Catch up...11 day vacay, Death Valley, Aaron visits Alabama, Burt! Russell's new ride, 2 Anniversaries

Well, Hello Blog! There really hasn't been much going on to talk about, but life does go on daily! 

Ken and I were able to get away for 11 days mid February. A wonderful trip to Death Valley and the surrounding area. Death Valley was perfect as temps were in the 70's and the sun shined the whole time! 

This collage is from February 18th. Our one and only snow and not much, but just enough to be pretty.

On the way to Carson City a different story. LOL. Winter wonderland. Ken's breakfast at Topaz Lake. The chicken fried steak was HUGE and hand made! 

                                        Some scenes of Death Valley. 

                              Where we were camped at Stovepipe Wells. 

                                       A busy row, ours really wasn't

Gotta love the traffic on our Nevada Highways LOL. 
Not all are like this, but this is out of Beatty headed to DV

We were able to enjoy two Champagne Sundays on our trip

The oven in the Mansion did an awesome job on our
Cauliflower crust pizza. 

Later in the afternoon we went across the street to look at the
store and the saloon. Both were way too expensive. You know the
bundles of 6 or 7 pieces of firewood you can get for $7.00 or so
most places (which is too expensive in our opinion) the store in DV
sells it for $17.50! A couple came by our site asking if Ken had an
ax so he could chop it up. Ken did and he gave him a few pieces
of our firewood we brought from home. They said the next morning
they had a nice fire. 😍

Our one and only. haha. It was fun though. 

We found our way home through Rachel, Nevada the Extraterrestrial Highway. I couldn't get a picture of the sign that states it as it's covered totally in stickers. Bummer. 

Rachel is a little hole in the wall that we've stayed at a few times on the way home from somewhere. They have 4 pull through full hook up spots for $30.00. You can also dry camp for $10.00 but we splurged. LOL 

We did stop in Tonopah, NV on our way home as it fit perfectly with lunch. We've been going to this Mexican restaurant forever. Still family owned. 

Once we got home our calendar that we thought was empty for the month of March has started filling up! Grandson Aaron turns 21 on the 20th. He won't be home though so we won't see him. 

He did spend a week in Alabama with his sweetie Kenna. I love when I get pictures! 

The 20th is also Holly's baby shower so i'll be heading over the hill that weekend for that. In two months we'll be great grandparents! 💗 So excited. 

Bryan and Cheryl celebrated 27 years of marriage on the 4th of March. Eric and Christina celebrated 24 on the 9th! 

                     

Eric and Christina went to Half Moon Bay for the night 💗

Jacob and Allissa added a new member to their little family. We welcome Burt! He's adapted so well and obviously is so spoiled already! 💙 He ruptured his ACL somehow and is awaiting a surgery date. 

Burt! He's so cute! 

Not loved at all! :) 

                                Can't wait to meet him in person! 💙

                      Adam and Erin had a nice trip up to Humboldt County CA

He's in Arkansas working for two weeks then he'll get to spend a few days with his parents before coming home! I know 3 happy people and two dogs that will be excited. 

Russell got a new to him 2016 Harley Street Glide with just over 
10,000 miles on it. He knows the history and who he bought 
it from. Thinking he and Lori will enjoy it! 

End of the month we've got a 3 day camping trip to Plymouth, CA where John and Karen are camped. Adam and Erin only live a few minutes from them so we'll finally see where they are living. Should be a fun weekend! Hopefully the weather holds as we had to cancel earlier plans for there. 

The winds are howling here but temps are warming. 

There's the catch up in a shorter version. I've got to get better at this! 

I do know it's just about Happy Hour so I'll close and get out to my sweetie🍺🍷

 

We are back home... :)

 Sunday morning we woke up at Lakeside RV Resort in Pahrump, NV with the intention of heading for Lake Mead and  Boulder Beach.  Well, after checking temperatures we decided to head back to Death Valley.  The purpose of the trip was to find warmth and enjoy it.  

