Gullywasher day 5-27-08

Today we had more thunderstorms. Rain, thunder, hail and a couple of BIG gully washers. We were glad we decided to stay home...we had planned on running to Costco over in Sparks. I had run into town and got caught in the hail and heavy down pour on my way back, glad I only had to go a half mile in that blinding, pounding mess, the hail was pea sized.

Just another day 5-26-08

Our big excursion today was to check out the plants at Long's and Wal-mart and return our books at the library. Larry did a little neatening of the flower-bed in front of the house. It rained off and on all day and we had a couple rumbles of thunder. Today in Fallon, Nevada gas was $4.09 and diesel was $4.89...scary.

I hope everyone took a moment to send a prayer to all of our troops today...at home and abroad and give thanks for all those that have served and passed on. Thank you and God Bless!

Rainy Memorial Weekend 5-25-08

We've had lots of rain over the weekend and some hail. Yesterday Larry cut the lawn in between storms. Awesome clouds, they look wicked, but at least we don't get tornados out of them. The rain has been nice, washing down all the dust that blows around here and the cottonwood.

Great Muffins! 5-22-08

Today’s high was a whopping 59 degrees, what a difference from a few days ago! It was also cloudy and windy. I had to pull on my knit cap for our walk this morning so my ears wouldn’t freeze off!

Yesterday we went to Minden to visit my Cousin’s Pat and Mike. They’ve lived there 4 years now and this is the first time they have been home when we have been able to get over there. They are RVer’s and are on the road a lot. Minden is only an hour and a half from us here in Fallon. Minden, Nevada is settled right at the base of the Sierra’s and the views are stunning. We had a great lunch and visit! Did I take any pictures? Nooooo…….jeez.

I decided we needed healthier snacks and I found this great muffin recipe. I have been changing it up…adding raisins to the recipe and then today I substituted pumpkin for the apple and added dark chocolate chips and raisins….YUM! The recipe is easy if I’ve already made 3 batches in two days! Thought I would share it with you.

APPLE & OAT BRAN MUFFINS prep:12 min, cooking:18 min. 124 calories

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat bran
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
2 egg whites
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup peeled, shredded apple

In a medium bowl stir together dry ingredients (1st nine), set aside.

In a small bowl combine buttermilk, egg whites and oil. Add to dry ingredients, stir just until moistened. Stir in shredded apple. Store batter tightly covered, in refrigerator for up to 5 days.

To bake, spray muffin cups with nonstick spray. Spoon batter into each of 12 cups. Bake at 375 for 18 to 20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

124 calories, 4 g protein, 22 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 162 mg sodium, 162 mg potassium
From Better Homes and Gardens New Dieters Cook Book

Lots of nothing 5-18-08

Doing a lot of nothing the last few days. Friday we drove around parts of Fallon we haven't seen before. Yesterday Larry washed the trailer...he couldn't wash it in New Mexico...the water leaves spots...that was about it for the weekend. It has been hot, 95 to 97 each day and we have been taking our walk every morning but we are going to have to get out earlier because it has been getting warmer earlier each day. By the time we get back home my face looks like a tomato. Right now I am enjoying the late evening breeze cooling things off finally. Have a lovely day!

Day of Friends 5-15-08

Hope your having a toasty warm day. We had one today. In the 80's and warmer tomorrow. Sitting with all the windows open tonight and no wind...though right now a teeny breeze would be welcome!

Our friends Lou and Vickie spent the afternoon here visiting with us. We had a great visit and I fixed a great spaghetti dinner.

This picture was taken in Utah.

More Desert Beauties 5-14-08

Pretty Cactus 5-13-08

Here are some of the pretty cactus we found on our hike through the desert last week. It was like finding easter eggs, you would see one and then a little further on you would find another. I don't know what variety these are. There were prickly pear cactus in the area too and their buds were swelling but they weren't in bloom yet. The big white flowered plant is a yucca. More cactus flowers tomorrow.

Picture glitch 5-12-08

Good Morning....How's the coffee?

I'm having computer glitches tonight so no pictures.

Our excitement today was the discovery that our neighborhood had been hit by gas siphoners last night. They tried our truck, but I'm sure they didn't want diesel...we had just filled up the day before so we are glad they didn't get much. There was diesel on the ground and sprayed on the truck. None of us noticed until the afternoon, the guy down the street was in town at the gas station filling up when someone drew his attention to the gas pouring onto the pavement...they had cut his tank line...nasty, people. He called the Sheriff after he came home and then others noticed and someone even found a hose. So it begins....sad.

Glen Canyon Rec.Area, UT 5-10-08

These are pictures from Glen Canyon Recreation Area in Utah on Highway 95 five days ago on May 5th. The river is the Colorado, but here it is part of Lake Powell, but the level is soooo very low that it just looks like a river.

The flowers are called Prince's Plume, a stunning wildflower in bloom all over the place and they are at least two feet tall.

