Ely | Ward Mountain Forest Service Campground | Nevada

Ely is proud of their murals, there are quite a few.  The one above shows the railroad being built and the one below shows the Ward Charcoal Ovens, located just outside the town about 10 miles.  That area is now a State Park.  They were used in the mining industry back in the 1800s.

Other murals are left on buildings and were used as signs.  I think this one was used for different signs in the past. 

Others depict life in years gone by.

The Great Basin National Park is not too far away from Ely, and this mural portrays the Lehman caves that are in the park.

Another sign, up to date, is advertising a hotel/casino.  They have set aside a large lot in back of this building for truckers and RVers  who want to park overnight, or just go in for some fun.

There are probably about 5-6 casinos in town, quite a few for such a small town.

To get to the campground, it was only about 5 miles on this road - but if you were going further, you better check your gas gauge.  Many roads in Nevada have these signs to warn you that there's nothing available.

The Forest Service did a great job on this campground, my site was large and surrounded by trees, so it was quite nice.  Of course, this is dry camping - so bring solar panels or a generator.

Another view of the campsite - and there is a large area in back where there is a table, fire ring and stand for a grill, plus a tent pad!

Of course, they have hiking trails - this is the scene on one of them.

One night, there was an interesting sunset.

Another night, there was this sunset.

Javelinas | And Trashy Campsites!

Just this past summer I was saying that I had never seen a javalina in the wild.  Be careful what you wish for!  I had pulled into a Casino parking lot - one that is very RV friendly in Sahuarita, Arizona.  I mumbled as I picked up a few plastic bags that were blown around the area, as well as a few other items of trash. 

That evening, as I was sitting outside my fifth wheel, 5 of these critters wandered into the area, probably about 10 feet away from me.  I had heard that they can be aggressive and that they stink.  I went inside and watched them.  I didn't smell anything that evening, but after another couple evenings, the slight breeze was blowing toward me and that time I smelled them before I saw them.

These few photos were not taken in the casino area, but at a national forest during one of my many visits to the forests.  It's just an example of things I have found in certain camping areas.

Every campsite I go to, especially boondocking areas, have trash in the area.  I usually clean up after I set up my camp.  Then I have the problem of where to take the bags of trash that I've accumulated.

I don't think these campers are RVers, at least I hope not.  At least not the ones I know.  I encourage all campers to pick up after themselves.  As a reminder, most of us know that food cans do not burn.  For some reason, they are often found in firepits - charred, but intact!

If we don't take care of our boondocking areas, whether it's forest, BLM or other - we will lose our privilege of using these lands.  I know many RVers and other campers who love to boondock in these areas - help keep them clean!   Thanks to those who leave the campsites cleaner than when they arrived!



Three States - One Day!

 

I had been boondocking on BLM land near Lake Havasu City until today.  I have had a friend staying with me for a while before she continues on her way to the Pacific northwest.  The last two days have been steadily cloudy and rainy, so we were really getting tired of it. 

 

 

 

In spite of the rain, we did have some good scenery, like the awesome light and rainbow in the photos above.  This was as the sun was headed to the horizon, and below shows the sunset.

 

 

 

When we left today, we went from Arizona to a small RV park in California on the Colorado River.  That was a trip of only a few miles, but at least it's a change of scenery.  After we set up camp, we got in her truck and went looking for a little truck camper or travel trailer for her trip.  That took us on a side trip to Laughlin, Nevada.  Laughlin is basically a casino town lots of giant casinos, some of which you can see below.  It's right over the river from Bullhead City, Arizona.

I love this next photo, since I'm sure there would be more people in the Losers' Lounge than in the Winners' Lounge!  If they even had a Winners Lounge!

 

This riverboat casino is cheating, since it's built totally on land.

 

Driving back home, I noticed this sign.  It's the type of place I try to find if I'm having technical difficulties!

OK, no major traveling today to be in three different states, but it just struck me as being mildly humorous.  And it's great to be in a different location!

Two Years of RVing

This week I am celebrating the fact that I have been traveling in my 5th wheel for two years now.  It was a big learning curve in the beginning and I still find challenges, such as finding the perfect boondocking areas!

After my trek from San Carlos, Mexico, I landed in the first casino after the border.  Easy to find and get into and about midway between Tucson and Green Valley so that I can get to either place in a few minutes.  I got here on Monday and will be leaving on Sunday, which should be a great time to get through the Tucson area.

This casino is not as large as the one where I stayed for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta last year and the food isn't as good, but it was great to be able to stay here for the week. 

I was able to do some errands,  get my computer in to get serviced because it refused to let me install the latest antivirus, and to get a few things I couldn't find in San Carlos.

These are a few of the plants that are around my parking area.  Not much is blooming yet except for the Palo Verde, the tree with the yellow flowers above, and the ocotillo below.  The Palo Verde has green trunks and branches, very unique.

I've had mostly great times, but some frustrating times also - for the most part, it has been well worth it!  And I've met some great people along the way!

Casino Time!

 

 

For anyone who knows me, they will know what a departure this is for me.  My traveling friend, Robin, said we just had to go to the casino.  OK, I was game (pun unintended) for an outing.   We went in and registered, were given a card with a $10 credit on it - plus a receipt for a free buffet.  Nice, I like food!  We decided since we had just had lunch, we would save it for another day when we would be prepared to face a buffet. 

 

Last time I visited a casino, it was with my sister-in-law (Hi, Mary!).  It had been so long since I'd been in one before that, I was depressed that there wasn't a handle to pull.  I couldn't get used to the concept of just hitting buttons.  No more cups of quarters either, you just put in your card, feed it paper money and keep playing.  It's really easy to get into playing too much if you're not inclined to be paying attention to how much you're feeding the machine.  We didn't stay long and I walked out of there $15 richer than when I went in.  Not bad, but not great.

 

 

Today we were out and about and ready for lunch, so we stopped at a different casino for food.  This one gave us $10 to play with, but no free buffet.  We do get a 5% discount on whatever food they had, plus free soda or iced tea.  Robin did pretty good, she got on a couple machines that allowed her to keep playing for quite a while.  I tried a few machines and only found one that made it possible for me to play for a short time without feeding it.  In all, I played away the $15 I had won the first night before and I also put a few dollars into the machine.  When I cashed out, I got back 18 cents!  I'm glad I cashed out on a machine, not with a human cashier!   That would have been embarrassing.

 

We had pizza for lunch and after a while, we decided to go back for dessert.  We both have a really bad sweet tooth (or teeth!).  Robin saw it first - a giant éclair - the biggest one I've ever seen.  We decided it was too much for either one of us alone, so we decided to split it.  I don't usually take photos of my food, many people do, and then post them on the internet.  But - this time, this dessert was worthy of a photo.   See below - and that's a regular sized plastic knife next to it!  Yummmm!

 

 

 

 Tomorrow we go back for our free buffet.  This should be interesting......