Friday October 11th 2019

It was a little above forty degrees inside the RV this morning. Once the sun started to hit the side of the RV it began to warm up quickly inside.

I took my time getting ready to depart this morning. I only had about eighty miles to travel and I was waiting for the fifth wheel trailer in front of my RV home to pack and leave. The way the campground is laid out, I would have had to back out of my site if the rig in front didn’t leave. Backing up without disconnecting the towed car is not possible, so I was content to wait for the clear space in front. The fifth wheel finally departed at 10:45 and I followed a couple of minutes later. It turned out they had the same destination I had. They were checking in when I arrived.

Since I had another bunch of desert to cross today, I topped off the gas tank in the town of Beatty before I got into travel mode. It was another day of heavy traffic on a two lane road at sixty to seventy miles an hour. There was more wind today than yesterday. Detecting wind in these desert areas is hard. The brush along the side of the road isn’t big enough to provide a good indicator of wind direction or strength. It’s easy to get surprised by gusts or find the transmission is downshifting on level ground to compensate for a head wind.

I arrived at the Lakeside Casino and RV Park in Pahrump NV about 12:30. Pahrump is about sixty miles north and a little west of Las Vegas. It’s in a wide valley on the other side of a high ridge from the Las Vegas valley. I’ve been to Pahrump on day trips while staying in Las Vegas several times. The community is a little more developed and built up than I remember. With a population over 36,000 it is bigger than I remember.

This campground is built around a small lake behind a Casino. There are about 150 nice sites with cement pads and full hookups. The campground has a good compliment of winter residents and the lake has a good variety of wildlife to provide stable neighbors for the campers. I’ll be here for two weeks before moving on to Las Vegas for the winter.

Thursday October 12th 2019

It was a cold night with the low temperature in the mid twenties. Further complicating things, I didn’t have electricity. Just after I went to bed, I heard my power management system trip out. The system is designed to shut the power down if it senses any unsafe conditions. I got out of bed got dressed for winter and went out to check the error codes. I saw one code that indicated an open ground, but the code didn’t repeat when I cycled the power. Nothing I tried fixed the condition. I shut the breaker off and lived on my batteries overnight. The batteries can’t run the electric heat and will only allow the propane furnace to run a few times before depleting the charge. I bundled up in the bed and waited for morning.

After a night with little sleep, I was up at seven to work on getting some power. By changing out an old 30amp extension cord I was using, I got the system to work. A close examination of the power cord showed the wires coming lose from the plug. Why it happened at 11:30 at night after being fine for two weeks is a mystery, but I had power. The inside of my RV home warmed up quickly.

I pulled out of my site just before 10am. My first stop was at the gas station near the campground. The quarter tank of gas wouldn’t get me very far. The nearby station was one of the highest priced stations in the area, but it had easy access. I only intended to put in enough gas to comfortably reach a station I researched about forty five miles away, but I got distracted. Twenty two gallons of gas and $86 later I stopped filling the tank. Later, at my preferred station, I put in another 42 gallons of gas for $136. Gas was sixty five cents cheaper per gallon at my preferred stop. Putting $222 worth of gas in the tank in one day is a new high.

Traffic heading south from Interstate 80 on US95 into the desert was heavy. The two lane road had a speed limit of 70mph in many areas. I won’t travel that fast in the motorhome. All the oncoming traffic needs to be given as much space as possible. Some of the big trucks closing and passing at over 120mph can really bounce the rig around in the turbulence. Since I wasn’t doing the speed limit I was getting passed a lot. Once today I was able to pass a very slow U-haul truck, but for a very long stretch I was stuck behind a Penske rental truck towing a car. It was going just fast enough that I couldn’t pass it safely, but it really bogged down on the up hill. Dealing with the passenger cars that had to pass both of us was not much fun. Some of the drivers don’t know how close they came to my front drivers side corner as they ducked into line to avoid oncoming traffic.

