Nevada - 3 stops

Minden

As we started our drive from Dunnigan, CA to Minden, NV  on October 8, 2017 we thought at first the haze we were seeing was from a dust storm as it was very windy. But, as we drove farther we realized it was smoke, what we didn't know at that time is it was from the terrible fires in Napa Valley. Once we were east of Sacramento the skies cleared and we had beautiful scenery.

We stayed at the Silver City RV Resort which is just south of Carson City, the capitol of Nevada. It is a large park and is very well kept up. Sites were long and wide. There is a general store with basic supplies and a rec room. WiFi was slow. We paid $23.71 a night with our Passport America discount. Because the area is so rich in salt and so dry, the surrounding fields are filled with puffs of dried salt and weeds.
They have a catch and release pond surrounded by golf holes. There are two small dog parks. Mielikki enjoyed her play time each morning with Puppy (that is the dogs name) and Nancy loved her conversations with Dan. He has lived in this park for three years and he always has a pocket full of dog treats. Once again meeting people along the way has made our travels that much better.

It took two days to drive around Lake Tahoe. Always thought of the lake being in Nevada, when actually only a small portion of it is, the majority is in California. The road around the lake has a number of overlooks and places to stop and relax or hike a little.

First day out we started at Glenbrook, NV and headed south around the lake and up the west side to Tahoe City, CA and then into the historic town of Trunkee, CA. From there we headed to Reno.
There was road construction at Emerald Bay which gave us time to enjoy the scenery and the electronic flag man.
Emerald Bay is very popular, we had a hard time finding a parking spot at the overlooks on either side of the bay.  Fannette Island sits in the center of the bay. It is the only island in Lake Tahoe. Peaking out thru the trees on top of the island are what is left of the "Tea House" which was built in 1929 as part of the Vikingsholm estate. It was the first summer home built on Lake Tahoe. The area reminded Mrs. Laura Knight of the fjords of Scandinavia so she had the home designed to fit that theme. The Tea House, reached by boat, was used by her and her guest until her death in 1945.

The altitude and the depth keep the water consistently cold all year. 

Our stop at D.L. Bliss State Park was fun. We wandered down to Lester Beach where we found the largest pine cones we have ever seen. The warning sign was enough to keep us from even poking our toes in the water. Lake Tahoe sits at 6,225-feet and is the largest alpine lake in North America. It falls just behind the five Great Lakes as the largest by volume in U.S. Its depth of 1,645-feet make is the second deepest lake in the U.S. just after Crater Lake at 1,943-feet deep.


We stopped for lunch at the Tahoe Mountain Brewing Company in Tahoe City. It wasn't one of the better meals we've had and unfortunately the beer wasn't all the good either! Probably the first time we have left beer in sample glasses.

Truckee has a rough and tumble mountain town history. It was a lumber town and a popular stop on the railroad. Today it is filled with galleries and restaurants. Nancy loved the "heavy metal band".






Truckee was named after a Paiute Chief who guided many early settlers in their migration west. The first groups to encounter the tribe were greeted by the Chief yelling "Tro-kay" - which means "everything is all right". The travelers thought he was yelling his name. From 1846 - 48 thousands of people passed through the Truckee Basin on the California Trail.

From Truckee it was a pretty drive to Reno, NV and our last stop for the day.

We had actually planned out the day so we would end up here late in the day and stay till after dark to see the neon lights.

But, once we got here we discovered there really aren't that many lights, so we explored a bit and headed home. We loved the old buildings and got a chuckle out the the T-shirt/Loan sign.

The second day we headed north from Glenbrook up the east side, back through Tahoe City and then down the west side.
We stopped at Memorial Point Overlook. The water is so clear and such a beautiful color.

Mielikki of course
loved the hike.

View from Hwy 207

In Stateline, NV yes it is on the state line, we took Hwy 207 to Gardnerville and Minden before heading home.



In Minden they are refurbishing this old mill and we found the craziest corner ever in Gardnerville.







Hawthorne

On October 12, 2017 we headed south down the center of the state. We drove over passes and through flat as a pancake land.
The north and south ends of the state have things to do - not so much in the middle.

This was just a two night stop over at Whisky Flatts RV Park. We didn't even unhook the car.
There are 60 sites. They are all pull-thrus and long enough for our rig and tow dolly. The park is well maintained and they have a small store with basic needs. Laundry room and bathrooms were clean and WiFi was spotty. We paid $28.71 a night with our Good Sam discount. Next to the park is a large open area that looks like a subdivision was planned here. There are roads and sidewalks but nothing else. Did make for a perfect spot to run the dog and offered some pretty views.

Beatty
We got to our last stop in Nevada on October 14, 2017.
We stayed at the Beatty RV Park. Park is well maintained. They are called pull-thrus but if someone is in front of you in the first row, you would need to back out of your spot and for those of us with a tow dolly that can't be backed up that would be an issue. The sites are narrow but the view was pretty. WiFi did not work. There was an open field next to the park for dog walking but you had to watch out for wild burro and jackrabbit scat! We paid $25.00 a night with no discounts.

Any stick will do! Not sure who left that paw print.
Nice view from our site.

We did find things to do here. Just outside of Beatty is the ghost town of Rhyolite. It was once a thriving mining town with office buildings, schools, an opera house, banks and of course a red-light district. All that remains today are the walls of some of the buildings.

In 1905 gold-laced rock was found here. By 1908 Rhyolite was the third largest community in Nevada - at the time Las Vegas was just a stage stop! It reached its peak in 1907 with a population close to 10,000. The gold-rush didn't really pan out in the long run as only $2 million in gold was found over the course of 11 years. It appears they missed the main vein of gold as a  modern day mining operation located it just a few feet from the one used in 1905.





The train depot is the most intact building.
The general store, office building and school not so much.

The Tim Kelly Bottle House sits just outside of "downtown" Rhyolite. It is believed that around 50,000 bottles were used. Mr. Kelly gathered them from local business, he did not drink them all. He also did not wash them before using them and a family of Mormon Crickets was found entombed and mummified in one of the bottles. The old rusted out truck completes the scene.

Across the street from the bottle house is the Goldwell Open Air Museum. The grounds are filled with a number of art sculptures.


A variety of artists have created the metal sculptures and wood carving.








The larger plaster sculptures are by Belgian artist Albert Szukalski.

He created the ghost figures by wrapping live models in fabric soaked in wet plaster. Once the plaster was set, the model was slipped out, and then the figures were coated with fiberglass making them weather resistant. Can you imagine how cold and uncomfortable the models were?



"The Last Supper" was the first installation at the museum in 1984.





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Nancy posed in this one thinking it was an artist, because of the palette, we found out later that it is actually a server. The Ghost Rider looks like he can't figure out how to get on his bike.





Beatty is called the "Gateway to Death Valley". While Death Valley National Park is actually in California it is less than 20 miles from Beatty. We spent two days exploring here.
The first stop you come to on Daypass Road is Hell's Gate. Seems like a fitting name.
Standing at this overlook it is hard to imagine what the early settlers thought when they reached this point. Not to mention the extreme weather conditions. Pretty glad we were in our car and not a wagon or on foot or horseback.



While the gold-rush did hit Death Valley, very little to none was found here. Borax, the "white gold of the desert" was the most profitable mineral. The Harmony Borax Works was one of the first in the valley and operated from 1883-1888. Financial problems of owner William T. Coleman and borax discoveries else where in California forced the company to close. The workers lived in crude shacks and tents in the fields. The 20-Mule Team that has been a symbol of the borax industry for over a century, played an important role by solving the difficult task of getting the product to market.

When we stopped at the Furnace Creek Visitor center it was 84 degrees and we were standing 190-feet below sea level.






Another appropriate name is Desolation Canyon. Well, really the whole place could be called that. But, yet there is such intense beauty here. From the overlook you can see into the pink canyon from one side and out across the salt flats from the other. A raven came to visit Nancy and put on quite the air show.

While the raven picture looks like two pictures it is really only one with a strip of white borax in the center. 

Artist Drive was an interesting road - it twists and curves and goes up and down like a roller coaster.

The different colors and layers of rock at each turn was mind boggling.

Just when you think you have seen all the colors possible you come to the Artist Palette! Pictures and words just don't do it justice. The different colors are from volcanic minerals being chemically altered by heat and water. An analyses of this area shows iron, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium. There is also some red hematite and green chlorite. The time of day, clouds or sun or the rare rainfall changes the colors.

The Natural Bridge is just a short hike from the parking lot, you feel quite dwarfed as you drive in and as you walk through the canyon. The views out over the sand flats was pretty nice too. 

Driving thru the Badwater Basin, you start to see more cactus and brush. You can see that the road meanders a bit. 

A few walls are all that is left of the Ashford Mill. In 1914 gold ore from the Golden Treasure Mine, 5 miles east, was processed here and shipped to a smelter. The picture on the left is the office building and the top right is the mill. It was only in operation for one year. The bottom picture is of our tour guide, Mr. Lizard. 

We headed south out of the park to Hwy 127 and into Amargosa Valley where we stopped at the Area 51 Alien Center. Sounds impressive but it really is just a gas station with a cafe and a store filled with tourist trinkets!    