Treated ourselves to breakfast at the Lakeside Cafe on the property. It's inside the casino.  It was Sunday morning and it looked like it at the cafe.  Service started off good with coffee and water coming quickly.  Took a while for the waitress to take our orders and a lot longer to get the food! Very understaffed for a Sunday morning. I do have to say the food was delicious and prices very reasonable. We were beginning to wonder if we would get out of there before our 1100 check out time. Would we go there again?  Probably not unless we saw more people working. 

Got ourselves going and on the way back decided to head for Stovepipe Wells Campground. You can use charcoal barbecues there, but for some reason at Furnace Creek you can't.  We figured being Sunday it wouldn't be so crowded and it wasn't. 

We settled in, I put my shorts on and we just enjoyed the afternoon. Ken barbecued the burgers he hadn't been able to do before. YUM! 

Coming into Death Valley...

Motel at Amargosa Opera House :( 

Shawn Williams, a young woman who we really like her music used to play here quite a bit..

The view from our site at Stovepipe Wells..

Another view from our site...

Tuesday we enjoyed our morning and after lunch decided to take a little ride. Mosaic Canyon was just across the way about 2.4 miles up a dirt road.  It's a beautiful place and you can walk into the canyon. Would be a perfect walk if it was in the morning. Just too warm to walk it in the afternoon.  From our campsite we watched cars go up the road over and over. It's very popular. 

The beginning of Mosaic Canyon...

You don't realize in 2.4 miles how far you climb out of the valley...

After leaving there we took a drive up the road to the rest area. Put out a couple of chairs and enjoyed happy hour looking down in the valley. :) Funny while we were there a young asian man, wearing a mask inside his car by himself drives up and asked us where Palm Springs was? I talked to him a bit and he said he heard it was very beautiful there so he wanted to go.  He just drives around in his suv.  He did ask "What's there to see in Death Valley? I see Death Valley but there's nothing to see!"  Guess that's why he's looking for Palm Springs...if you can't SEE the beauty of Death Valley you better move on. 

Gotta love the traffic :) 

This was a ranger station/home built by the CCC's. One ranger who lived there was Stan Jones who wrote Ghost Riders in the Sky! Looking in the windows it was cute at one time. Unfortunately they are just letting the insides rot away..so sad. It's a beautiful building! I could live there! :) 

Across the road is the bathroom also built by the CCC's.  Gorgeous outside, inside not so much. Peeling marmlite :( 

We headed back down the hill to camp where later Ken barbecued some pork that was very tasty. I had made a salad to go with mine. Mashed potatoes and green beans for Ken. Unfortunately after a few bites I ended up with a GERD event. Only had 3 or 4 in the last several years, this was the worst.  I won't go into detail but ended up going to bed hoping to be able to sleep.  

In the morning I still felt like I did the night before and it was time to get ready to go. Made Ken some breakfast and we did our thing. We left about 0900.  

Sunrise on our last day...

All was on track to be home about 1400.  We stopped in Hawthorne for a potty break and Ken discovered a flat tire by the entry door. He got it changed and we were on the road again.  

I was still feeling the discomfort.  Figured I'd be heading for the doctor soon.  I hadn't eaten or drank anything all day as my body wouldn't let me.  Long story short we got home and I went to bed.  Close to 24 hours after eating I was able to dislodge the lettuce and tomato that was apparently stuck in my esophagus.  Once that happened I was all better! Karen brought some broth over and it was delicious. Never had anything like that happen before. 

Got a call in to establish with a new doctor and get this followed up on. We've had our bed on an angle for a year or more at the suggestion of Ken's ENT doctor.  It has made a huge difference in his GERD and snoring.  I think it probably did good for me too and the last week we've been sleeping flat. Oh the joys of getting older! 

Today all feeling back to normal so I was able to go with Ken to Walmart in Gardnerville for some groceries. We're all stocked up!  

Tried to get this published last night but our internet was slow, probably from the major winds we were having. Ken had to re winterize the Mansion as temps were expected in the teens and we are waking up to 14 degrees this morning. 

