HOME AT LAST

May 17, 2018

We arrived home May 8th.  Denny was looking forward to it, me, not so much.  I think I could live in an RV full time, but Denny is really only good for 6 months at the most.

Here is a synopsis of out trip:

Left Nov 20, 2017
Returned May 8, 2018

gone 5.5 months
Drove 7897 miles

Stayed at 13 campgrounds that we had been in before

Stayed at 3 new campgrounds that we had never been at

Spent $3164.47 on campgrounds
Our cheapest campground was $23 per night Bakersfield, CA. This park belongs to Passport, a half price camp club that we belong to.
Our most expensive was $61 per night in Surprise, AZ.
There are cheaper ones around there, but we have many friends and family to visit and is is centrally located to everyone

Spent $2056.06 on diesel

We have a large 57 gal tank, so we only had to stop 26 times for diesel. That is actually  more than last year, but we did  alot  more geocaching.
Our cheapest diesel was in Surprise, AZ for $2.19
This price was before diesel stated going up
Our most expensive was in Palm Desert, CA for $3.65.
California always has the most expensive gas/diesel than another state. Also it has the worst roads.


The new areas we went to were Pahrump, Alamo and Wells, all in Nevada. We have really never  traveled much in Nevada, but we certainly made up for it this trip.

We like to go someplace new every time, but, not really sure where next season.  We are actually thinking of shaking it up quite a bit and going to Ireland instead of RVing next season. Will see... never  have been to Europe before and Denny has always wanted to see Ireland.

Hope you all enjoyed reading my blog as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Til next year........

ON THE WAY HOME

May 4, 2018

We plan to be home May 8th.  Doesn't seem possible that this year's trip is coming to an end. Denny is looking forward to it, me, not so much. I could easily stay out longer, but guess we have to get back to the real world.

I really enjoy seeing different places in the United States and meeting new and old friends. It also amazes me how different the terrain is everywhere. From oceans and mountains to large trees to desert. I never get tired of it. 

Amazing to me the colors in the hills and desert due to  the different minerals. 

The local lore says the pattern on the hills is where the Indians got there idea for their Indian Blankets. What do you think?

We were driving in the middle of the desert and all of a sudden came across alot of green. Very unusual for this area, but there is underground water close by, enough to have a large date farm.

Just a mile before we came across all the green trees in the above picture, this is what we had been seeing. What a difference a little water makes

First time Denny had to drive through rain,  leaving Alamo, Nevada going to Wells, NV

Felt like we were home already 

This is our first glimpse of mountains since leaving Washington. I love spending the winter in the warmer climate of the desert, but it is always nice to see the mountains again. 

View from our campground in Wells, NV

Today I made our  reservation  at the last campground we will be in before we get home. Kind of a sad moment for me😢😢

ET HIGHWAY

April 29-30, 2018

In geocaching,  the ExtraTerrestrial  Highway is world famous. Cachers from all over the world take their vacations just to go on it.   It is a power trail  of several hundred miles with 2300 caches on it. They are every 550' apart.  The north side of the highway is the power trail that cachers flock to. The south side borders  AREA 51 in Nevada.   Area 51 is a top secret site that government still doesn't admit that it exists.  This is where  they supposedly found a spaceship with an Alien inside.  In 1996, Nevada officially designated highway 375 as the ExtraTerrestrial Highway. There have many sightings of UFO's on this road.  We were here for 3 days and I NEVER saw anything.

I had heard about the ET Highway for years. Since we are going home a different way than usual, I realized we would be close to it, so had to go on  it. We spent 2 days along the Highway. First day, we found 105, 2nd day, 113. That day breaks my record of 110.  I have to admit, it was kind of boring. Getting in and out of the car 218 times plus walking 50-60' to the cache  and back is very tiring. We could have done more each day, but my  whole body was exhausted.   The 3rd day, we just went up to a little town of Rachael (54 pop) that is a must see. It is the only town on the Highway to stop and stretch your legs and get a bite of food.

This is the Alien Research Center. Really just a gift shop to buy souvenirs and everything you need to   go on the ET Highway and Area 51

Wall inside the Alien Research Center that all visitors sign. I also did, but had a hard time finding a spot. Finally had to sign over somebody's signature. The wall continues around the corner. 

This is just a partial view of the power trail of the ET Highway.  This is probably only a quarter  length of the ET . All the little green dots are geocaches.  I haven't logged my caches yet. When I do, all the   green dots will turn into smiley faces.  The caches I found start at the right and go most of the way up 

There is geoart on the ET Highway That is when people put out geocaches in the shape of things. Below is an Alien Head and a Spaceship.   In the map above, the geoart is in the upper left corner.  Most of the geoart is usually a hike, the alien is about 10 miles, the spaceship 7 miles. 