Plan A was to stop in Tonopah NV. I missed the sign for the first RV park I was thinking about stopping at. The second one was very small and not very appealing. I kept driving another 110 miles to Beatty Nevada. At about four fifteen after about six hours of travel I stopped at the Beatty RV Park for the night. It’s level and cheap, so I’m happy. After over 330 miles today, I have about 80 tomorrow.

Wednesday October 9th 2019

Today’s high temperature was almost thirty degrees below yesterday. It was nice sunny day with only a little wind, but the temperature peaked just above fifty degrees. The overnight lows are predicted in the twenties.

This was my last full day in the Reno area. I’ve really been ready to move on for a few days now. I should have stayed at a different location in the area to open up other touring possibilities. Getting to some parts of the area from here is a bit of a travel issue. Getting into the Sierras from here is easy, but the cool weather at higher altitudes has produced some snow. I’m sure I’ll be back in the area again. With any luck, I’ll remember to pick a different place to stay.

I spent time this afternoon getting the outside of the RV ready for travel. With twenty degree temperatures overnight, I packed the water hose and the sewer hose. That way I won’t have to deal with frozen lines and stiff hoses in the morning. There is enough water in the fresh water tank for a day or so.

My next two week stay is in Pahrump Nevada about 400 miles southeast of here starting on Friday. I plan to stop along the way. The ideal stopping location is in Tonopah Nevada a little over 200 miles into the state. There is a nice rest area suitable for boondocking near Tonopah, but at six thousand feet in altitude it may be too cold overnight to be without an electric hookup amd low on propane. I’m going to try to fill the propane tank Thursday morning, but the easy option, here at the campground, isn’t available tomorrow. My current plan is to look for an overnight campsite with electric in Tonopah or another 100 miles south in Beatty NV. I don’t expect any issues, but the little bit of unknown is a bit of concern.

Tuesday October 8th 2019

The day began with a clear blue sky and a warming temperature. As the day went by clouds continued to mount and the wind started to blow. By evening the wind was howling under thick cloud cover. Today’s high temperature was near eighty, but tomorrow the high is forecast to be in the low fifties.

I went in search of some fall foliage today. This isn’t really an area that has right kind of trees. The east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains is desert. The ground has low bushes, some rock and dirt and a whole lot of brown. The trees that are around are primarily pine trees. The exception are the trees along the rivers and trees that have been planted and kept watered. It turns out one of the best examples of the latter is right here at the RV park.

When I arrived almost two weeks ago the trees planted between the sites were mostly green. A couple of trees had started to turn yellow. Today all of the trees are at least a little bit yellow. The ones that were yellow when I arrived have started to drop their leaves. After tonight’s wind they may be bare by the end of the day tomorrow.

Vibrant yellow is the predominate fall color in the west. It produces a dramatic contrast to the greens and browns. Overall it is a pretty display, but it doesn’t live up to the colors in the east. The shades of yellow, orange and red that the maples, birches, oaks and other varieties that dominate the eastern part of the country produce a much more dynamic display. I got to enjoy that display last fall. Settling for the display of color in this campground is a downgrade, but it is still nice to see some fall color.

Monday October 7th 2019

It was warm enough today that I could wear a short sleeve shirt again today. I’ve been in a long sleeve shirt with a sweatshirt for the last eight or nine days. The temperature made it into the high seventies by late in the day. Tomorrow is forecast to have a similar high temperature, but the wind is expected to be strong in the afternoon.

The improving weather trend ends tomorrow night. A cold front is approaching that will leave the high temperature for Wednesday in the low fifties. Wednesday night is forecast to have a low in the twenties. Thursday is my next travel day. Hopefully the wind will have calmed down by then. The last time I stayed at this campground in middle of May in 2017 my departure day was a challenge because of the wind and the second travel day was through a snow squall. This time I’m heading southeast rather than northeast, so I should be heading toward warmer weather.

Today was another lazy day. This afternoon I went up to the Boomtown casino that overlooks the campground and invested another twenty dollars in entertainment. I’ve only stopped in once before on this trip. On that occasion the machines ate my twenty rather quickly. This time one machine was very generous and gave me back today’s twenty along with last weeks. My cheap wagers are now even for this trip.

