveled down I-5 to Los Angeles, you know about the famous Grapevine along that route.  (We've been down that Grapevine at all times of the day & night and in all kinds of weather).  Finally, we reached the Mesquite campground, right down in Death Valley.  The area around us looked almost like a moonscape. There was a warm breeze blowing and we found a vacant spot and settled in.  I cooked a real dinner that night.  I warmed up some frozen homemade lasagna, I'd brought along and cooked a big bunch of fresh broccoli. Wesat out by the campfire and ate our dinner, all the time enjoying the antics of the different families camped nearby.  I imagine it was probably at least 75 degrees at this point and the wind became quite fierce.  But during the night the wind picked up and the temperature dropped and it got a little cold (again thankful for that extra blanket I grabbed on the way out of the house.)

I woke up early Easter morning, peaked out the window of the camper and saw the most beautiful sunrise....I had my own little Easter sunrise service right there.

Until next time........Linda

 

Part Two of a 35 Day Journey

After the last day of skiing we headed for Reno.  Neither one of us are what you'd call real gamblers but it's always fun to see the casinos and the local sights.  On several past visits, Bob had found that the very back of the Atlantis Casino's parking lot was a regular RV Park.  So after our usual prime rib dinner at Fitzgeralds we head for the Atlantis.  Sure enough there were probably 100 other RV's parked in the very back part of their parking lot.  We actually were parked off the pavement in the graveled part.  We wandered around inside and I contributed my limit of $15 and then I got an ice cream and went out to the camper to read my book.  Bob stayed behind and came back later with $150 of their money. The next morning we went into the casino for breakfast and then went out to Sparks to the J C Penney outlet. Oh how I love that store !!  I got 2 pair of shoes for $3.90 each, one had originally been $35 and the other $40.  Also got some pink things for Bob's little grand daughter that's expected the end of June. They always have really good prices and I love going there whenever I'm in the area.   From there we went up to Virginia City.   It was late in the afternoon, so we were only there a few hours before heading back to Reno.   We spent one more night at our Atlantis "campsite" and then the next morning went back to finish our visit of Virginia City.  Since it was over the weekend, many of the locals were dressed in period costumes.  You'll see the picture of myself with "Buffalo Bill" but there were many others...I saw Union and Yankee soldiers, pioneer women, mountain men, etc. Bob took me to one saloons (The Silver Dollar) which was down a steep flight of stairs.  There was a guy singing & playing a guitar and as people hit the bottom stair, he'd stop and have everyone in the place applaud & yell "welcome."  He had a good voice but I think he made up a lot of the words to his songs and some of them were a little naughty.  There were hundreds of bras hanging from the light fixtures around the room and also hundreds of one dollar bills that people had signed and taped to the walls.  Bob showed me one he had signed a couple years ago, so of course I took one out of my purse, got a black marker, signed it and taped it to the wall by the door next to the stairs.  We spent about an hour there, eating popcorn and having a coke. If you ever visit Virginia City be sure and make the trek down the stairs at the Silver Dollar...you'll have a good time.    Another unforgettable place was the historic cemetery.  It was so sad to see the evidence of the harsh conditions of this area back in the 1800's.  The moms who died in childbirth, the babies, the young children and the middle aged men.  Since this was a mining area, a lot of the men didn't live long due to the poor working conditions in the mines.  Many died by their middle 30's.  After the cemetery is was on to the beautiful St Mary's Catholic church. We were there the weekend before Easter and as I said in a posting from "the trail" it was especially meaningful to walk the aisles and see the large pictures of the Stations of the Cross they have hanging in the sanctuary.  They have a lovely little gift shop and museum.  They are in the process of raising money to restore their bell tower, so we left a generous contribution behind for that cause.  There are only 30 families that regularly attend so they rely heavily on tourist donations.  Before we left Virigina City we took a mine tour offered at one of the casinos.  It is actuallya mine that goes back into the hill behind the casino and took about 45 minutes.  We were told of the harsh conditions the miners had to endure.  It was a real eye opener. I must add a note about our second morning in the Atlantis parking lot.  There was an older camper van parked a short distance from us, we didn't see any people but there was a dog laying on a mat and tied to the bumper, the night before.  Bob was out cheking the oil in the truck and this older lady walked over to him and asked if he could help her check her oil...she didn't know where to look.  So he went over and lifted the hood and showed her where the dipstick was, also checked her brake & transmission fluid.  Turns out she was heading back to British Columbia with her dog....her husband had died 4 days earlier while they were in Arizona.  And she was heading home alone.  After hearing her story, he gave her van the once over...cleaned the battery terminals, checked the fluid level in the battery, added coolant to her radiator, etc.  I couldn't imagine how sad that must have been for her.  And I also couldn't imagine that there wasn't someone up in B.C. that couldn't have flown down to help her drive home.   It's truly amazing the people and stories you encounter along the trail.