Ken will finish his stuff today and I'll do a little cooking. Got a taste for some more cabbage lasagna.  It was a great trip (other than GERD) but it's always nice to be home again! Have a wonderful day! 

Mini Vacation..

 Here we are coming to  you from Pahrump, NV!  After talking with Russell and finding he wasn't ready for Ken's help this weekend we said let's take a little trip and get out of the cold! Wednesday morning we finished packing up The Mansion and off we went about 1100.  

Tuesday morning Adam had texted wanting to come over and spend the night.  He got there around 1300. We visited a bit and then he ran to Wilson Canyon to take some pictures.  I ran to Raley's to get some wine lol.  Tacos for dinner and then a couple of movies we all watched. He left about 0900 on Wednesday morning and then we left.

Adam and Papa 💗

Death Valley was our destination and only about 5 hours from our house. We got to Furnace Creek Campground around 1600 or so. Plenty of sites available and with Ken's America the Beautiful pass it's only $7.00 a night. No hookups but there are bathrooms with flush toilets and fresh water. Barely cell service and little internet. I could comment on blogs but no way could I do my blog. 

Cool looking skies near Walker Lake, NV...

Hawthorne, NV 💙

There it is Russell...spooky!!

Of course, The Mizpah..we KNOW is haunted!!

Tonopah Brewing..

Love our Nevada roads and traffic!

A little wind....

Our view from the campground...

Unique isn't it..The car goes on the trailer too..

Got ourselves set up and then settled ourselves inside as the wind was crazy. It blew all night long, but we loved it.  

Thursday morning we awoke to a 50 degree morning.  It was 17 at home. The day ended up being about 73! We'll take it.  Ken took a walk over the hills ending at Texas Spring Campground. A nice area, crowded but no generators are allowed.  I put on shorts and read a book. After lunch we took a walk across the street to visit the other campground. They have huge sites that are reservable and some have water and electrical hookups. Campground was full. The visitor center was only letting a few in at a time, with masks. There was a line of people, but we weren't two of them. 

We sat outside and lit the Little Red Campfire and then Ken cooked some pork on the propane stove as this campground isn't allowing charcoal barbecues. No idea why. Not like there's anything to catch fire. Oh well turned out delicious.  Once dinner was cooked we  were inside watching the original Vacation until 2100. 

We stopped at Salt Creek..this creek runs year round.. not drinkable for humans but it keeps wildlife alive..

Thought this was a pretty cool tent

Texas Spring Campground...love where it sits!

Texas Spring...

Close up of the toy hauler....

Friday morning after breakfast we took a drive over to Stovepipe Wells and their campground. Sites were smaller and seemingly more cramped. We made the decision to stay where we were. 

Another beautiful shorts day :) Read and just took it easy. Ken too. A nice afternoon just enjoying the scenery and people watching. Eventually a nice Happy Hour and then Ken made turkey burgers for dinner along with tater tots for him. 

We woke up this morning to a lovely if not cooler morning.  At home we would have woken up to snow. Karen sent pics this afternoon 😱 Talking at breakfast we (he) decided it was time to move on.  Decided to head for Pahrump, NV for the night and then on to Boulder Beach at Lake Mead for two nights. Then we'll head home!  The wind was really blowing but at least it was blowing us towards Pahrump.

  We could have woke up to this....

We saw that Lakeside RV and Casino was a Passport America Park.  Pulled in and decided too stay one night. Good thing as with the discount it's still $60.00.  Not sure how that one works. It is a beautiful park though.  We got settled in, had lunch and then after a bit we took a walk around the park.  There are very few empty spaces, some long term but all awesome looking rigs. Love seeing how people set up their "homes".  

The wind has done my hair no favors..haha. Happy Camping!

Lakeside RV Park..Pahrump, NV...

This is the hugest RV we've ever seen!! 

It's a beautiful place! Too expensive, but beautiful! 

So grateful to be retired and living the life we live! Happy Hour time! Have a wonderful evening!