THREE STATES IN ONE DAY

Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho-all in one very long day. It was our longest drive yet, 237 miles plus a few additional miles when Kathe got us lost in Caldwell, Idaho looking for the RV Park.

We drove all the way into Idaho on the 95 passing farms and ranches, and going through a couple of very small towns along the way. As you can see, lots of wide open spaces!

Somewhere between the Nevada and Oregon border we came upon another insect adventure. This one was even more disgusting than all those bugs from yesterday.  This time it was an giant infestation of Morman crickets. Look it up, it's a real thing. Thousands of these large red crickets were crawling across the highway and being massacred by the traffic. The pavement was actually red with their dead bodies. There were thousands of them on the road for several miles. We needed Joseph Smith and the sea gulls!

After we arrived in Caldwell and got set up Kathe and Jim left me home and went to Meridian to visit some old friends from California. I thought they would never get home. I wanted my dinner, on California time, not Mountain time!

DRIVING DAY

I'm not exactly tip top self today. My tummy has been out of sorts, so I was glad to sleep in my crate all the way from Hawthorne to Winnemucca, Nevada. Kathe cooked dinner last night and I helped clean up the floor, maybe that's why I don't feel so great today.

It was a pretty long drive up the 85/90 highway. The first part of the trip was all desert landscape and the most exciting thing that happened was when we drove through a whole bunch of tiny bugs. This  picture makes it look like a flock of birds. There must have been thousands of bugs all over the windshield. Boy, was Jim ever upset! He's still outside on a ladder cleaning them off and it's almost dark. 

 

After the bugs, the rest of the drive was uneventful. Lots of farms and ranches with goats, sheep, cows and plenty of hay! We finally arrived here at around 3:00 and since no one felt like cooking, and I wasn't hungry, I told them it was okay to go out for Mexican food. No need to bring me a doggie bag!

ANOTHER DAY IN HAWTHORNE

It's really windy tonight, and we're even supposed to get some rain. That would be a welcome relief from this unbearable heat.  I've tried to find shade in this RV Park, but all the trees are so small that they don't provide any shade at all. Spending my days stretched out on the cool tile floor, with the air conditioning blasting. 

Today was much like yesterday, with the humans searching for something to do in this crazy little town.  They left this morning for a trip to the Mineral County Historical Museum. After a couple of hours they were right back home with me in the air-conditioned RV. 

The museum had lots of "interesting" collections that had been donated by the residents of Hawthorne. Here's a picture of a giant eagle that a lady made for the 4th of July Parade. Gives you kind of an idea what the museum was like! Weird! They were going to visit the other museum in town, the Museum of Ammunition, but luckily it was closed today.

After lunch, they all piled into Jim's Jeep to explore some old mine roads about 30 miles away in the town of Mina, Nevada. Traveling on some unmarked dirt trails they found two really old abandoned mines.  They kept driving and found newer claims all over the place which they explored. Warren and Jim brought home a bunch of interesting rocks, but  I don't think were going to get rich any time soon.

BOOM TOWN

We had a very scenic drive today along 395 up and around Mono Lake. That is, it would have been scenic if there wasn't so much dust in the air due to the last few days of high winds.

We drove over the border into Nevada, but Kathe didn't get her cell phone out quick enough to take a picture of the Welcome to Nevada sign.  Instead we have yet another picture of her shoes. Good news, the weather is a little cooler here and there is very little wind, so it's much better than yesterday!

After a few more miles, we were stopped along the road in a line of cars by some official looking men.  We looked off to the left and saw several large explosions. We assumed that it was just workmen blasting rocks or something like that.

As we drove into the town of Hawthorne, NV while Kathe was trying to take a picture of Walker Lake, we noticed quite a lot of military vehicles.  

When Warren and Kathe checked into the RV Park they asked the manager if this was an Army town. He replied that there was "some" Army here. Later, as we did some exploring we saw a sign which said, "Hawthorne Depot, World's Largest Ammunition Storage Depot". So we really are staying in Boom Town! Yikes! 

CONVECTION OVEN CAMPING

It's really hot again today! The wind is still blowing a gale and it's over 100 degrees in the shade. My paws were on fire so I had to run out and run back as fast as I could. I'm going to wait until tonight to go out again, when it's cooler and not so windy.

My humans went out exploring in the Jeep today. First they tried to visit the Lone Pine Movie Museum, but it was closed. Then they tried the Visitors Center to get some information about the Alabama Hills, but they were all out of maps. Strike Two!

So, next they decided then to drive up to the Mt. Whitney Portal. There were plenty of people up at the trail head, some planning to hike and others were just happy to be up in the mountains where it was cooler. There was a beautiful waterfall and lots of pine trees.

After that, they decided to venture to the Alabama Hills to see some of the famous movie sites. They found a map at the entrance and explored all over the area. Lots of very interesting history here. Over 400 movies, TV shows and  commercials were filmed on location here.

  

FIRST STOP

 After all that packing and preparation we still didn't really get on the road till it was almost 11:00 this morning. We drove from Simi Valley to Lone Pine in about 4 1/2 hours. An easy drive most of the way, except for the road construction on Highway 14. Many miles of only one lane in our direction and half of our side was on the shoulder. BUMPY! Not too much scenery to speak of, except for these red rocks in the canyon.

Lone Pine is extremely windy and hot. Kathe lets me out to do my thing, but I'm almost blown over each time we go out. I think it was about 104 when we arrived, but this evening it's cooler but the wind is still blowing.

It was great to see Warren and Kathy and my little friends, Gianni and Bella. Gianni looks so much better than the last time we saw him, Kathy has really been taking good care of him. As for Lady Bella, she's still barking her head off at me.  I guess it will take some time for her to remember me, but what she doesn't seem to know is that I can't hear her barking, no matter how loud. The jokes on her!

AWAY WE GO, AGAIN

 

I got a little scare yesterday-all that stuff piled up in the hallway can only mean one thing! ROAD TRIP! I thought when they loaded everything in the car, they forgot ME. Found out hours later they were only loading up yesterday so that they could get an early start on Monday morning. Whew!! You know, I've been along for every Adventure since 2011, so I didn't want to be left out this year.

We're starting out in Lone Pine, California tomorrow on our way to Idaho, Montana, Utah and Nevada. Yes, I know, been there, done that, but they assure me that we are going to some places we have never been and back to some of our favorites places as well.

I'll try to keep you updated everyday with my adventures, I'm looking forward to seeing my buddies Gianni and Bella and getting into mischief whenever possible.