Pahrump Nevada

Another travel day and one more step closer to our "home base".  This is a very beautiful RV park in Pahrump - Wine Ridge RV.  This used to be a Western Horizon's park called Charleston Peak RV.  Don't know everything that has been done since the park changed hands, all we know is that it is a great place to visit.  It was quite empty in August, but still a great time to be here.

This Winery is on the same location.  We were here in Pahrump about 15 years ago and visited this Winery.  There was no RV park and no Restaurant and not even any houses on this hill.  The Winery was the first one in Nevada and at that time there weren't even any Grape vines - all the grape juice to make the wine was imported from California.  It was a very old fashioned production which was very interesting.  We didn't have time to visit the Winery this time, but they do give tours and we were told that their wines are very good - something for next time!

We took a walk around the area and discovered beautiful vineyards and fragrant rose gardens.

This is the restaurant attached to the winery.  We didn't go inside - and we were told that dinner can be a little pricy (special occasion type), but that lunch was fairly reasonable and the food was excellent.  Something else to return for!

This is the main pool.  There is a smaller one closer to the Rec Room.  The building in the background with the blue tile roof is the shower house and laundry center.  Each of those doors you see and more on the other side are individual private bathrooms!  A large shower, toilet and sink are totally private and very nice.

 

This is the very convienent self-serve RV wash!  It is part of the RV park and very easy to access.

This is the Hot Tub at the main pool.  The other pool has it's own Hot Tub.  This one was very large and very nice!

A beautiful sunset this evening.  It has been trying to storm since we have been here, but all we got was clouds and a little wind.  Mt. Charleston is between us and Las Vegas - they have got lots and lots of rain on Mt Charleston - most of which drained down the East side and into Northwest Las Vegas.  Lots of flooding in that area - hope the Southeast section is ok, cause that is where we are headed tomorrow.  Pahrump was wonderful and we will be returning again to be sure.  This beautiful RV RESORT cost us the whopping total of $12.00 a night - that includes all taxes!!!  Unbelievable...... we like those types of finds!

Hawthorne Nevada overnight...

Moving day!  Landed safely in "Smokey" Hawthorne Nevada.  The air has been smokey most of the day on our trip South from Oregon.

Coming down into Reno, it was becoming evident that there was lots of smoke in the air.

The road between Fallon and Hawthorne was awful!  It was like traveling in a thick brown fog.

This shot is looking out the window of the Coach towards the West.  There are big beautiful mountains in the background, but you would never know it by this shot.  Most all of California is on fire, but this smoke is from the Rim Fire - the one that is near Yosemite National Park about 130 miles to the West.  We walked about a block to our favorite Pizza place and had a rough time with all the smoke and ash in the air.  Had to keep all the windows closed to be able to breathe - not a fun stop at all!

Juniper's Reservoir 2013

We moved a little further South today, ending up just outside Lakeview Oregon at our favorite fishing spot - Juniper's Reservoir.  Nita & Ken followed us for a couple days of fishing.

"Our Water Dog" Katie has found her favorite thing - WATER!



There are hundreds of geese here this time of the year!  They spend the day on the "lake" and in the evening go somewhere else to bed-down for the night.  They return each morning in droves - reminds me of the Bats at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico!



End of day one - Beautiful Sunset.  After just a couple hours fishing with 4 people working the poles, the final count this day is Ken:3, Nita:1, Linda:1, Andy:0.  Tomorrow is another day!

This is a beautiful morning - you can barely see the campground nestled under the trees at the base of the hill.  They designed this campground the right way - everyone has big trees for shade and most all the sites are angled so that the satellite dishes mounted on the roofs of the coaches are pointed perfectly for great reception.

Here come the Geese!  Every morning they return in droves - quite a sight, and very noisy!

Miss Katie B. is just a little bored? 

Time to take a break!  Need to clean some fish before they take us over...

Evening fishing brought 4 more Trout.  Beautiful sunset - time to quit for today.

Count for this day - Ken: 3, Nita:5, Linda:4, Andy:4.

Another beautiful morning!  Ken & Nita are leaving us this morning - we will miss them for sure.

Starting out good again!

Looks like it is time for another break!

Decided to relax this afternoon and clean fish.

Count for this day - Linda:1, Andy:9.

Once again a beautiful morning - a little cloudy, but the water is like glass.

Fish are biting a little, but notice the storm brewing in the background.  Lightening and Thunder, so we are pulling in and heading for safety!

The storm passed after lots of rain, wind and hail.  Ron & Flor arrived, bringing their Granddaughter Glory.  Flor caught the only fish this evening.