It seems the mirror in the bathroom was hung by a very tall person. Nancy is standing on her tip toes and you can just barely see the top of her head. 

The second day in the park we headed to the north entrance. Unfortunately we couldn't go to Scotty's Castle as the road and some out buildings were destroyed in a flood.







We did get to Ubehebe Crater (u-bee hee-bee). Oh my what a beautiful place. Once again it is impossible to grasp the power of nature.
You can walk right up to the edge of the crater and there is a path that runs along the rim.


Mielikki wanted to run down the hill and play! No, we did not let her.

This volcano exploded a mere 2,000 years ago. It spewed shattered rock over a 6-square-mile area and in some places it was up to 150-feet deep. The crater is a half-mile across and about 500-feet deep.

We also tried to drive out to The Racetrack, but the road just kept getting worse and worse. So we wisely turned around and headed back. The racetrack is where you find the mysterious moving rocks that appear to move across the dry lakebed all on there own.

The Stovepipe Wells is in the Mesquite Sand Flats. This is the only well in the sand dune area.
Back in the bonanza days of gold mining and borax mines this was at the junction of two Indian trails. It was the only known source of water on the cross valley road between Rhyolite and Skidoo. A long length of pipe was inserted as a marker so it could be found when sand drifts obscured the spot. Hence the name.

You can walk out onto the Mesquite Sand Dunes and there were a lot of people doing that. We stopped for a photo and moved on as the day was getting away from us. At Stovepipe Village you not only find two working pay phones, there is a list of free calls you can make.





The  Mosaic Canyon is just past the village and we were glad we had saved the time to come here. This is our favorite place in the entire park. The geologic history of the canyon is a succession of fill-and-scour cycles. Major flash floods fill the canyon with up to 20-feet or more of gravel every couple of decades, sometimes blocking easy passage with large boulders. Less intense storms slowly scour the canyon again, removing the earlier deposits.

The walk through the canyon is unbelievable and we only did a small portion of the four-mile trail. The power of the water and stone has carved out this pathway and has polished the stone walls smooth. They look like they are rough but they are smooth as glass and even in the spots where the sun has been shinning on them all day they are cold to the touch.

Once again the different layers of rock and sediment were so fascinating and it was crazy quiet here.









Subject to intense pressure and heat, then polished by water, the dolomite has been transformed into beautiful swirls of marble. The breccia (rocks composed of broken fragments of minerals) is thought to be the remnants of a shattered landslide that once filled the canyon. Water rich with dissolved calcium carbonate cemented the breccia together. Then when the canyon was carved out again by water, patches of the "mosaic" are exposed.

Left: Dolomite                                      Right: Breccia 

As you drive towards Panamint Springs and the west entrance of the park the landscape changes once again. You start seeing more volcanic rock as you go through Towne Pass and then you are back to another basin.

As you twist and turn through the pass you can see the road stretching out through the basin.

Father Crowley Point overlooks the Rainbow Canyon where there is layer upon layer of volcanic rock.
The military conducts low-level flight training in this area. There were a number of people with lots of photography equipment waiting for one to fly by, but in the hour we were here none came.

From this paved overlook you can take a gravel road out to a point that overlooks the basin, and the views are stunning.












The road is a little bumpy, and it has a "round-about"!




Heading back out of the park for home we went through the Mud Canyon. The hills roll up and down along side the road and we thought one of the rock formations looks like a seal.















Arizona and New Mexico are coming up next.

Till we meet again....


Happy Trails to You!

Tips and things we have learned along the way. 
~ Dragging chains
There are two safety chains on our tow dolly that attach to the back of the RV at the hitch. We pull the chains up when we hook them so they are not dragging on the ground. Unfortunately there are a number of roads that have large dips and bumps in them, plus many driveways are slanted so steep you can't avoid dragging the chains on the ground. It is important to check the chains for any wear. One of ours had a link that was worn through. A chain link connector solved the problem!

