9-22-17 (Day 53 - Enjoying the Lake Day)

Occasionally we need a do nothing day.  Today was the day.  We hiked over 7 miles in the campground.  The first hike was The Upper Lake Trail.  It was an easy 3 mile hike around the lake. We saw a bunch of blue herons, ducks, rabbits and a couple of road runners.  The second hike was to the garbage dumpster,  It was 1.6 miles one way, not so easy carrying a bag of garbage.

Of course, Ferny Kat came out, rolled around in the dust and lead me around.  She definitely loves this campsite.

It was a nice, cool, evening with very little wind, which was perfect for our campfire.

It was nice to stay at camp and enjoy the lake kind of day.

Here are the pictures:

9-21-17 - (Day 52 - Extraterrestrial Highway)

The morning started off  beautiful with a light wind.  We unloaded Amber and checked out the Parhranagat  National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center which was a few miles from the campground. The volunteer at the visitor center was very informative.  He came to meet us last night when we posted on RVillage that we were camped here.  A very nice guy.

                                                          View from Hwy 93

                                                                   Visitor Center

We took a 40 mile drive on the Extraterrestrial Highway to Rachel, Nevada. The  cross wind was brutal riding across the flat desert.  It was predicted to be 35 miles per hour.  I believe it was every bit of it.

We drove to Little A'Le'Inn Bar and Motel near Area 51.  They have spaceships and aliens on display. Earthlings Welcome signs are posted.  It is a neat little place in the middle of nowhere.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at the Area 51 Research Center which is at the beginning of the ET road.  The front of the building has a huge alien.  They had a great selection of alien souvenirs.

We didn't see any real spaceships or aliens, but we did see 2 combat fighters appear suddenly over the mountains, then they were gone.  It's hard to see much, when you are fighting to stay upright on a motorcycle.

When we got back to camp, we stayed inside, watching the water in the lake white capping. Ferny Kat didn't even have a desire to go outside.

At bedtime, the wind stopped, and the skies cleared revealing a beautiful star filled sky. The stars look like they are close enough to touch.  It is so peaceful here when the wind is not howling.

See more pics here:

9-20-17 - (Day 51 - Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge)

It was cold this morning!!  We had 2 blankets and my robe on the bed last night.  Ferny Kat got right between us trying to keep warm.  It is definitely time to head south.

                                                                   Good Morning

We watched the rabbits scurrying around while drinking our coffee, waiting for the beautiful sunshine to warm up the temperature.

After 192 miles south, looking at gorgeous scenery and a few herds of elk, we are at our little paradise on a lake with a warm, howling, southerly wind. We have on our shorts and flip flops.  It's so nice to be warm.

We are boon docking for a few days at Pahranagat  National Wildlife Refuge, about 5 miles south of Alamo, Nevada.  It is a really great place, with 15 campsites, that are totally free.  When we arrived today, we got to pick the cream of the crop since no one else was here.  We chose number 3.   A pretty site that Ferny Kat has approved.   Everybody is happy!!

The lake is low but still pretty. We hope to unload Amber tomorrow and take a ride.


More pictures, click right here:

9-19-17 - (Day 50 - Ely, Nevada)

We rocked and rolled all night in the howling wind.  Every time we got in a deep sleep, the wind would gust, rattling the outside stove vent, even though it was locked.  It sounded like jake brakes on an 18 wheeler.

We took a windy, 50 mile ride to the town of Ely, Nevada.  We saw a lot of pretty scenery.  The wind vanes are mesmerizing along the Loneliest Road.

We walked around downtown for a little bit, enjoyed the painted murals, then ate lunch at the Twin Wok.  It was a very good Chinese buffet.

We returned to camp and hiked 3 miles on the Sac Pass Loop.  A nice trail through the Juniper and Pinyon trees, with a lot of elevation and big rocks.  We saw lots of Jack Rabbits and Lizards.

We returned back to camp and watched an Osprey hunting at the pond.  He was fishing not catching.

Ferny Kat had her time outside.  The wind continued to blow, so we went in after a little while.

We watched a Roku movie and realized the wind had stopped.  We stepped outside and admired the thousands of stars in the sky.  It was too late and too cold to build a campfire.

With the snow predictions for Thursday, we will head south tomorrow.

More pics right here:

9-18-17 - (Day 49 - Great Basin National Park)

We got the big blanket out last night, and it felt so good!  Ferny Kat is still on Mountain Time and woke us up at 6 am this morning.  We need to figure out a way to reprogram her.

We watched numerous jack rabbits outside while we drank our coffee this morning.  There is a bumper crop of 'em here.

We spent the day at Great Basin National Park.  We just happen to arrive at Lehman Caves just in time for a guided tour, the only way you can go in the cave.

Ranger Diane, was our guide.  She was very enthusiastic about the cave.  She had plenty of information in the hour and half tour.  It was a very relaxing, pretty cave with the temperature 50 degrees.

After the cave tour, we stopped for our picnic lunch at the Upper Lehman Creek.  The bubbly sound of the creek was the ambiance of our lunch before motoring up the mountain.

We went from 7000 foot elevation to above 10,000 foot elevation with a 25 degree drop in temperature and the wind a howling.

We hiked 3 miles up the Bristlecone Pine Trail, with a 600 foot elevation.  It was a rocky, uphill climb.  We saw some beautiful bristlecone trees with a lot of history and we were able to see Wheeler Peak Glacier a little closer than on the road.

Wheeler Peak Glacier was a quite a surprise.  We weren't aware that Nevada had glaciers.  You never know what you will learn traveling around.

We took the short ride through Baker, went to the Utah state line to buy gas, and went back to our rocking camper.  Although, we have a little bit of wind break here.

Ferny Kat explored for a little bit outside.  It wasn't long, she was done with the wind.

We are in for the night, heating up some of our meal we prepped a couple of days ago.  We feel like we are a ship in the rough sea in Rap tonight.

The Pictures are here:

9-17-17 - (Day 48 - Sacramento Pass Campground)

We had a couple of left over pieces of New York Strip steak to go with our eggs this morning.  Pretty darn good.

                                                             on the road

We left our tight nit community of campers and drove 198 miles to a boondocking place. It is a BLM campground with covered picnic tables, a fire pit, and a grill.  We have a view of the mountains and the pond.  It is free and in the middle of no where.  Our kind of place

There is a lower and upper campground.  The upper campground is an equestrian campground.

We chose a site in the lower level, got set up, and decided to see what was up the hill about a mile away. We are so happy with our site.  We were the only ones in the lower level, and there are about 5 campers in the upper level.  We saw hitches to tie up the horses, but no horses, just ATVs.  We love our quiet campground.

We ate some of our food we prepped yesterday for dinner tonight.

We sat inside watching the wind blow the grass and the Jack Rabbits hop around.  There are lots and lots of Jack Rabbits and their ears are huge!  They look like deer in the headlights going back and forth across the road.   Quite amusing.  There must not be any coyotes in this area.

We had a dark, no wind, kind of night.  Campfire time.

We plan to go to Great Basin National Park tomorrow.  We haven't unloaded Amber due to cool weather conditions tomorrow.   We are hoping the predictions are wrong.

Click for more pics:

9-16-17 - (Day 47 - Chore Day)

The temperature was 32 degrees this morning.  Ferny Kat hollered at Lauren when he got up this morning.  She was snuggled up with him and wanted his warmth.  She got over it when he turned on the furnace.

We drove 40 miles to stock up and fuel up.  We washed clothes and cooked food for easy heat ups this week.

Ferny Kat got in the back of the truck and played this afternoon while we grilled steaks.  She is one spoiled cat.

A few Pictures: