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.
