Wrapping up our migration south

The weatherman was right.  The strong winds from the day had all but disappeared the following morning.  We were good to go. Since we were on the west side of Reno we wondered a little about driving through during work hour.  However, that was a piece of cake with hardly no traffic at all.

It’s a long drive through Nevada on its two lane roads.  Scenery changes a little with some beautiful lakes but mainly it’s up and down through high desert landscapes.   The ups were several over 5000’ and one over 6000’ in elevation.  We figured eventually we’d go down.

There are some unique little towns that might be fun to spend a little extra time in.  However, for some reason we ended up being on a mission.  Plus with our little trailer following along behind we weren’t too keen on the idea of leaving Buck in it for a long period of time.

This time there wasn’t a lot of construction but just one real long one with an approximate 30 minute wait for the flagger.  




This fella couldn’t wait for the flagger so took the opportunity to take care of his own business.

Of course the construction ended up creating lines of traffic.  Once beyond the pilot car vehicles started throwing caution to the wind.    We saw several near misses, passing in double yellows, on hills, curves and tailgating others.  What a mess.  

Buck is a great little rider.  He has his own little quarters and we find him playing with his toys and looking out the window.  Thank goodness we have a mega cab because he has plenty of room.   He really does fit in his bed but this is where silly Buck was being Buck and playing with a toy.

 

Our goal was Beatty, Nevada (911 miles into our trip) and the little Beatty RV park.  I was a little leary at first about the park but pleasantly surprised.  It was perfect.  The sites were pull-thrus and the park clean.  What a gem of a place to stop.  Again, another night we didn’t have to unhook. 

After setting up we took a little walk behind the park with Buck on the BLM.  There were no snakes (thank goodness), no rabbits and no critters for Buck to chase.

Strong winds were expected to return Wednesday afternoon.  Our plan was to be in Boulder City by then.   There was no way we were traveling over the Hoover Dam bridge with 50 mph gusts.  We were happy to be able to pull into the Boulder City Elks.  They have a great little RV park.  One of the first things we did was fill up Buck’s little portable pool.  Obviously, he loved that pool and was in it numerous times.

Then, it was off to the Railroad Crossing casino in Henderson for their 2 for 1 buffet special.  We were looking forward to a good buffet.  However, we were very disappointed.  A few items were hot but many were just lukewarm and overcooked. 

 We thought even at $9.99 for two it was still too much.

Thursday we ventured out on foot.  That’s the good thing about the location of the Boulder City Elks. There’s a lot nearby.  We even picked up a couple unique Christmas presents!  That’s really early for us!  Ever have to plug a quarter to use a shopping cart?  We hadn’t but the local 99 Cent Only store had quarter carts.  We followed posted signs to a smokehouse with brisket.  If you visit Boulder City, check out Fox Smokehouse by the Elks.

 

It can be entertaining watching all the RVs come and go.  We found it especially entertaining to watch a very large motorhome come into the Elks pulling this huge trailer.   It looked bigger and taller than a few of those tiny houses we toured a week or so ago.

Winds were to subside on Friday  and we would be ready to go.  We pulled into two separate gas stations to fill up  but neither had any diesel fuel. Even the local Chevron didn’t carry diesel.   Anyway thanks to gasbuddy.com we did find one that did and eventually were on the road again.  It was another two lane highway much of the way with up and down hills.  That seemed to be what most of our route south had been like.

Unpacking the little “gadabout” trailer was a ton of work.  We didn’t realize we had so much in it but then, we’d been packing it with things we were taking from Washington to Arizona for weeks.  What did we expect?  We were back and forth and back and forth until it was done.  Then, Sunday we moved it into storage where it would sit for about ten days.  After all, we need it for our trip to the New Mexico Balloon Festival.

We’ve taken many different routes south for the winter.  This particular route didn’t have any real steep climbs or descents.  The problem with it is it was mostly all two lanes plus up and down and up and down some more.  We felt like we were climbing or descending almost all the way from Eugene, Oregon.  I don’t have to tell you what that does to fuel economy . .

 

The weather is still in the mid 90’s but the air conditioning is doing a great job.  Arizona isn’t a bad place to spend the winter.  After all, it’s hard to find a better place.  We are not totally settled in yet but working on it.  So, for now we are here.

‘Tis life on the road