Washington ~ Oregon - California

Castle Rock, WA

September 17, 2017 started out in Vancouver, BC and ended up in Castle Rock, WA. 270 miles and a ferry ride! What a long day. After picking up the RV and Mielikki we headed off on what we thought was a short hour drive to the Little Creek Casino Resort RV Park. The drive went well, but once we arrived at the casino it quickly went down hill from there.
First - there are no signs on the road to direct you to the RV Park so we drove through the casino parking lot till we saw RV's on the other end of the lot. Drove thru the RV park only to find out we needed to check in at the Casino Hotel.
This is where the fun really started:
~~ When we made the reservations two weeks prior we used Les's debit card to pay for the first night and hold our spot. Nancy tried to use hers to pay for the second night and they couldn't do that. They needed to use the same card used for the reservation, or credit the first night back to us and charge both to Nancy's card. No, it doesn't make any sense.
~~ After going out to the RV to get Les's card, Nancy is informed that Les needs to come in with his drivers license - did we mention they all ready took the money for the first night out of our account? ~~ So Nancy made them credit us, then recharge all of it!
What a crazy mess, but wait it gets worse....
~~ When we made the reservations we were told we would have a pull through, but the only spot left was a back-in that was not long enough for our rig. When we questioned them they said we "should" fit and if there wasn't room for our car and tow dolly we could park them in the casino lot! Nope
 So, back to the lobby desk to cancel our stay, we got a refund for that night and ate the first night. At 8:00 pm we started looking for a new place to stay, found one another hour south.

Thankfully the Paradise Cove Resort RV Park in Castle Rock, had an opening. The park is mostly full time residents, but it is kept up very well. The pull through site was plenty long enough for us and had full hook ups. We paid $33.20 a night with no discount. The laundry room was clean. The WiFi was spotty and Verizon signal was fair. The original plan was to stay one night but we ended up staying three. Les made a trip back to David Johns to pick up items forgotten and Nancy spent the time doing laundry and such. It rained non-stop and we sprung a leak over our couch one night - all in all not a great end to our wonderful Alaskan trip! But Mielikki was very glad to have us back.

50 lb lap dog

Tillamook, OR

On September 20, we headed to Tillamook, OR.

Yes that awning is
touching our RV! 

We stayed at the Big Spruce RV Park which is just across the road from the bay. The sites are extremely narrow, we were touching our neighbors on both sides. We paid $17.00 a night with our Passport America discount. Luckily we hit if off with the people next to us - and their traveling companion "Jimmy Hoffa".
The morning walks with the dog were the best part of this place!

Walks along the bay - perfect way to start a day

We were here in December 2015 so the weather was a little different this time. Visiting our friends Michele and Eric Brinkert brought us back here. Michele recently started a job at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We met up with her in Boardman, OR while she was there on business but didn't get to see Eric. They treated us to a wonderful dinner at The Schooner Restaurant.


Our first afternoon here we took advantage of the nice weather and explored a little bit of Cape Lookout State Park. 

The weather was perfect the whole time we were here.
Another day found us at the Kilchis Point Reserve. It was so much more than we expected. A well maintained trail leads you out to the bay and small rocky beach filled with driftwood. There are informational signs along the way that tell of the areas history and what type of animals and birds live here.





Mielikki found a mud bog to play in and was a disaster. Luckily there was a do-it-yourself dog wash right down street.

We were a lot warmer at the Cape Mears Lighthouse this time. There are two trails that lead you to the light house - both paved with beautiful views of the surrounding water.

The glass is quite fascinating! 

The lighthouse was closed last time we were here, but this time Nancy was able to take the tour. In looking back at the last blog post we discovered we forgot to include the pictures from here!

It is a short flight of stairs to the top. Nancy appreciated that and also the fact that they are enclosed! The tour guide gives a detailed talk about the history of the lighthouse and area.

Les got a picture of Nancy and she got one of him too! 

Sutherlin, OR
On September 23 we said good-bye to the coast and headed inland. Nancy snapped her last pictures of the bay and the ocean.

We stayed at the Hi-Way Haven RV Park, this is the second time we stayed here. We celebrated Christmas 2015 here (in the link above). It is a large park with a number of full time residents.
It is very well maintained, the sites are long enough for our rig and tow dolly. Each one has a fenced in cement patio. The laundry room and bathrooms are very clean, WiFi was spotty.

They show movies every Friday and Saturday night on their drive in movie screen. Princess Bride was this Saturdays feature. A favorite of Nancy's and one that Les had never seen. We paid $39 a night with our Good Sam discount.

We were able to visit Crater Lake National Park this time. The last time here it was closed due to snow. This time there was only a foot and a half - which we didn't know when we dressed that morning. We wore shorts and sandals, we had checked the weather two days before, but not the morning of. Luckily it was fairly warm with lots of sunshine so we didn't freeze.

The poles in the left picture
are the snow poles!!! Yikes 

Such a beautiful place, we were able to drive around three-quarters of the lake, the west road was closed due to the recent wild fires and the snow.

Mielikki loved the snow

Nancy made a mini snowman and wrote our tag line in the snow and even made a bare footprint! We came across another couple who brings along mascots to take pictures with - theirs are stuffed animals. Nice to know we are not the only crazy ones.

Phantom Ship  ~~ Cloudcap and Pumice Castle were some of the overlooks we stopped at.

A six-mile drive from the rim takes you to The Pinnacles. There is a whole canyon of them. They are "fossil fumaroles" and were created when volcanic gases rose up through a layer of volcanic ash, cementing the ash into solid rock. You also get a nice peak at Mount Scott from here.

Wizard Island 

Crater Lake was formed over centuries of rain and snow, after a massive eruption 7,700 years ago left the deep basin. It is the deepest lake in the United States. 1,943-feet at the deepest point. It is 6.02 miles across at its widest and 4.54 miles across at the narrowest.  After William Gladstone Steel's first visit here in 1885 he fought for it to be protected. It became a park in 1902.
Wizard Island is a volcanic cinder cone and is 6,933-feet above sea level and 755-feet above the lake surface.



Mt Shasta, CA

This is another place we wanted to visit in December of 2015, but couldn't because of the snow. The drive from Sutherlin took us through Grants Pass and offered peaks of the mountain as we got closer.
We arrived at the Cheateu Shasta RV Park on September 26, it is about 10 minutes outside of town. It is a combination RV and Moble Home Park. The site was just long enough for our rig and parking the car. We had an end site which gave us a little bit more room. We paid $30 a night. There was no WiFi or other amenities. The morning we were pulling out we had a problem with the sewer hookup - when we went to empty our tanks we discovered that the pipes were clogged. This made for a very messing situation.
Mt Shasta is considered to be an energy vortex spot, much like Sedona. So the town is full of interesting and unique shops. We enjoyed wandering through them.

Majestic trees line the road

The Evert Memorial Highway takes to you to almost 8,000-feet where it ends at The Old Ski Bowl. It was fun seeing all the cairns and labyrinths that people have built.










The views are quite spectacular, reminded us of our Blue Ridge Mountians.

We came back to this spot twice and both times we were treated to beautiful weather. Lots of sunshine and only a slight breeze. This time we "wrote" our tag line with rocks!










The solitude, even with a number of other people around was impressive. The mountain is composed of four major volcanic cones. The last eruption was about 200 years ago.

While here we ventured into Weed. It is not as thriving as Mt Shasta but it still has a lot to offer. The Weed Historical Museum was an interesting place. The town was originally founded as a lumber town. The giant saw blade was pretty impressive, and the tree growing around the ax made us chuckle. Bocce Balls even made it into the museum - a Wilson family favorite.

Smokey is another favorite and Nancy can't help but think about her mom when she sees Singer products. We stopped in at the Visitor Center and had a wonderful conversation with Kandy. She landed here from Texas and hopes to travel like we do one day. If you are reading this Kandy, thank you for such a great welcome to Weed.



Lake Siskiyou is a pretty spot for hiking. It is a large reservoir formed by the Box Canyon Dam on the Sacramento River. There is a trail that wraps around the lake and takes you along side the water and through the trees. The Wagon Creek Bridge was built in 2010 and allows you to cross over the lake at the Wagon Creek Inlet.

You get just a peak of Mt Shasta from the center of the bridge.



Dunnigan, CA
Once again we were back at the Happy Times RV Park, this is our third time staying here. Once in December of 2015 and then again in December 2016. This time we arrived on September 29.
Morning dog walks took us over a train track and down a road between two fields. Last time there was broken squash and pumpkins on the road - this time tomatoes. We saw a number of fires off in the distance.



Our friends Jan and Dave are why we always come back here. Nancy and Jan worked together in Michigan and it is wonderful to spend time with them.



On the drive to their house you pass the Sacramento airport and almost every time there was a plane coming in.

They made us dinner numerous nights and Jan and Nancy got to spend an afternoon shopping and just hanging out together. Yahtzee is always involved and their flowers are beautiful. Mielikki and Skye have a blast chasing each other around, until Skye gets tired and finds a safe place in Jan's arms. He was getting a little bored with having his picture taken.

Next up is Nevada - yes all of it!

Till we meet again....

Happy Trails to You!

Tips and things we have learned along the way. 
~ Check the temperature the morning of a road trip.
After living in Asheville for 3-years you would think we would know better. Our first trip into the mountains there taught us to always be prepared. We went from 70 degrees at home to low 40's at Mt Mitchel. We carried warm clothes in our car at all times after that.
As you noticed above we were not prepared for the weather waiting for us at Crater Lake. We had checked the weather and their website two days before, no snow in the forecast and temps around 70. Well, obviously that changed in two days! Luckily the temps weren't that bad and we still carry sweatshirts in the car, but not a change of shoes!