Time to call it a night.  Glory doesn't look too keen on holding up the fish, but she was a trooper and was trying to catch some with us.  Count for this day - Linda:4, Andy:2 and Flor:1.

Last day to fish for this year - starting our great!  Ron, Flor & Glory left this morning heading back to San Diego - we will miss them also.

Looks like another Cat!

Time to go clean some fish!  Decided no fishing this afternoon - no more room in the freezer!  Count for this day Linda:5 and Andy:10.

Five wonderful days of fishing - great friends - and mostly good weather.  Final count for this trip is 53 fish - about half Catfish and half Rainbow Trout.  Moving day tomorrow - we will be back next year for sure!!!! 

Back to Central Oregon - one more time!

With the rally over, we headed back to Central Oregon.  This construction project has been going on for the last two years.  Has been worse, now it is just the inconvenience of having to wait for one-way traffic thru the Salt Creek Tunnel.

Here we go into the tunnel - didn't have to wait hardly any time at all this time. 

Out of the tunnel, we can see the progress on the rest of the road.  They are building the edge of the road out over the sheer drop-off - it will make this road much better, we can only hope it is done next Summer when we come back here.

Safely parked back at Cascade Meadows RV - our favorite park in Central Oregon!

Chicken & Spuds at Ponderosa Pizza!  Yum Yum - my favorite!!!!  We are with Nita & Ken and Ken's Brother Junior.  Good times and great friends.

Wow - a foggy morning in LaPine - in August!

An absolutely beautiful sunset over the Cascade's!!!

Here comes the almost nightly visitor to Ken & Nita's yard.

This beauty isn't intimidated by us sitting less than 20 feet away having our "happy hour".  He ate the pellets and drank the water and when he was done he just walked off!

The Cowboy Dinner Tree - a very unique dining experience! 

Just a little shack about 50 miles out into the Oregon Outback outside a tiny town named Silver Lake.  The story goes that the big tree you see in this picture behind the shack was called the "Cowboy Dinner Tree" because a lot of the cowboys working in this area would all meet up under this tree for dinner each night.

This is where the magic happens - Beef or Chicken, BBQ'd to perfection!

26-30 oz Sirloin Beef "roast" or a whole Chicken - plus Salad, Cowboy Beans, fresh Yeast Rolls, Baked Potato & Dessert - Pink Lemonade, Ice Tea or Coffee.  As you can probably see, nothing matches - the dishes the chairs or anything else!  That is a big part of the charm of this awesome place.

The Chicken!

The Beef!

This evening we were entertained by these two performers who serenaded us with good old "Cowboy" music!

Our visitor is back.  This photo was not zoomed in at all - this is how close he was to us.

Ron, Flor and their Granddaughter Glory arrived in Central Oregon for a vacation.  We all gathered at the Tumalo Feed Company for dinner.  Wonderful food and great company!

Our "farewell party" was a picnic at Cascade Meadows.  We all enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of socializing, eating and of course playing games of "Greed" dice.  A great time was had by all.  Sadly, we leave in the morning to begin our slow trek South back to the Desert Southwest.

Albany Oregon and the FMCA Northwest Area Rally

Settled in at the Fairgrounds in Albany Oregon for the Northwest Area FMCA rally.  We got lucky and were parked right next to the Snake River Chapter - we have good friends Alma & Frank that belong to that chapter and over the years we have made other friends within that chapter.  We have "crashed" their gatherings several times and always volunteer to help with what ever they are in charge of for rallies in this area.

Heading for Calapooia Brewing - one of our favorite places in Albany!

Wonderful Imperial Stout on Nitro!!!! Yummy.....



Here we are hard at work???  We are Greeters for the first time - does it look like we might be a bit confused??  This was a joke pic taken by the Snake River Chapter's incoming President's Wife - I am sure we will end up in their newsletter as the "newbies".  We had a good time, but being on the last shift we saw only 4 coaches in two hours - one of them took a shortcut and we didn't even get to wave to them!

First chance we get it is back to Calapooia!  This time with friends Alma and Frank Marvin.  Another wonderful dining experience with fantastic Beer!!!

Beautiful sunset to wind up our rally.  We had a great time.  We were fed 3 times, attended some great seminars and had a chance to re-connect with many friends we hadn't seen in a while.  This is one of our favorite FMCA rallies and I am sure we will be back for more.  Next Summer there will not be a Northwest Area rally because the National FMCA will be in this area at Redmond.  We will again be volunteering with the Snake River Chapter - as Tram people this time.  They really want us to join their club, but we in good faith cannot do that because we would not be able to really support the club in a way that would be helpful to them, so we will continue to crash their party until they tell us no - don't think that will happen, at least we hope not!