Make art, not (small) talk

We really had to.  We would have had to pay for storage monthly with a credit card, and that’s just silly.  She was an impulse buy, and became a family project.  We learned a lot about working together, and being together without the distractions of telephones, tv and computers.  We had some adventures and some fun.  We ended up having to spend too much money because she kept breaking, however, so realized we really couldn’t afford to keep her just now.  Especially since storage would have been $110. per month.  Just too much for us right now.  But it was a good experience.  A really good one.  No regrets.  We will get another someday when we can afford to better.  But not now.

The guy who bought her lives in Ely, Nevada.  He drives a 1958 ford something or other truck daily for work, so isn’t afraid of a little mechanical work.  He paid cash, more than I expected, but way less than what we bought her for eight weeks back.  That’s ok.  On to the next thing now. 

I am going to be teaching Kindergarten at a Montessori school starting next week.  Talk about art!  Lots to learn and do before then.  But at least we have stopped the bleeding, money-wise that is.  And that feels good.

After two days at Groves Lake, I was a bit antsy, so we headed out again.  We were not sure where we would stay that night, but knew that we were headed South, probably toward Tonopah again, as we needed to be back in Henderson by Saturday night.  We made it to Carvers for gas on a prayer and fumes, then ate sandwiches at the rest area there.  A group of three archeologists pulled up as we did and we had a nice chat.  Their job was to walk the proposed lines that a company wanted to lay for geothermal power so as to make sure that no ‘archeological findings’ were disturbed.  How cool is that?  The gal was a great story teller, and mentioned the Berlin-Ichthusauraus park west of Austin as being a must see.  She also told us of a place just west of Pioche where there are three beautiful lakes, but we decided against trying to go there as we would have had to drive through about 100 miles of desert with no towns but Rachel, NV.  We were a bit break-down shy, but will go to these places someday, as we are finding that the locals know the best spots. 

I, of course, wanted to go swimming again, so we stopped in Hadley, just down the road from Carvers, for a swim in the community pool.  We also found a beautiful public library there, and spent about an hour browsing and enjoying the air conditioned comfort.  They had a room full of books for sale, so we filled a bag for a dollar.  We eventually made it back to Tonopah and decided to stay there at ‘Joy-land rv park’ for the night.  What a mistake.  I spent about the first hour killing flies.  Never again.  The only other choice was the rv park at the Ramada, which was basically camping in the parking lot.  That would have been a better choice.  Now we know. 

The air conditioner in the cab had also stopped blowing cold air, so the next morning we checked with our mechanic in Tonopah about getting it fixed, but they were booked.  We also stopped at Whitney’s Bookshop before leaving town, and that was a really nice visit.  The owner had been a geologist and retired to Tonopah to open the store.  He held AA meetings there prior to opening in the morning, and we walked in during one.  He allowed us to snoop around in the back of the store until the meeting was over.  The few at the meeting were listening to a preacher from Kentucky who had been through the ringer with drugs and alcohol and who had been saved and squared away by God with the help of AA.  We bought more books, and Timmy bought a nice wooden sail boat, and we were off again.  We stopped in Goldfield at a roadside souvenir stand and chatted with the owner for quite some time.  He and his wife had moved from Grass Valley to Goldfield and were selling the same sort of stuff they’d sold there.  He said most of his sales were European tourists who were crazy for wild west stuff.  He had some funny stories too.  We have found that the best part of this trip is the people we meet and chat with more than the scenery we see.  God so loved the world…the people, that is, not the scenery.  Although, obviously He put alot of thought into the physical world.  And we were glad to have spent some time in Central Nevada because there is beauty there, even in late July. 

We decided to stay in Pahrump that night because I didn’t want to be driving so much desert with no cab air conditioner.  Plus I had heard about an rv park there with a big lake.  It was nice, but sort of like camping at a golf course.  We kayaked and swam, then headed home to Henderson, bone tired and a quite browned.  I’d never been to Pahrump, and was amazed at how high up it is compared to the LV valley.  Coming home over 160 was lovely, and boy was it good to be home again, although none of our trip was as hot as it is here now.  Thank God for air conditioning, home and safe travels, even the unplanned kind.

We needed a new starter and the shop had one, so by ten we were off again.  We decided to check out the ‘fishing hole’ our tow truck driver had told us about.  Sportsman Park.  Not much to it, but it had trees and water.  I made sandwiches and we feasted there, happy to be on the road and doing the rv thing.  The mechanic mentioned that he had a buddy who was planning to be fishing there also, and, sure enough, he and his son showed up.  They tried to help us with our pitiful cheap fishing pole, but, to no avail.  The fish were biting, but not for us.  We made the best of it, but it was very hot and windy there.  I asked the local guy where we might go to ‘get into some water’ since we had planned to be at a lake in California, but hadn’t made it.  He told us of a place about 70miles away, so we packed it up and were off.  Out, then up HWY 376, then left at Kingston to Groves Lake.  Ten miles of ‘improved road’ next to a rushing stream and we arrived in a beautiful valley filled with a man made lake. The light was lovely just then, so before anything else I took some photos.

Groves Lake, Nevada

We ‘boondocked’ here for two nights.  So quiet it was hard to sleep, but we did.  The water in the lake was ice cold, but we went in.  Ate like kings out in the middle of nowhere, and the kids had a ball exploring.  Didn’t see hardly a soul.  And I couldn’t stop singing “The Sound of Music” songs, as the hills were green and lovely.  The kids were real troopers and we were feeling like we really were on vacation.