A SIMPLE LIFE~KINGSBURG-CA

March 20th: We arrived in Kingsburg-CA yesterday afternoon.

Holland checked us in; only for a week, instead of a month.

'CA, HERE WE COME!~Long Beach-WA to Kingsburg-CA' Post:

 (https://roadgypsiesvalandholland.blogspot.com/2024/03/ca-here-we-comelong-beach-wa-to.html)

The Spring warmth is wonderful ;-)

Set up & settling in for a few hours of relaxing downtime …

Looking over the paperwork handed to Holland when he paid for a week's stay, we decided not to extend our stay here. The paperwork handed him was too invasive - we just wanted to rent a space, not start putting down mortgage payments on the space. The 25 ct. pages of questions went further than a normal lease agreement on an apartment; it's ridiculous, so we will move on next Monday.

Resort Inquisition Papers …

We just want to live a simple Life.

But for now, it's a nice place to park.

We will be staying in the general area because the Layton Rodeo begins around the first part of April, and we want to check that out. Holland remembers the annual rodeo from his childhood days … and I've never been to a rodeo, and would like to experience that ;-)

The Plan for today was to visit with Brenda & Jeff; Brenda is Holland's cousin, and Jeff is her husband.

I like 'em - they are down-to-earth people, and they have welcomed me and treat me as Family :-)

A little eye color …

Riverland RV Resort is a rural Park with a very laid-back country atmosphere.

Riverland RV Resort - Kingsburg: 

(https://riverlandrvresort.com)

Horses everywhere ;-)

A stable must abut the Park.

Leaving the Park, and heading out to Layton, we tried GPS again - and were getting frustrated again; I knew Holland had been dinking around with the radio in Long Beach-WA, so I asked, "Did you mess with anything else besides the radio?" He said, "No" … then he glanced down and saw his phone cord still dangling from the left-hand port; and my phone cord plugged into the right-hand port, and said, "that's the trouble: I used my phone in Long Beach and forgot to unplug my cord. You couldn't get action through your phone because you were using the wrong port".

Old dawgs and new technology …

Sleep deprivation causes foggy thought processing ;-)

The sunshine warmth was wonderful.

The drive was enjoyable.

Our bones are loving the warmth.

The orchards are coming alive with popping Spring color :-)

The companionship around Brenda and Jeff's outside table area was love-infused and convo flowed easily. Laughter echoed.

Holland is comfortable here - he is loved here; and that makes my heart happy.

When we left, Brenda blessed me by sending some corned beef supper home with me; I love corned beef and cabbage :-)

Driving back home, I looked out my passenger window at the clouds, and saw a heart - with a seahorse formation next to it: there was no immediate place to pull over, but Holland pulled over as soon as he could so I could get a picture (I've never seen a seahorse cloud, before). The lower portion of the seahorse cloud was hid behind the orchard tree tops, but it's in my memory :-)

Back home, I ate a good portion of the meal Brenda sent home with me, started laundry, and asked Holland if he'd help me with the tower fan by standing alongside the bunk ladder while I climbed up the ladder, pulled it down to set up in the bedroom, and handed it to him to hold for me until I backed down the ladder. He said, "I'll just reach up here and get it for you." I said, "That works, too." So, he reached up, grabbed it, and handed it to me.

I love my life as my tall guy's wife :-)

A heart & seahorse cloud on the way home.

Brenda's corned beef supper - YUM!

This Tower Fan will be put to use again.

My tall guy - I love those curls, too ;-)

WE MADE IT~Quartzsite-AZ

We pulled stakes in wet and rainy WA State, Tuesday afternoon; and headed for the sunshine :-)

Pulling stakes Tuesday afternoon; a novel to read until we travel through new territory.

Clive Cussler; I like reading his books.

We chose the route through Nevada.

Holland hadn't been through most of the route's territory (he always drove freeway when possible), and I hadn't been through this leg of the road trip in 9-1/2 years - at one point of our adventure, I had Holland laughing when I pointed to the garishly painted 'Area 51' building, and told him how shocked I was to realize there was "active business going on in broad daylight" in the pink {cathouse} tacked onto the Area 51 Alien Center, when we (Bob, me, and our granddaughter Alyna) stopped in there to grab a sandwich on our way to see her new baby brother, in Vegas ;-)

But when I'd been this way before with Bob and Alyna, we had driven over the Blue Mountains in Oregon, through a bit of Idaho, and on into Vegas-NV - changing drivers along the way: we made the trip in 18 hours and were dead tired when we arrived.

The route Holland and I took started out & ended differently as we took different highways towards a different destination.

But that alienating pink cathouse was planted in the middle of both routes :-(

Heart-shaped cloud overhead, as we drove through Wilsonville-OR. I love the way Elohim shows me His love for me every step of my new life journey :-)

Crossing a foggy Pass in the Tahoe area.

The NV landscape following the foggy Pass, was covered with blooming sage bushes.

I laughed when I spotted this hill - it looked like a Naturistic bellybutton. LOL!

2:08'noon - we were liking the sunny warmth ;-); there was a fresh dusting of snow along the mountainous ridgeline.

A mining site along the Nevada route, coming into Luning.

Luning-NV elevation.

Luning-NV Info:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luning,_Nevada)

Strange little dirt 'bowls'.

More snow-dusted mountain tops.