From Virginia City we went down the hill to Carson City to visit with Bob's 89 year old aunt Helen and his two cousins, Ian & Andy.  They live in a new warehouse type building just outside Carson City.  Both cousins have businesses they run out of the warehouse and then there are living quarters up stairs.  His cousin Ian makes these wonderful candles (Waterfire Candles) and Andy has a product called "Jerky Junction."   His packages of jerky can be found in convenience stores around Nevada and southern California and Ian's candles are in gift shops in the same areas and are also available for sale directly from him.  Ian opened the big door to his side of the warehouse and Bob drove the camper in and that was our "campsite" for the next few days.  His candles are fragranced, so the smell in there was heavenly.  I opened all the camper windows and vents...it was delightful.  We had a wonderful visit with them, and I think his Aunt Helen was happy to have a woman to talk to.  She's there with her two son's and a grandson (Andy's son, Kyle) so the only female companionship she has is when she goes to the local senior center 3 days a week.  She will be 90  in July and is as sharp as a tack.  She keeps up on all the news, cooks for the guys, goes to the senior center and one of them takes her to church on Sundays.   Bob's mom was the oldest of 3 girls (immigrated with their parents from Finland) and Helen is the youngest and the last one remaining.  One day, Bob and Ian went skiing at Heavenly, a ski resort that spans Nevada & California. After a 4 day visit, we bid them farewell and were on the road again.  Later that afternoon we stopped in Gardnerville, NV to visit another of my cousins, Sheila and her hubby Doug.  They have both been retired for sometime and chose Gardnerville to retire in (they lived in Eugene, OR for years before that).  We were just there for a couple hours before heading down the trail again to our next campsite at Chris Flat, along the Walker River on Highway 395.  We've camped there before and even though it's along the highway, it's a very comfortable place to spend the night.  It's at over 6,000 ft elevation so was very cold at night....once again I was glad I grabbed that extra blanket as I walked out the door the evening of our departure.

Until next time......Linda

 

Part One of a 35 Day Journey

As I expected, once we got the camper loaded the afternoon of March 26th, Bob decided we should just get going, instead of waiting until the next morning as we originally planned.  It was a cold, rainy evening...I was in my sweats, my old flannel shirt and heavy socks...my cold, rainy day outfit. I had not planned to take them, but was later very glad I had them with me.  I also grabbed an extra blanket on my way out the door...another good decision.   So a little after 7pm we pulled out of my driveway, drove a few blocks up the street and got onto the southbound entrance of the I-5 freeway.  We drove until about 10:30pm, when we reached Albany, Oregon.  We found a K-Mart parking lot where there were other RV's parked for the night and settled in.   The next morning we continued down I-5 thru Oregon.  It rained off and on all day and once we reached the Medford, Ashland area we ran into snow for the first time. When we crossed Siskiyou Pass, the road was bare and wet but it was snowing.  Anyone who travels this route, awaits that first glimpse of Mt Shasta (northern California)...in fact there's a popular vista site where you can pull over and take pictures and drink in the view of this beautiful mountain.  Well, for us...that was not to be.  The mountain was covered in clouds and was hiding from us.  So, the next goal is crossing beautiful Shasta Lake and getting to Redding for that first In-N-Out burger (I even offered to buy lunch that day).  Oh my it was so good !!!!

