Monday-Sunday, July 26-August 1, 2021 - Visiting Family in Winnemucca, NV

Monday-Wednesday, July 26-28, 2021 - Visiting Family in Winnemucca, NV 

Monday, July 26

We left Wells, NV at 10:09am heading further west to Winnemucca, NV to spend the next week with Dean's son Brett and family.  There wasn't a lot to see along the way that we've not already seen, but I still took a few pictures.

Beverly Hills?

It was smokey much of the time - making it difficult to see the landscape.

Then you turn and it's a little clearer.

And the smoke shows up again.

We arrived in Winnemucca at 2:25pm (Mountain Time).  It was 98 degrees.  We are staying at the New Frontier RV Park where Brett & Emilee are living in their RV.  We stopped at the office to check-in, then headed to site #55, our home for the next week.

After going through the routine set-up, Dean called Brett to let him know we had arrived.  He said he would be over soon.  He arrived in a UTV with our grandson Tucker.  Tucker is spending several days with his dad.  We visited a bit, before we went back to Brett's to get his truck.  Brett drove us to the Post Office so we could pick up the mail I had forwarded here a few days ago.

Our next stop was to pickup Brett's son Jameson at his daycare.  One final stop before we returned to the campground, was to pick up a trailer that he is borrowing from a friend, so he can haul the UTV to various places around the area.

Upon our return to the park, Jameson wanted to get on the trailer.  Papa and Jameson are having some fun in the picture below.  He was teasing Papa!

Brett left the truck and trailer a few rows down from their RV, and we walked back to his place.

Jameson playing with his new garden tools.

He didn't stand still very long.  I took a few pictures but this was the only one that was good enough to share...he was busy!!

Brett and Emilee invited us to eat dinner with them.  It was very good.  We stayed and visited for awhile before heading back to Bentley.  We were tired even though it was a short drive today.  We are thankful to be here and the opportunity to spend some time with them.

Tuesday, July 27

Tuesday Brett had to go into work for awhile, so we stayed busy at the RV.  Tucker came over later to visit.  We offered to make hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner tonight, so later the three of us went to the grocery store for a few things. 

I needed to get pickles and relish, which was the first two things I put in the cart.  I set them in the top portion of the cart.  As I started pushing the cart, the two jars fell on the floor.  Every other cart in the store had one of the panels that you can put up to block the place where children can put their legs through when sitting in the cart.  I was so embarrassed, as I should have paid more attention.  I went up front and told them what happened. They sent someone to clean it up.  I'm sure they love when this happens.  Not!

We finished with our groceries and when we checked out I offered to pay for the items I broke, but they said no.  Before we left, Tucker noticed there was a Dairy Queen inside the store (Ice cream only).  He had a gift card and bought each of us an ice cream treat.  He's a sweet guy!

Dean and I grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.  I made deviled eggs to go with them plus all the fixings.  I found a can of peach filling in the cupboard so I also made a peach crisp for dessert.  It was all good.  Afterwards, we enjoyed visiting and watching Jameson's antics.  At 18 months he sure can entertain us!  

Papa is sure enjoying his time with Jameson.

Brett and his boys, Jameson & Tucker

The fire haze hanging over Winnemucca Mountain

Wednesday, July 28

Today Brett, Tucker, Dean and I took off with the UTV to enjoy some of the trails near Winnemucca.  It was a fun day.  I'll post pictures and comment a bit throughout.  We were blessed with a clear day as the smoke in the area has not provided a good view of the mountains since we arrived.  

Hooking up, getting ready to head out.  We arrived at our first location around 10am.

Our first location was Thomas Canyon

It was a beautiful area.  I've barely been in a UTV, ATV or any other similar off road vehicle.  I enjoyed it immensely but sometimes going up those mountain roads, or back down I have to admit I was a little antsy about it.  By the time we had gone a mile or so, I was feeling a little more relaxed and really began to enjoy it.

Thomas Canyon was gorgeous and was the only area where we used the UTV today.

  

Looking into an old abandoned mine.

Mormon cricket

I was not a fan of these crickets!  We saw a few, but anytime we neared a cool area the numbers increased.  At one point during our drive, I looked down and one was almost on me in the UTV.  Ugh!!!  Dean hurriedly came to my rescue and tossed it out.  Lol!

 

We took a break to have lunch back at the RV park, before heading out a second time without the UTV.  Our next stop was Winnemucca Mountain.

Winnemucca Mountain 

We wound around and around and up this mountain that provided gorgeous views of the areas around it.  What a beautiful site.

Winnemucca below.

The other side of the mountain view that we enjoyed.

Our last stop was at Water Canyon Recreation Area.  We arrived around 4pm.  

Quaking Aspen Trees.  They were so beautiful and majestic.

A beautiful little stream ran throughout the park.

After this stop, we returned to the campground.  Dean and I decided to make homemade pizzas.  We made two, one was all meat (sausage, ham, bacon, and pepperoni) with red sauce.  The second was Chicken Alfredo with chicken, alfredo sauce and pieces of chopped artichokes.  They were both devoured quickly by the five of us.  

I took this picture as we enjoyed sitting outside after dinner.

Thursday, July 29

This morning we went to The Griddle Restaurant for breakfast.  