Tonopah Mining Park-NV.Tonopah Mining Park: (https://www.tonopahminingpark.com/)

We decided to 'push through' .. as far down the road as possible before pulling over and catching a few zzz's.

Joshua Trees dotted the landscape …

Joshua Tree Info:

(https://blog.tentree.com/10-facts-about-the-incredible-joshua-tree/)

Amargosa Valley-NV: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amargosa_Valley,_Nevada)

Area 51 Alien Center-cathouse; Amargosa Valley, NV

 Amargosa Valley-NV evening temperature; we slept for 2 hours in a graveled truck lot, kitty-corner a bit from the Area 51 Store-cathouse. 9:06 PM

Quartzsite early morning temperature; we crashed in a graveled lot and slept for 6 hours. 3:10 AM arrival time.

We finally made it!

We were on the road for 26 hours & 1,800 miles … from Washington State to Arizona State, (we took a brief 2 hour siesta in Nevada - mentioned above).

LOVE waking up to sunshine! We all like this site, but we may move along, further towards the mountains.

This adventure has been 8 months in the making, But, we are here now … and Bleu is enjoying his time out of the 4x.

The weather is wonderful!

 We are gonna like this new environment; temperature as I'm shutting down to go to bed tonight.

SPARKS-NV

August 17th: We left Elko-NV, very early in the morning; about 4:30 AM. We wanted to put as much distance between us and the smoky haze as possible. The plan was to get to Reno before before nightfall.

Just trusting Elohim.

 Sunrise and salt plains in Pumpernickel Valley-NV; 5,100 ft. elevation. The painted sky looked different every 5 seconds.

Sunrise & Gilded bottoms of bright white clouds; sunrise in Pumpernickel Valley-NV

Smoky haze in the background; Pumpernickel Valley-NV

Smoke haze hanging over the valley; Pumpernickel Valley-NV.

Sun lit hill; Pumpernickel Valley-NV

There were lightening flashes piercing the dusky sky in Crescent City-NV … and that continued into Winnemucca-NV; there was no rain, just bright flashes of bright light every now and then.

It started raining in Battle Mountain - and the smell of smoke was strong. Holland started planning a reroute, if the smoke got progressively worse. I was really struggling to breathe easy; and we were both passing  the inhaler between us (it's Holland's inhaler, and it is stronger than mine: Holland insisted I use it, too).

Battle Mountain-NV from Elko-NV; 1 hr 6 min (70.6 mi) via I-80 W

Winnemucca-NV; nothing was open at 6:30 AM, so we pushed forward.

Quarter-sized raindrops; it was over almost as quickly as it started.

Route to Reno-NV

Obviously Elohim has a reason for rushing me thru these places; I'm okay with that.

We pulled into a Rest Area along the highway around 7 AM, but the parking lot was on a hill and the 5th wheel was slanted to the left, so I suggested we go back downhill to a graveled turnout I spotted - so that's what we did.

We'd only had 2-3 hrs. sleep the night before, so we pulled over in a secluded gravel pullout, and opened the bedroom slide out for some shut-eye before moving on; Crosgrave-NV

Woke refreshed; changed clothes, and on the move again.

We'll settle for a star …

Stopped here for something to chew on - it's slim pickings for hours between towns.

Breakfast in Mill City-NV. I love crunch wraps - and this one was not the usual fare Longview-WA dishes out; this one had been made with mashed black beans and spicy cumin instead of the bland refried beans. It was delish!

A big, fat, fluffy cloud; feeling Elohim's love for us; Lovelock-NV

Driving along, we saw a good sized dust-up (not 'dust devils' because they weren't madly swirling - just kinda sucked upward by the wind) between Lovelock-NV & Fallon-NV.

Bleu threw his front paws up on the console and started nudging our arms, so we started looking for someplace to pull over. We saw a Rest Area sign and turned right. The Rest Area had an interesting set-up … and informative Historical Plaques - I was thankful Bleu's bladder prodded us to turn in there ;-)

3 different weather patterns happening all at once, here.

Pulled over at a Rest Area to ease Bleu's bladder; Fallon-NV; the relief station was designed to resemble an old west street building.

An Historical Marker ~ the California Trail went thru here.

California Trail Marker at Fallon-NV Rest Area:

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Trail)

I looked up and saw my Home rounding the bend ~ Husband, Bleu, & home on wheels. It was a hot day and Holland wanted to make things easy for me. He's the greatest :-)

A little bit down the road, Holland's shoulder was prodding us to find someplace to park for the night, so I synced my cell with the truck's GPS … and immediately got a message flashing across the phone screen that my phone had been {disabled}.

WTHeck

So, I got on my Tablet and surfed the internet - strangely, that worked.

I tried the KOA first because we have a membership with them, but as usual no one was answering the phone (we will not be renewing the worthless membership). I tried another RV Park number, and a site was secured :-)

We didn't make Reno tonight … but we will. Holland's shoulder needs a break, and this is as good a place as any.

My cell got a 'disabled' message before it went dead. Good thing I had my Tablet with me.

I never had that happen before; Holland explained a possible reason.

A very nice place to hunker down - Holland booked the site until Sunday afternoon.

Sparks Marina RV Resort:

(#1200 E Lincoln Way, Sparks-NV)

Sparks-NV

Sunday afternoon, we'll be in Reno :-)