What Time is It? It's Beir:Thirty!!

Winnemucca, NV
Water Canyon BLM


Driving further east through Nevada, we spent the night at Water Canyon BLM just outside of Winnemucca.  Just boondocking for the night while we continue on to Elko tomorrow.  We've done this drive many, many times.  It's a very boring drive.

 Mostly we saw this.

 And more of this for three hours.

 

Suddenly we saw a weird area next to the highway around Imlay with old buildings and creepy monuments.  There was no time to turn around, but googling brought up what once was Thunder Mountain Park.  After reading about it I think the guy was a little nuts.  Old doll heads mounted on branches, etc.

It was a nice spot that sat up high where we could watch the wild mustangs and see the lights of Winnemucca at night.

 

We got an early start and headed for Elko where we would stay at a small, plain but clean private RV park.  This would be the first time we had hookups for about 6 weeks.  It was nice to get laundry done and a deep cleaning inside the rig.

Driving east on Hwy 80 started getting interesting as there was a high wind advisory.  It wasn't too bad, but must've been just before we got here as there was an 18-wheeler laying on its side.

Valley View RV Park is in Elko.  Simple and $15 for full hookups.  Yay!  They had the cleanest brand new laundry room.  Temps were warming up so it was nice to run the A/C and relax for the evening.

The next day was another short drive that took us north of Wells up 93 to the tiny town of Jackpot which sits on the NV/ID border.  We boondocked at Cactus Pete's Casino.  We had dinner at the casino and gambled a tiny bit.  Our $40 disappeared as quickly as we loaded the machine.

Just as we were going to pull out of the casino parking lot the next morning, there were police cars and lights everywhere and they closed the road.  We thought, "What the heck?".  Then we saw an 18-wheeler pulling what we are guessing is a HUGE dump truck dumper.  It barely fit on that trailer. Look how huge it is compared to the truck!  It just fit under one of the stop lights that branched over the roadway.

 We crossed into Idaho and over the Snake River.  Still not the most interesting scenery.

 More of this.

We were checking out a possible campsite that was just east of Boise called Mack's Creek.  It was on the lake.  Well, if the lake was MUCH higher it might've been nice.  It was hot, windy and not a very convenient way to get the kayak in so we moved along to Boise.  We were going to meet up with Ruth and Dale and do some biking, so we just went ahead to the RV park they were going to be in.

 It was a pretty drive, but we just didn't want to stay out here without power.

We arrived at Riverside RV Park in Boise.  Due to the local RV Show and Celtic Festival they were booked, but we could dry-camp in their overflow area.  We thought, great, back of the campground in a parking lot.  But we were surprised when he said we could pick out any spot on the grass, under the large trees which backs up to the creek.  Really?  Wonderful!  $24 but much cheaper than those in the "regular" part of the park.

 It was nice to have the creek right behind us.

 And the park mascot checked in on us several times.

We only had a few days but we just chilled and drove into downtown a couple of times to watch some movies and walk around.

I liked the triangle building.  It is a very clean and pretty downtown.  No riff-raff or garbage/graffiti. There was an interesting store here and there.  Across the street was a shop with a logo of a stick figure woman with a pink lunchbox covering her mid-section.  If you'd like to know what type of service they provide click HERE.  Then a few streets down we came upon what is called Freak Alley.  They claim to be the largest outdoor art gallery in the Northwest.  It covers several square blocks.  The alleyside buildings are painted in large murals.

 

It's actually very cool and I wish we could've walked down more of it.

 The Evil Angel.

 

Saturday was our 34th anniversary so we wanted to go out somewhere unusual for dinner.  We found a Spanish/American restaurant nearby called Barbacoa.

The inside décor and ambiance was sultry and unique.  We chose the outside patio and enjoyed the tableside guacamole and cocktails.  Steve had an Old Fashion and I had a Prosecco with a scoop of peach sorbet on top. 

 Dinner was delicious.  Steve had a pork chop and quail that came on its own tiny grill.

 I had a Latin Steak with ranch beans and rice. It was still Happy Hour so drinks were 2 for 1.  I could barely finish my second then they brought complimentary drinks since it was our anniversary with Banana's Foster and Panna Cotta with Fig and Orange sauce. 

 

 

 What a great night!

 

Sunday we did a  L O N G  bike ride with Ruth and Dale.  Just 20 miles to the brewery on the Greenbelt.  That would normally be a great run for us but Steve ran into a flat tire just after we started.  And then 8 more!  We used up all our patches and all the ones Dale had.  It took us a long time to get to the brewery and we were I was starved!  Good thing Dale had his tool box with him.

It ran along the Boise River so there was a lot of shade and pretty spots to pull over and rest repair your tire.

 A Firefighter/Emergency Responder Tribute with a special part of 9/11 in a Memorial Garden.

During yet another tire fix, we happened to look up and see our reflection in one of the business buildings.  We laughed that we were all wearing blue shirts (not planned!).

They were great sports about it.  Finally Steve gave up and Dale and I rode a couple more miles to/from a bike store that luckily wasn't too far away and bought a new tube. No more flats!  BTW, Ruth gave Steve a new nickname, "Patches"!

OK!  We finally made it for lunch (almost dinner) at Bier:Thirty!  We had some great food and the guys sampled the beer.

Then we passed the Ram Brewery & Restaurant a little later and decided to stop in for another drink.  This time Ruth and I decided to have a little something too.  And while I may be considered The Hiking Nazi, Dale is now called The Biking Nazi!

 Once we made it back to the campground we got to finally meet Tazzy Kitty.  She is so cute. 

 Look at those pretty green eyes!

 

Before leaving Boise I had gotten a notice that a geocache we hid in Gunnison, CO had been taken.  I called a couple people I know in the area but none were close enough to help out.  Then Cori remembered that Dino and Lisa Tango and Gladys were nearby.  I contacted Lisa Gladys to see if they could help.  They verified that their super secret location was nearby and indeed they could help out.  I gave them the details on the self destructing tape and they accepted the mission and did a fantastic job of replacing Pirate Mack's Booty along the Gunnison River on the Neversink Trail before you get to the lake.  Check out their cool blog MN Drifters.

It was a lot like this.  So glad they chose to accept the mission!

Actually it was more like this.  Here is Tango creating a new geocache.

 And a new log.

 They couldn't find pirate bling but filled it with eyeballs and other scary stuff.

 They tucked it back where it should be, so, if you are driving past along 50, check out our cache!

It was so nice of them to swing over and help us out.

 

Thanks guys!!  We owe you lunch!