We left on Wednesday and headed for Arizona. We had a little rain and fog but were soon out of it when we crossed the Cascade Mountains. Our first night we stayed at the Legends Casino on the Yakima I.R. No money won but had some good food and very inexpensive. The next day we got all the way to Ontario Oregon and stayed in the Home Depot parking lot. We had a semi next to us that ran his truck at idle for 5 hours, made getting to sleep difficult. He left and we were able to sleep thru the night. Up early and on the road I was headed for Wells Nevada. I stopped for fuel between Boise ID and Twin Falls ID. One thing you will do in Idaho is cross the Snake River several times and going into Twin Falls was one of the best gorges I have crossed.
Much of the country we covered in Washington, Oregon and Idaho was agricultural and it was harvest time.
We saw truck after truck unloading at the granaries and huge piles of grain stored outside under tarps. We also saw long trains of grain heading west.
This long tube passed us, it is part of a wind turbine tower.
The green van following him almost clipped me. I almost wish he had. My plans were to spend the night in Wells NV but it was still early afternoon when we arrived. I wasn't that tired so I said lets go on the Ely and see what we can find. Ely is in the mountains and when we arrived it was cold. I found a station with stalls that accommodate big rigs so I refueled again. With no casinos with parking lots large enough for us we continued south. I found a pull-out that looked suitable. After having some supper and feeling the traffic going by we felt that we weren't off the road far enough. It was cold outside, we were about 7000 ft. so south we continued. Driving at night isn't the hardest thing to do but if you're looking for a place to pull over it's a little more difficult and stressful. Going through the Humboldt National Forest with the roads laid out by a snake was bad enough but then we came upon an accident. It had happened long before we got there we figured since we didn't have to wait to long before moving again. A truck load of bee hives had turned over on one of them sharp curves. I guess we drove for about an hour before finding a suitable area to pull over.
It looked wide enough and I was exhausted. We slept. Upon rising the next morning refreshed the daylight revealed we were no farther off the road than before but it was warmer. It had rained and the ground was a little soft but we got back on the road just fine. Our next stop was to be Rachel NV.(area 51).
This is all open range and along with the aliens we had to contend with cows. Water in the desert, I guess the ground is hard and it takes awhile to soak in.
We finally arrived at Rachel. It's really a neat little community, 98 residents and ? aliens. The humans and dare I say the aliens we met were very friendly. We intended on staying 2 nights but after thinking on it we continued south again. There wasn't anything to do but eat at the restaurant, buy souvineers and take some pictures. Two hours and done.
We actually shortened our trip by 200+ miles by going straight south through the desert and mountains instead of staying on the interstated which would have taken us farthe east and then through Salt Lake City.
The food was great and reasonable. The owner Pat was very friendly. Made us feel welcome. There was money taped up all over the place. Many different countries had been in there. Since they're near area 51 they have the corner on extraterrestrial stuff. We stocked up. Cookie made a pot holder for Pat which we gave to her when we arrived.
We drove on thru Vegas and stayed on the hill above the River Palms Casino in Laughlin NV. Slots weren't kind but the camping was free.
I thought sure I'd have trouble sleeping but that wasn't the case. The next day we were up early to avoid the traffic and finish the last leg of the trip. I stopped for fuel in AZ at exit 9 off I-40. Pulled into the new Love's truck stop and was pleasantly surprised to find RV stalls. Diesel was only $4.00 a gallon. Cheap compared to what I had paid so far. The rest of the trip was as boring as much of what we had been through the past few days. We're now in our camp ground located between Camp Verde and Cottonwood AZ. Rest, relaxation and reorganization on the list for the next couple weeks.
So far computer connection at the rig is useless so we're at one of the 2 lodges. Cookie is watching football and I am using the preserves wifi. Until next time.
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