Jackpot, NV to Ely, NV and the Pony Express

Monday night it sounded like it was raining as the drops pounded down on the top of the RV and then it just stopped dead….odd.  When we went outside in the morning it was wet all around the rig and it would appear that a rogue sprinkler head was shooting water up into the air like a geyser.  Unfortunately Nevada water leaves mineral marks all over everything it lands on…like your windows! 

Again not far to go and so….no early start. 

On the road and heading down the highway.

First stop Wells, where we’ll get fuel.  

The only trees you see are where there is a house or a farm.  Planted and watered so they will survive. 

The deer migrate here and we go under while they go over.  The kill rate during migration has apparently dropped about 80% since the overpasses were created but we still see dead deer at the edge of the road. 

Not sure what these are.  It almost looks like there is a tunnel under the road but probably not.

We’re high as we travel along around 6000ft. and now the junipers start to appear. 

Next stop Wells where Donna’s Ranch, America’s oldest operating brothel is located. It’s been there since 1867.   No…we’ve never gone to have a look.  

Coming into Wells. 

There must be an amusement park down the road somewhere.  

Trees!

The hills were alive with color unlike last year when they were covered in snow. 

Very green this time through.

All along the edge of the road there was a desert plant in full bloom. 

At first I thought the pink plant  was some sort of a cactus but I think it’s some sort of a low growing mullein.  Soft and grey with pink flowers.

The road has been newly paved.

The altimeter on the phone says we’re climbing. 

The yellow plants were only growing at the edge of the road.  I wonder if there is something spread on the highway in winter that they like. 

Very beautiful and looks like it’s been planted.

As we get closer to Ely there is a large ranch that is growing a huge amount of hay.  Eric wondered if it might be agribusiness.

We’ll turn right up ahead and head south to Ely.

Left for West Wendover and right for Ely.

Lots of alfalfa and grain growing out there.  If you’ve got water, you’ve got hay.  It looked like it must come from deep wells.

We stopped for lunch just north of McGill and I got some desert plant photos.

Pretty.

They look really soft.

The rest stop is located on the pony express trail and has a huge amount of information.  So if you are interested….here it is.

Pony express rider.

Eric really liked this.  They wanted young skinny riders, not over 18, willing to risk death daily….orphans preferred!

I’m not sure if you can read all of this but if you come this way, stop and have a look.  We have stopped here a few times but it’s usually so cold we don’t hardly get out of the truck.

Can’t you just see the speedy, wiry little riders flying by.

This motel across the highway is derelict.  I guess they thought this would be such a big tourist attraction people would stop and stay. 

As we pulled out after lunch we had to pass a tractor with a giant rake that was sharing the road with us.

Coming into McGill.

The town with the slanted street.  I always think that the people on the low side must get flooded.

Coming into Ely.

We are at the Valley View RV park for two nights.  The weather iswarm and sunny which is always a hit or miss thing in Ely so we don’t stay here very often.  I’d wanted to ride the steam train again (see my May 2015 blog about it) but it doesn’t run until the end of the week and we’ll be gone by then. Drat.

We were in, unhooked, set up (even the satellite dish) by 3pm.  I am almost over the cold and now Eric is getting it…darn there is nothing worse than a “ man cold.”

It’s Wednesday morning and we had cantaloupe for breakfast.  This is the one that I bought in Catfish Junction and the first home grown one I’ve ever eaten….delicious!

The park really filled up last night and today we figured out why.  The Prospector Hotel and Casino’s RV park is no more.  They are building something else there so there is no where to park an RV. 

Eric isn’t feeling great so it was a quiet day and tomorrow we are off to Alamo. 

Catfish Junction, Oregon to Cactus Pete’s in Jackpot, Nevada and “ The unfortunate incident!”

Yesterday was a lovely and warm and we had all the windows open in the afternoon.  Again we weren’t up to much as there isn’t really much to do other than….fishing for catfish. 

Today we were off to Cactus Pete’s RV park in Jackpot, Nevada and we didn’t need an early start as we only had 250 mile to go.

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Quite a few rigs in the park but very quiet.  People fishing and families with small children camping.

Yesterday I walked over to Judy the owner’s produce stand.  She had a wide array of squash and other assorted vegetables.  I bought eight lovely tomatoes, four onions, a bell pepper, a zucchini and a cucumber along with a cantelope for $6….now that’s a bargain.  We had fried zucchini and fresh tomato with our dinner last night. Judy sells the produce for her neighbour after she goes over and picks and yesterday she had three five gallon buckets of tomatoes that someone was going to turn into homemade canned salsa.  Yum!