From there we headed east to Lincoln, California to my cousin Susie's house.  She's been to my house several times but this is the first time I have ever been able to visit her.  She lives in a beautiful 2 bedroom house (she picked out the floor plan, etc) in a large 55 Plus community.  She had chocolate cake and ice cream ready for our late arrival and the three of us (whoops I forgot about her 2 dogs) sat up very late laughing and talking.  Bob choose to sleep in the camper parked out in front of her house and I took the beautiful guest bedroom.  The next morning we spent some time over breakfast, took showers and then said our goodbyes. 

From there we headed over the famous Donner Pass.  It was cold and very windy when we stopped at the Summit, but very beautiful.  I've read enough "pioneer" type books the last few years, to know some of the horror stories of our early settlers who crossed this pass over 100 years ago.  I thought about those dear souls that afternoon and it caused me to be very grateful for the nice warm truck and camper that I had at my disposal, as opposed to a covered wagon or even less that were available to those early travelers.

Later that afternoon we arrived in the town of Truckee, California.  It's one of those great little historic towns, that's full of fun little shops, restaurants and close to the Northstar Ski resort.  Which was Bob's intended destination.  With his season pass here in Washington at the Snoqualmie Ski Resort, he also had 2 free days of skiing at Northstar.  He's gone there every year in the past but of course I was always working so he always went alone.  The altitude in the Northstar parking lot is 6,330 feet above sea level...and let me tell you...this fat old lady was really huffing & puffing (well Bob was too, especially when he was all dressed up in his ski gear) when walking from the parking lot into the village.  The first morning he skied, I walked up with him and it was really tough going.  But, the second day..it didn't seem so bad.  This ski resort is so beautiful.  There's even an ice skating rink surrounded by cabana's, shops, condo's and hotel rooms.  I discovered a Starbucks right across from the rink, so grabbed my book, got me a grande, non-fat, decaf, white mocha and settled down on one of the couches in the cabana's and just kicked back.  It was cold, but I was bundled up and the sun was shining...ahhhh I could have gotten used to that real easy.   After he finished skiing the second day, he called me (we were in contact via our cell phones) and told me to meet him down where the gondola's take the skiers & snowboarders up to the first level.  He had arranged for me to take a ride on the gondola.  I was excited and terrified at the same time.  Being in one of those little gondola's dangling above the ground from a cable....oh my !!  I was amazed when we reached the Day Lodge when we got off the gondola.  There was a big restaurant plus hot dog stands, etc there.  There were literally hundreds of skiers/snowboarders eating & relaxing in the sun.  We sat and watched the snowboarders coming down thru their half pipe and just enjoyed all the activity.  Of course from that point there are several chair lifts that take the skiers, up even higher on the mountain (elevation is 8,610 at the top.)  I think the ride down on the gondola was a little more scary than the ride up...but it was fun and I'm glad I got to have the experience. 

So that's the first installment....until next time, Linda 

MAY 1st~~~~I'M HOME !!!!!!!!!!!

We arrived to my house safe & sound about 7:30pm (Pacific Daylight Time).  I had an Avon order to do (it's done) and we are both dead tired.  My kitty did back flips when I came in the house.  While I was doing my Avon order, here on the computer, she was sitting on my shoulder rubbing her little furry cheek on my cheek & purring to beat the band.   I have 537 emails...mostly spam I'm sure, so between laundry, emptying the camper, getting stuff put away, etc. I'll be busy, busy the next few days.  I have about 400 pictures in my camera (have already printed out about that many), so will go thru them and maybe by next week can start posting them.    Also this Thursday, I have a dentist appointment (yup...it's back to the real world)   Thank you all for your prayers for our safety.  We drove over 4,000 miles with no mishaps (well there was one... but not a wreck or anything like that, I'll tell you about that when I get to that point in my telling of our journey) We never even saw an accident, which was also a blessing as that really can ruin a vacation when you come across a bad accident.  

So until I get a little organized and caught up....take care.

Until next time..........Linda    xxoo