Nomadin’ in Northern Nevada

We Hit the Jackpot!
We headed straight from Idaho Falls to Jackpot, Nevada.  Yes, Irene, there is a town called Jackpot in the grand gambling state of Nevada!!  Actually, it is about 2-3 miles right across the Idaho border off Highway 80.  We stayed at Cactus Pete’s Saguaro RV Park, associated with Cactus Pete’s Casino. Lovely sign, don’t you think?  Doesn’t it remind you of Vegas???

Right before you get to the side entrance to Cactus Pete’s Casino was this nice park area.  They obviously have grandiose ideas about this bantam beltway since they are calling it “Jackpot National Forest”!  It was a place where we frequently took the dogs for their walks to do their business, though, so it served a superb purpose in our opinion.

We ate dinner in the casino and, of course, they had the obligatory keno cards at every table. Gary had never been exposed to keno before so here he is trying to figure out what he might do if he was even going to play keno.

And, just for fun I sat down at a slot machine so you would know Jackpot actually is a gambling town with real, bonafied casinos!

This was a one-night-stay kinda place so we were off early the next morning. This is my third time driving the rig and I am getting much more comfortable.  I cut my teeth on driving the Ford F250 4X4 for a couple of years.  That really made it so much easier for me to get into the driver’s seat of the RV and take it out on the open road (no city streets for me yet … that’s a bit more challenging than I want right now!).  Also, we met this great couple in Yellowstone at Fishing Bridge where we ate lunch (they’re from Hudson, New York).  He mentioned that his wife and he shared all the driving of their 5th wheel.  They switch every two hours.  I felt sheepish about my fear of driving the RV and decided to JUST DO IT!

Sadie wanted to give me a few driving tips before I started!

Sherwood, on the other hand, could care less!

So now Gary and I share a lot more of the driving when we’re in the middle of nowhere.  This really makes a huge difference in how he feels at the end of a day on the road and I really enjoy getting the practice time behind my belt.

There Ain’t No Elk in Elko
From Jackpot we drove to Elko, about 160 miles.  Neither Gary nor I were prepared for such a charming city in the middle of “northern nowhere Nevada.”   We really liked this city and especially the Lamoille Canyon which you'll see pictures of in the next blog ... just wait ... it was absolutely stunningly beautiful and rivals Zion National Park in my humble opinion. 

But, let's get back to the city.  Here's a little bit of history and some climate statistics.  Elko (Shoshoni:  Natakkoa, 'Rocks Piled on One Another') is a city in Elko County, Nevada, with a population of 18,297 at the 2010 census. The city lies along the route of the historic California Trail and straddles the Humboldt River.  It is the largest city for over 130 miles in all directions, making it, as its city motto states, "The Heart of Northeast Nevada".  January is normally the coldest month of the year (daily average temp of 25.1°) and July is normally the warmest month of the year (daily average temp of 70.2°).  Annual snowfall averages with 41.5 inches and it has freezing temperatures between September 10 and June 9.
 

Originally, we were going to stay one night then decided to extend to two.  We wanted to explore the Lamoille Canyon area and, if we could get there, the Ruby Mountains.  We headed out with dogs in tow – about a 30 mile drive.  We weren't very far into our drive when the Jeep started spewing forth steam from its trusty, rusty radiator. 

This wasn’t the first time the Jeep has overheated.  In Yellowstone, we experienced the same conditions, but chose to ignore the obvious because it only happened once when we were traveling over a mountain pass.  Ah, the price you pay for ignorance! 

This time we took it to an auto service center in Elko and, as we suspected, the thermostat was dead in the water.  It only took them about 1-1/4 hours to repair and was a little over $150 which made us very happy and relieved.  Thank you H&H Auto Service in Elko!

We killed the Jeep repair time by walking over to the Northern Nevada Museum (about two blocks away).  Below are a couple of pictures of their Chamber of Commerce buildings.  They are so cool, I had to include them (BTW, I didn’t have my camera with me so these are all from my phone!).

 

The Chamber of Commerce is almost next door to the museum. Here’s Gary in front of the museum.

Here I am in front of the museum standing in front of a reconstructed building that was the Ruby Valley Pony Express Station from April 1860 to October 1861.

Because of that mishap we decided to extend one more night (for a total of three) so we could get back up the canyon which was looking stupendous during our first attempt--and a little snowy!

Ecclesiastes 7:12 // For wisdom is protection just as money is protection, but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.