Sunday October 6th 2019

It was another nice day, but the temperature didn’t live up to the forecast. I was expecting the high temperature to be in the mid seventies or higher, but it peaked around seventy.

Football on TV sucked me in today. The Patriots vs Redskins game started at 10am. I only get to watch the Patriots when they are a featured game and the local team doesn’t get control the airways. Today the Oakland Raiders were on the other network, so I got to watch most of the Patriots victory over the Redskins. Toward the end of the game, CBS decided it wasn’t interesting enough and switch the coverage to the Ravens vs Steelers game. At least nothing significant happened after they switched and watching Pittsburgh loose in overtime was fun.

Around the campground several more long term residents arrived today. I don’t know why they want to stay in this location at this time of year. By the end of next month the daytime high will be below sixty and at night it will be well below freezing. Snow is also a very high probability. As soon as each of the new arrivals get parked, they start setting up for cold weather. They put skirting around the air gap under their rigs, apply heat tape to their water lines and make provisions for added propane tanks. I know some of the long term residents are road construction workers and will be gone once the construction shuts down for the winter, but I don’t know why the ones arrive now are here.

My winter stay in Las Vegas is about as far north as I want to deal with. The day time temperatures will usually be above fifty and the night time temperature won’t get below freezing that often. It may drop a few snow flakes from time to time, but measurable snow on the valley floor is rare. Last year was one of the those rare years, so this year should be safe. I have my fingers crossed.

Saturday October 5th 2019

The good weather trend continues, but the high temperature is still a little below normal. It peaked around seventy today. The normal high temperature this time of year is closer to seventy five.

I drove southwest into the west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains this afternoon. Specifically, I went to Squaw Valley. The site of the 1960 Winter Olympics is interesting, but nothing like I expected. The area is much smaller than I expected. A little research later indicated that it was the smallest Winter Olympics location. It didn’t even have a Bobsled run. The organizers considered spending money to support an event with very few participants a bad investment. I don’t think they’d get away with that today. In fact, there is nowhere near enough space, transportation, lodging or just about anything for a modern day Winter Olympics.

Squaw valley is very picturesque with a few resorts and lodgings. Most of the structure from fifty nine years ago are gone or morphed into other things. There was lots of parking, but it didn’t seem to have many lifts for the sky runs that lined the mountain walls around the valley. The ones I did see were not that modern. Maybe there were others hidden from my view. I think I expected more shops and more alternate season activities that would keep the mountains in use year round.

The area I traveled in today was along the Truckee River. It is surrounded by all pine trees. There weren’t any deciduous trees turning colors. I think I need to find the eastern slope of the mountain range at a lower altitude to find fall foliage. I may go on a search for fall color before I leave the area. I know I won’t find any in the desert of southern Nevada. So far the Aspens in the campground are the only trees in fall beauty I’ve seen.

Friday October 4th 2019

The temperature was a few degrees cooler than Thursday, but it felt warmer. Yesterday’s strong wind was gone. The temperature peaked in the mid to upper sixties.

After spending the morning in front of the TV, I got active this afternoon. The first order of business was filling the car’s gas tank. There is a wide range of fuel prices in this area. The nearest station to the campground is $3.89 a gallon. I found gas a few miles closer to Reno at $3.49 a gallon and I’ve seen cheaper prices in the area. This is the first time since the beginning of July that I’ve had to pump my own gas. Self service stations in Oregon are rare. Filling the tank yourself is quicker and you get a little exercise.

My RV home is parked in a campground in Verdi Nevada within sight of California. The mountains that I see looking to the west are in California. It is on the west side of the ridge that forms the Truckee Meadows area that Reno resides in and the Washoe Valley south of Reno toward Carson City. Crossing the ridge provides a great view of the Reno and Sparks area. So far, I’ve haven’t found a good place to stop and take a picture.

