Nevada to Mesa, AZ

I don’t know what I expected of Nevada. Actually, yes I do know. In 2016 we traveled from California to Las Vegas before moving on to Utah. So we expected the whole of Nevada to look like the area around Vegas. And there I was very wrong.

Except for Las Vegas, Nevada is beautiful. Highway 93 is smooth and well kept, and there are mountains everywhere. We were enchanted. We left Hollister, Idaho and traveled south to Ely, NV (pronounced “eelee.”) Our campsite that night was in a KOA and was surrounded by mountainous views. Our only issue with it was that the elevation of 6600 feet made us gasp for breath at times. From Ely we continued south to Las Vegas, and then on to Congress, AZ, spending one night each time. And this morning we left Congress to arrive at our park in Mesa where we will be for the next seven months or so. We’ve only been away for five months but it feels much longer than that to me. And now we have the task of moving everything from the motorhome to the house in the next seven days.

Here are photos of our journey as we moved south.

Approaching Ely, NV

South of Ely, NV

Approaching Las Vegas with smoke from wildfire clouding the view

We pass the Hoover Dam, with Lake Meade just barely visible on our left

Mountains south of Las Vegas

We enter Arizona and see our first saguaro cacti

Congress, AZ

The weather has cooled down a little, from temps in the 100s to the 90s. We are grateful for every degree dropped as we move our things in!

GrandCamp Idaho and Visiting with Family

Bob and I traveled the last leg of our trip to Idaho last Friday, passing the Snake River as it disappeared and reappeared alongside the highway.

We settled into our campground in Caldwell and welcomed daughter Emily, her husband Anthony, and their four beautiful children with a cookout. The children have gotten so big since I saw them in March, and the boys looked huge to us!

After a nice visit, the parents and two youngest returned home leaving us with Quinn and Eve for two days. They have already returned to school so we had to make the most of the weekend. It was so good to spend time with them! They played in the campground pool and game room, and we did lots of crafts…paper dolls, puzzles, rubber band bracelets, Shrinky  Dinks, and painting. And of course we had s’mores!

Later in the week Bob gussied up Emily’s mantle by adding an inner frame to surround the newly painted black wall. Even though it is shallow, the new trim gives a feeling of depth and looks so nice. 

The week went all too quickly, ending up with a meal at Casa Del Matador and a walk around the Village in Meridian. What a fun time we had!

Then we were off again, this time heading south. Originally we had made reservations in Oregon and Washington but the fires out there were causing real problems with air pollution and we decided to return to Mesa early. It has been hazy since we got to Idaho and the haze is worse the farther west you go.

We spent our first night at Buster’s Restaurant and Saloon in Hollister, Idaho, where they have an RV park out back. We had a pull-thru site just steps from the Saloon, and Bob spent quite a bit of time chatting with the owner who dreams of retiring to the road in a motorhome he is working on.

I’ve been working on these knitted fish wash cloths, and also and using my 6” pin loom to make squares for  baby blanket (pics of the blanket to come later.)

It will only take us a total of four nights to get back to Mesa, and I’m looking forward to getting back and settling in. We changed time zones again as we entered Nevada so we are now on Mountain Time, three hours behind our family and friends on the East Coast.

The road to Logan, UT

On Tuesday night we had strong winds until about midnight. Our RV was rocking and the slide-out covers were flapping. Fortunately the winds stopped for Wednesday but then it started to rain and we had light rain most of the day.

On Wednesday morning Bob and I left Rock Springs, WY for Logan, UT. It was about 180 miles but the trip took over four hours because of the mountain driving we had to do. Whenever we go over mountains I  prepare ahead of time by deflating the Sleep Number mattress so it doesn’t pop. This is a necessity. We also have to be aware when opening jars and plastic bottles the next day because air pressure builds up and we can get a little spray. Just one of those little things most people never have to deal with!

Bob and I noticed a lot of these little silo-shaped structures in the fields outside of Rock Springs but couldn’t figure out what they were.

Then I remembered that our friend Retha had shown me how to use Google Lens, a feature of Google Photos. So I snapped a picture and immediately Google Lens identified these structures as fracking equipment. And now we know. Thanks, Retha!

We passed through Bear Lake in Utah, which is an amazing turquoise color, caused by the calcium carbonate (lime) in the water. The wind had picked up and there were whitecaps in the water.

Once past Bear Lake the road took us on a winding pass through mountains. The canyons we drove through were beautiful and I briefly fantasized about living here in a cute little cabin on a mountain. Except I’m going to bet dollars to doughnuts the winters here are brutal.

We are only in Logan for one night before moving on. Only two more travel days until we see my daughter, son in law, and their four beautiful children!

Cheyenne, WY to Rock Springs, WY

I don’t have a lot to say about Cheyenne since it was only a one night stop. Cheyenne is a lot like Nebraska…flat lands. One issue we ran up against was that the park’s water pressure was higher than any park we’ve seen so far. It actually blew the valve off our hot water heater, so Bob had to go looking for a new one. It’s a good thing he’s handy! I don’t know how RVers manage if one of them isn’t a fixer.

