On the Road to Winnemucca

There is something about the word, Winnemucca that is fun to say.  I like the word.  Try it out loud.  Winnemucca.  Wasn't that fun for your lips and tongue?  So, here we are in Winnemucca and it is still hot.  Winnemucca is in the northern part of Nevada and fairly high so I was expecting it to be a bit cooler.  The cashier at the local grocery store said that it has been unseasonably hot this year.  Lucky us!

We did about 300 miles today which is a big day for us.  We prefer about 250.  We go slow too so it takes a while.  Regardless, we are always set up before cocktail hour which will be here before I know it.

The interesting thing about Nevada is that it is so lonely.  There are so few people and so few towns.  We were going to take a more remote route but decided that taking 95 was remote enough.  I had very sketchy cell service the whole time as it was.

We had no incidents and just rolled along.  We did make a few roadside stops for our dog, Jake, as he was acting a bit strange but he seems to be fine now.

This is such an exciting blog, isn't it?  So, I will just give you some of my through the windshield pictures to entertain you.

This was my favorite of the whole day and it really wasn't through the windshield but at one of our Jake Stops.  It reminds me of those nightmares I get when I need to wake up to find a bathroom but instead I dream that I can't find a private one.  The search continues!

Everything is old, worn out and abandoned.  It is such a sad thing.  I think it was all there for mining and the mining is gone.

These are very lonely roads.  I can't even imagine how it would feel at night to be out there alone.  No thank you! 

Have a good day!

Badlands National Park

We left our campground at 6:30 am this morning to try to capture some of the early morning shadows in this incredible place.  

The sun was up before we were so even at 7:00am there were not too many shadows.  I think we were a couple of hours late!  Even so, this park is a place that is not to be missed.  The loop is easy to drive, there are numerous pull out to view the wonderful vistas and if you go early the crowds are not there!

Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires surrounded by a mixed grass prairie eco-system. The mixed grass prairie is a transitional zone between the tall-grass prairie to the east and the short-grass prairie to the west.

The Badlands were formed by the geological forces of deposition and erosion. Deposition of sediments began 69 million years ago when an ancient sea stretched across what is now the Great Plains. After the sea retreated, successive land environments, including rivers and flood plains, continued to deposit sediments. Although the major period of deposition ended 28 million years ago, significant erosion of the Badlands did not begin until a mere half a million years ago. Erosion continues to carve the Badlands buttes today. Eventually, the Badlands will completely erode away.

Here are just a few of my photos!  I had such a hard time choosing from over 100! This place is just so awe inspiring and a photographers heaven!

Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Oracle State Park, Arizona

I stayed in my cozy bed until it warmed up a bit this morning.  Kirby got up and turned the furnace on.  Still, when I did venture out from the covers it was only 56 degrees inside the camper.  We had become quite spoiled in Yuma by the warmer weather!  We are now in the high country (2600 feet) north of Tucson at Catalina State Park.  The spot we are in has no electric or water, lots of space and pretty mesquite trees.

Yesterday we had our morning coffee with Bill and Sandy and then headed out for our 90 minute road trip to this state park.  As Jake inspected the area we got set up, put the slides out and headed off to visit with Mac and Consuelo who live in near Oracle, AZ.  We did see them last year in Texas but missed the reunion last fall in Sedona so we had some catching up to do.

After a fantastic lunch at their home we headed off to Oracle State Park and some hiking.  We were the only cars in the parking lot.  The quiet and solitude were wonderful!  I love the desert so much with the big sky and the interesting cactus.

You can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them.

 After that big outing we deserved a brew so we went to the Oracle Inn.  We managed to get there just as Happy Hour was beginning.  Another score for us!  It was a fantastic day with the best of friends!