I would have bought more if I could have used it up before we fly home.

It was a pretty morning and right next to the park the cattle are grazing in the field.

All along the Snake River RV’s are parked with people fishing for catfish.

Pretty and the hills look like velvet.

Heading south and now we’re in Idaho.   Land of the potatoe!

The freeway through Boise was finished when we came through last year and it’s sure a lot less stressful than it was past years.   We choose the third lane and travel at 60mph all the way through and when we reach the south end we are in the correct lane when it drops to only two lanes. 

South of Boise and we pulled into the Stage Stop to fuel up.  Eric stopped the truck and got out leaving the keys in the ignition and partly pulled out as he usually does.  I got out and went to the bathroom and then proceeded to clean the windshield.  At this point Eric went to get into the truck and …..the doors were locked!  What the heck!  My purse and the extra keys were inside and we were locked out.  Panic!  We were parked at the outside pump blocking the lane and now what.  Eric was shell shocked!  I decided to go inside and see if they could call a locksmith.  The nice lady inside got out her cell phone and called a locksmith from Boise that she had used before.  When I got outside a couple of young guys from Utah who were travelling with kids and hockey gear tried to help.  They needed a metal coat hanger, which we didn’t have so Eric dismantled our fly swatters and they tried to get in.  The one guy said he does this for a living and usually has his tools with him…not today.  In the end they tried hard but couldn’t reach the unlock button.  We thanked them and waited for the locksmith.  I kept telling people that we were stuck at the pump and they were all nice and just worked around us.  The wait for the locksmith who had to come 25 miles from Boise was about 45 minutes. 

He jumped out, shook Eric’s hand, left his door open and the vehicle running while he opened the door with his lock pick.  It took him about 3 minutes and we were in.  He then asked us if we wanted him to cut us a couple of extra keys……yes please.  He told Eric to put one in his wallet and keep the other one somewhere else.  He did mention fob malfunction so since neither one of us pressed the auto door lock I guess that is what happened.  We have never been locked out in the 13 years that we’ve owned the truck.  However on many occasions when Eric is waiting in the truck for me while I shop the truck is locked when I come back after Eric has put it in park.  It would appear that the fob is relocking the doors. The locksmith charged us $49 to unlock, $20 for mileage and $5 for each key so…$79.  I gave him $100.  Really nice guy who said he’s been doing this for 30 years.  Eric asked if this happens much and he said he’s called out all day, every day all year round.  So…we’re not the only ones. 

When we arrived it was lunch hour and the parking lot was full of people in RV’s and cars eating in the restaurant as well as using the RV dump.  We were stuck on the outside pump.

Eric is making fun of himself for getting locked out but I doubt it was our fault. 

Nice guy and if you ever need a locksmith in the Boise area ….call him!

So onward to a rest stop and lunch.  A very stressful event that turned out okay.  If we’d been in a remote location we would have been….screwed!

Lunch done and we are heading down old highway 30 towards Twin Falls.  We started coming this way a few years ago and it’s a lovely drive.  We had quite a bit of wind today but it was a tailwind so that was one good thing!

A lot of history through this area and I snapped this photo as we drove by.

The long hill down towards the Snake River.  They call this area the Thousand Springs. 

To our left there was a huge field just full of pumpkins.  Happy Halloween!

The Hagerman museum in a lovely old building.

Lots of agriculture through this area and here they’ve take off the first swath of feed corn.  Lucky cows!

Main street in Buhl.

A really well kept pretty little town.   We stopped at our usual fuel stop so that we don’t have to get fuel in Jackpot.  I ran across the street to the Ridley market and bought fresh bread, buns, corn and a few extra things.  A handy stop.

As we were leaving town I spied the El Tigre Mexican restaurant.  Funny because when we are in Mazatlan we ride out to the El Tigre restaurant on the beach for lunch. 

We turn right onto 93 and head south for Jackpot.

A small field with sheep grazing.  We raised sheep on our farm for about 25 years along with various other livestock.  This is why my blog always has an agricultural slant to it.  Each of us has their own interests that colour what we write. 

A pretty day and this year there is no snow on the mountains.  Last year when we came through in September the snow was right down to the bottom of the mountains and it got down to freezing. 

Jackpot, Nevada and we’ll stay for a night or…maybe two as we are in no hurry to head down to the 100F heat. 

Monday morning and we’re still here.  We decided to stay an extra night and most of last nights RV’s have left.