I did finish knitting my washcloth, a pattern I found on Ravelry that’s called “Zinnia.” It’s very pretty but I wasn’t crazy about the process of making this one; a lot of yarn-overs and knit-two-togethers with very little plain stitch knitting. And constant counting. I guess I was just in the mood for something more mindless.

On Monday we left Cheyenne and travelled about 280 miles to Rock Springs, which is where we started seeing real topological changes.

We are staying at an event center in town, where we have the most wonderful views of the mountains.

This morning (Tuesday) Bob, Auggie, and I left the RV at 6:30 am to see some wildlife. The sun was just coming up as we drove.

Soon we turned off the highway to a dirt road that was well maintained, and started our 90 minute drive along Wild Horse Loop. We saw pronghorns, sage grouse, and finally, wild horses! It’s a beautiful drive and we did not see another car the whole way.

The scenery was lovely, too, with beautiful vistas.

On Wednesday we leave for Logan, Utah. We’ll be taking a route that avoids the fire just east of Salt Lake. City.

Ogallala, NE

Our trip from Lincoln on the eastern end of Nebraska to Ogallala, about an hour or so east of the western end was uneventful. Nebraska is big and wide, and the topography gradually changed from the wide-open and flat farmlands to rolling hills.

It was an easy trip, all highway except for a couple of miles at the beginning and 3/4 of a mile at the end. Getting closer to Idaho!

I have not been crafting much so I pulled out my tatting shuttle and made a tiny heart. It may go on a piece of stationery one day.

I’m also starting a little knitting project since I haven’t made a dishcloth in a while. 

Today we are headed for Cheyenne, Wyoming for the night. We’ve never camped in Wyoming although we’ve driven through parts of it.

Bob the Birthday Boy

We took a short break from driving yesterday so Bob wouldn’t have to drive, and to celebrate his birthday. We decided to visit a Granite City Food & Brewery, which apparently is a chain with locations in 11 states. Reviews were good and so we gave it a try.

Bob had a turkey burger with pepper jack cheese, avocado, arugula, and red onion, plus waffle fries. I had an Impossible Burger and green beans with almonds, and we both enjoyed our lunch very much. The beer was good, too! As we were getting ready to leave we asked our waitress if she would mind taking our picture since it was Bob’s birthday, and she said, “Wait—don’t leave yet!” And ran off, reappearing a few minutes later with a birthday dessert. It was like a hot, soft chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

We have been camping at the Lancaster Event Center for two nights in Lincoln, NE, which is a place we’ve stayed at before. While there’s only water and electrical hookups, the manager gave us the code for the (free) laundry which is usually reserved for people staying a week or longer. That allowed us to wash all our clothes and not overfill the gray water tank.

Today we are driving across Nebraska, 289 miles to Ogallala and changing time zones again. We’ll be on mountain time, two hours behind eastern time for anyone who may want to call us.

Missouri Star Quilt Company

When I made campground reservations early this summer, I was focusing more on not having to drive long distances between stops, rather than on sightseeing along the way. Therefore, when we were approaching yesterday’s campground I was pleasantly surprised to see such a pretty little town only a half mile away from our day’s destination.

And then I saw the sign on the building. Missouri Star Quilt Company. Quilt murals. Twelve themed quilting shops. And I realized we were in a quilter’s Mecca.

We checked into our campsite and as soon as I could I waved goodbye to Bob and drove to check out the town. What a fun place! I do make quilts at times but our house is small and I have no wall space to display them, so quilting is not one of my top crafts. Even so, this place is a quilter’s dream, and I enjoyed walking through all the shops. It was a very hot day and the air conditioning inside was very welcoming as I browsed. I checked out J.C. Penney’s childhood home, too, which has been relocated from 2 1/2 miles away and set up as a tiny museum.

It was not air conditioned, though, so I didn’t stay long!

When I returned to the campground I discovered that there was an issue with the electrical service at our site and Bob was running the generator to keep the coach cool. By evening, Bob had figured out that we could run the front AC without circuits tripping, but not the one in the bedroom. We set up fans to blow cooler air towards our bed but it still was hot all night and neither of us slept that well. 

That’s ok, we are off to Lincoln, Nebraska today where we’ll stop for two nights.

On another note, today marks the seventh anniversary of the start of this blog, so happy blogiversary to me! It continues to be fun to write, and I hope to continue for many more years.

Rochester, IL

Even though I titled this post “Rochester, IL,” we really haven’t seen any of it. At this point we are picking up the pace of our travel and driving 3 nights, then resting a night, until we get to Idaho. We are keeping our “hops” between 200 and 250 miles a day so it’s not too bad, between 3 and 4 hours of travel a day. Bob and I are getting ready to leave within the hour for Hamilton, MO.

On our way here yesterday I took my obligatory state sign photo, and shot one pic of Illinois as we drove across it. Illinois is flat and most views are of large farmlands with a barn in the distance. It’s pretty scenery.

It has been hot; yesterday was 88 degrees and felt hotter, with lots of humidity, but it’s going to be 94 degrees in Hamilton. Time to get myself in gear so we can leave!