Climbers on Mexican Hat Rock 5-9-08

On our walk to Mexican Hat Rock we saw a few cars bouncing along the dirt roads to get to the Rock. Only one drove as close to the base as they could get. We were about two thirds of the way there when we thought we could see something under the "hat" way up there! I used the telephoto on my camera and sure enough two people were up there. As we got closer a couple that had binoculars told us that the people up there were getting ready to climb the rock. Sure enough...why anyone feels the need to climb a perfectly good, very high rock is beyond me! Larry noticed a pony tail on the person doing the climbing and sure enough it was a crazy woman; climbing a rock in WHITE capri pants....I mean really WHITE when climbing rocks?! It took her about a half hour, but she did it. Then her partner climbed up after her and it took him about 5 minutes. Crazy people!

Guard dog at Mexican Hat Rock 5-8-08

Now we are back in Fallon it is just the same old daily stuff. Going to Wal-mart, cooking beans in the crockpot, and hauling in more stuff from the trailer...Larry fixed the trajectory of the sprinklers and then spent hours spraying weed killer on all the weeds springing up. BORING. But I still have some pictures to share with you all.

On our return hike from Mexican Hat Rock I looked up at the ridge and noticed the guardian of the valley, a lovely dog. He might be hard to see in the first picture, but you'll certainly see him in the close-ups. Isn't he cute!?

Back in Fallon 5-7-08

We were going to get on the road early, but Larry helped our neighbor track down a little problem with his “air” brakes. We didn’t get going until 8:20 or so.

West on 50, Northern Nevada has many mountain ranges. We climbed 12 summits today. The last three were around 4,600 feet and the rest were in the 6 to 7,000 foot level. Most of the snow was gone, just large patches and it was windy today. The clouds kept getting blacker and we hit several downpours along the way. The rain-fresh smells were wonderful, and the sage was especially strong.

We traveled 267 miles today and landed in Fallon around 1:40. We stopped at the Fairgrounds so Larry could dump the tanks and then headed for the house. We got the trailer parked, Larry cut the lawn and then we unloaded most of the essentials, we’ll finish tomorrow.

We were going to hit the road again in about 2 weeks, but our lawn was neglected so badly by the tenant and ultimately the Property Manager that we are going to stay here for a bit and see if we can get it revived with fertilizer and seed so we’ll have to be here to water it and baby it along.

I expected the surfaces of the furniture to be gray with dust with being gone a month, but this house is nice and tight and without us in it the house stayed really clean!

Back in Nevada 5-6-07

Today we were on the road by 8:26. We continued west on 24 from Hanksville, we made a few stops in Capitol Reef National Park to enjoy the scenery. We had to rock climb down a slope to see this waterfall….ooowee, I am out of shape…gotta start building up the quads.

Where 24 met I70 we crossed 70 and continued north to pick up 50. We had to go south on 15 for a small bit and then back to 50 west. Not a lot of traffic on any highway we were on today except for I15 and that wasn’t even bad.

Thunder clouds built up in the afternoon and we had a cloud burst on us in Utah before we crossed over into Nevada. We crossed the state line at 3:10 Mountain time and had to switch to Pacific time. This picture is heading west just crossing into Nevada.

We decided to land in Ely, Nevada for the night. We got in at 3:45 Pacific time and we traveled 339 miles today. We are staying in the RV Park at the Prospector Hotel and Gambling Hall. We had a nice dinner in their little Café.

Utah is a gorgeous state. We climbed at least 5 summits today and the highest was 8,385 feet, the rest were in the 6 and 7,000 feet levels. Even at these high elevations and the patches of snow on the ground it was still warm, in the 70’s. A couple of those summits were in Nevada; Nevada’s eastern mountains are pretty too, lots of Juniper trees.

I’m sorry this sounds like a boring book report, I am trying to get it composed during commercials of the Dancing with the Stars show that we love and I keep losing my flow and train of thought. Again today we just traveled through a lot of beautiful country and tomorrow we get to travel the Loneliest Highway in America, ALL day long, US Highway 50 back to Fallon.

Utah's Stunning Landscape 5-5-08

This morning we hit the road at 8:25. It was warmer here than we expected. We headed north on 163 and then just before Bluff it turned into 191 and then we headed west on 95 just below Blanding.

Another day of head swiveling gawking at the awe inspiring scenery! Every turn in the road revealed something new or gave you a changing perspective of the towering formations. The red parts of the countryside was so red it almost hurt the eyes...its contrast with the green of the brush and the blue of the sky, stunning.

We took a short hike to see some Anasazi ruins just after we picked up 95. They were an amazing society and very smart building their communities within these large caves.

We stopped at the bridge that crossed Lake Powell, which is actually the Colorado River. I'll post more pictures of today's beauty later.

I took almost 300 pictures today. I am experimenting and lowered the resolution of this entries photos...it really speeds up the posting process!

We landed in Hanksville, Utah for tonight. We got in here at 2:22. It is just a gas station, and a restaurant/RV Park...at least that's all we've seen. We traveled around 175 miles today and made a couple of stops to hike around and sight-see.