If we go back this way again, I will do the geoart only. The power trail itself is too boring and exhausting. The yellow smiley faces are caches that I have found. The town of Rachael is at the very right hand bottom of the picture. We did a few caches while having lunch

The ET Highway is open range so you have to be careful of  cows roaming around. I took this picture from the car to show you how close they are to the road. Unfortunately, we saw a couple of dead cows alongside the road. 

This is the Alien Mailbox cache. All the Aliens check their mail here!! Wonder how much they get or is it all junk mail like humans usually find in their mailboxes!

Denny is checking out the spaceship in front of the cafe

GEOCACHING

April 25, 2018

Wanted to show you a few pictures of things we have seen while we were geocaching or just wanted to show you  that didn't really have a story on their own for me to post.

We carry 4 chairs and our barbecue with us. We also have our bikes.  I can't imagine where people put on the stuff they carry.  Some things don't even fold up. Most places have tables, so we  don't carry one.  

I have always heard the history of building the railroad, starting at Los Angles and Salt Lake City and meeting in the middle, but never really knew where it happened. It has always been amazing that they started in 2 different places and were able to be precise enough to meet exactly at the right angles to connect.  In 1905, they certainly didn't have the technology they have today to accomplish that. This was about 10 miles south of Las Vegas. 

Flowers in the Desert.  We saw a few flowers this year, but not many. Last year, the weather was just right so that the blooms were everywhere. We saw fields of flowers as far as you could see. This year, just a flower here and there

The pictures below are from last year. Wanted to show you the difference

This was our temperature today. It is getting a tad hot. Ninety Six degrees here is easier to bear because this is a dry heat, not like in Seattle. The 91 degrees on the right is our temp inside the RV. We don't usually have the air conditioning on during the day because we re usually outside.

This Saturday, April 28th, we are leaving and SLOWLY making our way home.  We plan to be back May 8th. Too soon for me, but probably not soon enough for Denny.

SOMETHING WE THOUGHT WE WOULD NEVER SEE OR DO!!

April 24, 2018

Nevada is the only state in the Union to have legalized prostitution. Before coming here, I thought it was all over the state, but it is only legal in certain counties.  In Clark County, where Las Vegas is located , it is against the law. The closest brothels are located here in Pahrump, NV., 60 miles SW of Vegas.   There are 21 in Nevada. The famous Mustang Ranch is located in Reno. Amazing that this little town that doesn't even have a theater or clothing store (besides Walmart) has 3 brothels. While we were out geocaching we saw 2 of them. They both have tours. I thought that would be very interesting to go on a tour. I had to talk Denny into it. I called first because I wasn't sure if the tours were only for prospective clients or anyone to see.

 One even has a restaurant  that I was told had excellent food.  Off we went for lunch and a tour. The food was excellent, the best Philly Cheesesteak sandwich  I have ever had. The Bloody Mary was the biggest we had ever seen (and very good).  We went in the door that said Sports Bar. The other door said Girls, Girls, Girls. There were alot of ladies sitting in the booths waiting for prospective clients. We did see several guys and ladies go through  the other door. Some of the ladies had short, tight dresses on. Others had VERY  skimpy outfits.  After lunch we took a tour. One of the ladies escorted us. Not sure what I was expecting, but we got to see more than I thought we would. She showed  us the  main room where the girls line up, different themed rooms, the pool and hot tub area and the list of all  their activities. Each girl sets their own prices, but from what the website says, anywhere from $500 pr hr to $10,000 a night. 

It is certainly nothing we ever thought we would see or do, but it was  unsual and interesting. We can cross it off our bucket list, eventho, it was  CERTAINLY NEVER on it.  Our travels have taken us to many places,  but, this is one place we never thought of.

 This is the Chicken Ranch. In the 1980's there was film staring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton called  "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". We never saw it but it was billed as a comedy and very funny. This Chicken Ranch was the basis for the movie. When it was forced out of town, it relocated to Pahrump.

This is the one we went to, Sheri's Ranch.  It is co owned by a Las Vegas attorney and a local politician. Not sure what he is running for, but we see his billboards all over the city. Says he will "fight for your guns" and " fight for the constitution " All the girls live here.

I will say that I surprised that it wasn't more plush or fancy. Both brothels seemed a little on the plain side.  Both of these brothels have a limo service to Las Vegas. They will pick you up anywhere and take you back. 

MOB MUSEUM

April 23, 2018

I  had heard of the Mob Museum many years ago from the original series CSI TV show that took place in Vegas.  It is a history of the Mob and the FBI  in the United States. It was very interesting. The worst part was driving to and from Vegas and trying to find parking. 