The food was amazing.  I had an omelet with avocado and tomatoes, toast and hash browns.  Everyone's food looked good, and mine was delicious!  I spent most of the day doing some laundry and making reservations for the next few weeks.  So there was not much going on until evening.  Brett texted that he was making dinner tonight.  Grilled pork chops with a peach sauce, fried potatoes and asparagus.  It was delicious, and to top it off we had homemade ice cream with strawberries.  The ice cream was amazing, a Pioneer Woman recipe that used whipping cream instead of milk.  Wow!  It was delicious.

I had to share this picture of Jameson enjoying his ice cream!

Jameson and Mom were doing Itsy Bitsy Spider...he wanted to make sure I was watching him!

We enjoyed visiting at their RV for an hour or more, before heading back to Bentley.

Friday, July 30

Brett had to work this morning, so we watched Jameson.  We had so much fun with him. 

Brett sent us a message that he had made reservations for dinner tonight at The Martin Hotel, specializing in Basque food.  We arrived to a very busy place.  We were soon seated, and the owner advised there were extra seats for another couple who would be arriving later.  Hmmm.  What a spread of food they gave us.  From their website:  Dinner is tradition Basque Family Style with a full selection of Steaks, Lamb, Seafood, Pasta, Pork, and of course Traditional Basque. Dinner includes side dishes, soup, salad, glass of house wine, entree, dessert, or mix and match to suit your appetite.

Vinegar and oil dressing, with beans added.

The Martin Hotel

Dean chose liver and onions, and I chose chicken alfredo.  Before we received our entrees, we started out with delicious bread and real butter.  Soon afterwards they brought a large bowl (family style) of clam chowder, which was very good.  When we were finished with that, here came a large bowl of salad with a wonderful oil and vinegar dressing, along with a bowl of beans.  I asked Brett, where are we supposed to put the beans...he said on your salad.  What?  He said just try it.  So I added some to one side of my salad bowl.  Surprisingly, it was much better than I imagined.  Just when I thought I couldn't eat anymore here came sides of corn salad, mashed potatoes, and chickpeas with small pieces of meat and veggies.  Within minutes they brought out our entrees, followed by a large plate of french fries.  I could barely eat any of my entree and brought it home to enjoy tomorrow.  Finally, bread pudding with whipped cream.  What a meal!  It was fantastic and I'm so glad Brett & Emilee introduced us to this amazing food at the Martin Hotel.

About the time our sides were brought to the table, a couple was seated at our table.  It felt a little funny at first, but they were the nicest couple and we all enjoyed visiting with them over the rest of our meal.  

We returned home, changed into different clothes and walked to Brett's.  We enjoyed playing cornhole outside.  I played the second game where Tucker and I beat Brett & Emilee.  It was a good time.  We set and visited for awhile and then....what is this wet stuff falling on my arms?  Oh my, we are getting real, honest to goodness, rain!  It began to rain a little more so we left to walk home.  It was a while later before the skies opened up and some real rain, along with some wind appeared.  I'm sure the rain was very welcome to the area!

What a great day.

Saturday, July 31

I wanted to do laundry today, catch up the blog, do a little cleaning and make a few more reservations, so I stayed behind while Brett, Emilee, Tucker, Jameson and Dean took out for more adventures in nearby mountains.  

At noon I texted Dean to see if they would be back for lunch, but they were still traveling to their site.  I stopped and ate half of my leftovers from last night.  It was as good, if not better today.  Yum!

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my reservations for the remainder of our trip, and finishing up the laundry.    Dean returned sometime between 3:30-4:00pm.  We went back to Brett and Emilee's around 5, where we perused a menu from Koreana Korean Cuisine.  We chose BBQ ribs and pan fried wontons.  They were both quite good.  Emilee ordered popcorn wontons, which I thought were even better than the ones we chose.  It came with a sweet and sour sauce which I liked much better than the sauce that came with ours.

We stayed and visited for awhile before heading back to Bentley.

Sunday, August 1

Our last full day here in Winnemucca, and as usual when you are visiting family it flies by too quickly.  Brett, Tucker and Jameson hiked this morning.  Dean and I chose to stay home.  I did one last load of clothes and he had some things he needed to get done before our move tomorrow.

When they returned we walked over to their site to let them know we would take them to dinner tonight.  We wanted to try one of the local Mexican restaurants.  Brett suggested Mariscos, which was just a few blocks from the RV Park.  Dean and I both chose the chicken fajitas.  They were quite good, as was their guacamole.  They brought two small bowls of dip to us when we arrived, along with tortilla chips.  It was quite good - made up of refried beans, cheese, onion and sour cream. 

Since we drove separately, when we returned to the park, we dropped the truck at our site and walked over to Brett's site.  He was outside making homemade ice cream again, and grilling fresh peaches to go with it.  He added honey and cinnamon to the peaches.  When the ice cream was done, he placed a peach in each dish, with ice cream on top.  Oh my - was it ever good!  We are going to have to do quite a bit of walking in the coming weeks to work off the extra pounds we gained from all the good food we had this week.

It's hard to believe we've been here an entire week.  Tomorrow we will be heading north to the southern portion of Idaho for 9 days, spending time at three different locations within the state.  Stay tuned for more adventures!