I crossed the ridge once again this afternoon. My search for a new pair of shoes continued, with success today. My desperation had reached the level that I went to the mall. Except at Christmas time when they are decorated, I try to stay away from malls. I found what I was looking for at JC Penny. They had a surprisingly large selection of shoes. More important they had my size. The other places I stopped that had acceptable styles only had extra wide sizes. As an added bounce they were on sale without any special conditions that Penny’s are famous for. I didn’t have to have a coupon, a Penny’s credit card or some other nonsense.

Back at my RV home later in the afternoon I got the gas grill out for the first time since I arrived in the area. The cold temperatures of the last few days didn’t favor cooking outside. I grilled a couple of hamburgers for supper.

Thursday October 3rd 2019

The temperature reached seventy during the afternoon. Unfortunately, the wind decided to blow the heat away. A twenty mile per hour wind with gusts higher kept the outside temperature uncomfortable.

I spent some time this afternoon wandering in and out of stores in the South Reno area. Some call that shopping, but since I didn’t buy anything it was just an indoor hike without the scenery. My last stop was at Walmart to restock my food supply.

As usual I had a few observations about the Walmart experience. This is the first Walmart I visited in more than two months that wasn’t in Oregon or Washington. I have clearly switched to a different distribution district. Some of the product choices that weren’t available or different in the Northwest states are back to the ones I’m more familiar with here. The choices in the bread aisle stand out as an example. The primary bread choice is back to Natures Own and Thomas English Muffins dominate the choice in that category. In the dairy area the eggs are again presented in blue foam packaging rather than white cardboard.

One “first” I observed in Walmart was security packaging on meats. Many of the expensive packaged meats had yellow plastic security devices in the packaging. Looking around the store I saw several other obvious security measures. There were one way gates at the entrance and reminders about surveillance cameras in many areas. I believe I was in the same store two years ago and didn’t notice the heavy security measures. The area seems fairly affluent, so I’m not sure what issues might have caused the increase.

I got back to the campground in time to be caught in a line of campers checking in to the park. There are more residents tonight than there have been since the weekend. It is hard to believe that the next weekend starts tomorrow. The cold temperatures have kept my focus and let the week slip by.

Tuesday October 2nd 2019

I’m not sure what excuse to use for today’s inactivity. I can’t blame it on the cool weather. The temperature got into the mid sixties with bright sunshine and very little wind. Tomorrow will be even better.

It was almost ten before I got active this morning as I watched the morning TV from the warmth of my bed. I let the morning sun warm my RV home. By late afternoon the inside temperature was in the high eighties with only the solar gain from the sun producing the warmth. Knowing that I’d need to supplement the heat later in the evening, I resisted the urge to open the windows to cool the RV. On the positive side the warm RV allowed me to take a long and comfortable shower. The cool, almost cold, conditions in the morning and evening had reduced my showers to infrequent, very quick passes through the water followed by a few minutes in front of the heater to warm up and dry off. Once I’m prepared for cold weather by having better power and more propane this issue go away.

Four years ago today I took delivery of my RV home in Sherman Mississippi. Although I continued to own my house in New Hampshire for another year, I pretty much lived in the motorhome from that day forward. I spent the winter of 2015 to 2016 in Florida. The first half of the winter of 2016 was in Florida and the second half was in Arizona. I spent 2017 in the west between the major mountain ranges returning to Florida in February of 2018. The summer of 2018 was filled with a lot of random wandering in the eastern half of the country with another winter in Florida. This summer was spent in the Northwest, primarily Oregon. Overall I’ve put around 36,000 miles on the RV.

I’ve enjoyed the journey so far and plan to continue. Of all my adventures the visit to Yellowstone NP in June of 2017 stands out as my most memorable location visited. I think about alternative living and travel arrangements now and then, but haven’t come up with anything that meets my needs better. Next up is the winter in Las Vegas followed by touring in the Rocky Mountains area next summer. I will probably be back in Florida for the winter of 2020 to 2021.