The first two pictures are of the first casino in Las Vegas in about 1905. Las Vegas means "meadows" in Spanish.  When it was first settled, it covered only a  few square miles. Now, including the outlying suburbs, it covers 100 square miles.  Las Vegas certainly looks different in the first pictures to what it looks like now. 

Bathing beauties in 1910 at the many "watering holes" around the meadows

Waxy Gordon, during prohibition, piped beer through the hoses placed in the Newark, NJ sewer system. For this he got 10 years. Can you imagine, just getting beer out of the kitchen faucet!

Bootleggers had all sorts of tricks to hide carrying booze from place to place. This was a truck  camouflaged to look like a  logging truck

People became very ingenious in ways to hide the booze. Bloomers had special pockets to carry metal flasks. 

This is Eunice Carter, who first connected prostitution and the mob. She was the first female  black prosecutor on Thomas Dewey's staff.  Before, it was all white and male.  She connected 2000 prostitutes to 300 brothels, laying the groundwork for Dewey's prosecution of Lucky Lucino, the biggest mobster of his time. 

GO EUNICE!!!!!

They wanted us for a lineup, we were each accusing the other of the crimes! Do you think we look like criminals? My boa is made out of money, wish it was real!

This is the first bullet proof vest made in 1926 by Elliott Wishbod. He said he was the most shot at man in America because  to sell  it, he had to go around to all the police stations to show how it would save lives. His wife shot at him, but he  was never really hurt.  It is made of 22 gauge steel, covered in wool fabric.  Of course, all the criminals also used it to protect themselves. 

In the 1800's gangs dominate the Lower east Side of New York. 

In 1890, the police chief in  New Orleans, was the first person to die from fighting the Mob.

By the 1900's, the "Black Hand" extortion rackets started. 

In 1902, "Big Jim" Colosimo married a Chicago Madam. They started a white slave ring that brings the Mob and prostitution together.

In 1908, the FBI was formed.

In 1921, Al Capone moves to Chicago for bootlegging opportunities during the start of prohibition

In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover becomes the head of the FBI. He pursued "Public Enemies" such as John Dillinger, "Pretty Boy Floyd", "Machine Gun Kelly", "Ma" Baker and Bonnie and Clyde. he at first didn't believe there was a mob, only individual gangs. 

In 1927, the St Valentines massacre occurred. It was ordered by Lucky Lucino to take over the mob.

The "Mob" now isn't what it used to be with all the violence, but it is still around, just doing things in  very subtle ways.  There are gangs  in every country, most still very violent.

DUBLINS GULCH CAVES

April 15, 2018

One reason I like to geocache is because it can take you to places you might never of heard of or see. One of these areas is the Dublin Gulch Caves.  They are in the Village of Shoshone, California, about 28 miles from Pahrump.  These caves were made from solidified volcanic ash  from an eruption in Yellowstone park 6000 years ago.  Historians think that the cave houses were built right into the rock in the late 1870's to the early 1900's by miners in the area. Fascinating (at lest to me) to see what minors did for housing.   They did what needed to be done with whatever they had.

 Notice the metal pipes coming out the top. Not sure if those were for ventilation or  for the wood stoves

This hasn't anything to do with the caves, but wanted to show you something else we saw on our geocaching travels.  Found this is a very small town of about 150 people. Can you imagine using this??

SEVEN MAGIC MOUNTAINS

APRIL 3, 2018

As I mentioned in a previous post, I like to see all things quirky.  This certainly fits the bill.

Seven magic Mountains is one of the largest land based art installations in the United States. It is about 10  miles south of Las Vegas. These are limestone boulders, each painted a different fluorescent color.  It is temporary, it was suppose to end May 31st, but it  is so popular, it will  be staying until Dec 31st.  Each stack is 3-6 boulders, totaling 30-35' high.  I would like to see how they dismantle it, each stone is very heavy.

This is to show you how high they are compared to Denny

This view is from the road to show you it is in the middle of the desert

HISTORICAL MUSEUMS

APRIL 14, 2018

I love history and like to go to historical museums wherever we are. Interesting to see how people lived many years ago.  Makes me glad I was born in 1946 and not in the 1800's or early 1900's. Can you imagine living like this!

WASHING MACHINES

COFFEE GRINDER

CAN YOU IMAGINE WEARING THESE CLOTHES, ESPECIALLY IN 90 DEGREE WEATHER!

STOVE

LOOKS CERTAINLY UNCOMFORTABLE TO ME

 MEDICAL TABLE, WHEELCHAIR AND LEG BRACES

THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST PHONOGRAPHS IN 1915. IT IS A 4 MINUTE CYLINDER RECORD. BY 1928, DISC RECORDS BECAME MORE POPULAR