It's not always red roses
If you don't ever have to climb hills and even rocky mountains, how would you appreciate the beautiful green valleys?
The often untold stories of full time RV life and travel sometimes include rocky hurdles.
Ours started in the middle of Nevada, at this to me "god awful" desert town of Tonopah.
http://www.tonopahnevada.com/things-to-do/
We had already been driving thru the desert for several hours coming from Carson City, NV. On the map, Tonopah was a good stopping point on our long way to Las Vegas. On that map Joe had found the only truck parking in town. Our plan was to dry camp at said truck parking area, and after getting some downtime in, to continue our travels the next morning via hwy. 95.
Now I must mention that I generally enjoy diversity and change, well until I met Tonopah that is....
Driving thru town took a whopping 10 minutes. Arriving at the end of town we locate it on the left. It's spacious enough for Joe to park our 5th wheel at the far edge, hoping to cut down on semi truck noise during the night.
We weren't excited by any means to park there. Our view was the one of trash littering the area and desert dirt and bare mountainous terrain in the distance.
Not even 10 minutes after getting ourselves situated a lady from the truck stop convenience shop comes out and points out to Joe that because this is the only permitted parking area for semis in town, RV parking is prohibited and asked us to leave. She recommended a parking area nearby behind the towns casino.
Annoyed we move our rig and find the casino. Just when I thought our last option was already pushing it, this one was even worse.
About 10 RV's were already parked tightly next to each other in this small concrete pad. The new view was one of the casino's and grocery store's dumpsters as well as the back of the buildings on one side. On the opposite side we got to look at a VERY shade neighborhood and trash in the dirt patches around the parking area. Not to mention the dog poop piles of dog owners, too lazy to pick up after their beloved furry family members.
Then it turns out that parking wasn't free. We saw the tiny RV pads had hook ups. Which was actually a good sign, making us hopeful that we would at least able to take a shower in our rig. So we were gladly gonna pay for this luxury.
Come to find out that the water was broken and the hook up fee was really just for the parking with zero amenity.
Poor Joe had to endure my meltdown! No, this is not how I had pictured our travel adventures. Before ever hitting the road I pictured green all around me, space to breath and relaxation. Up until that point our budget paid for often tight, bare and unattractive campgrounds and military FamCamps next to air strips.
So Tonopah was the final "kick" that threw my now damaged view of RV life over the edge. A couple of hours of sobbing and feeling sorry foryself followed.
The next morning we hooked up the trailer as usuall, situated all our pets and were ready for our 3 hour drive to Las Vegas. The forecast predicted very high winds, with gusts reaching up to 60 mph. We needed go get the heck out and on the road before it all got bad.
So here we are all hitched up and ready, when Joe notices a very large puddle of fluid under the front of the F-350. Even I, with knowing absolutely nothing about car repair, know right away, this is not a good sight to see. Joe goes into trouble shooting action and then determines that it is safe enough to start our drive in hopes that we would make it to Vegas alright. He would then get to the bottom of the underlying problem and fix it after our arrival.
2 hours delayed we leave Tonopah in the middle of the wind storm.
Here is where I should point that there are no areas to stop between Tonopah and Vegas, should you need some shelter from the weather; nor are some parts of the highway not out in the open desert.
So here we are driving through these intense blasts of wind, shaking our trailer for the entire drive. Looking into the far distance we often see nothing but grey skies, filled with sand flying across the Nevada desert. The skies never lighten up one bit. Each miles continues to challenge Joe's driving skills, pulling about 12.000 lbs. Our home, the only home we now have. Very precious cargo!
To our surprise we never see a tipped over trailer or semi. Pure luck, is all that comes to mind.
A long 3 hours later we finally roll into Vegas, another FamCamp. This time at Nellis AFB.
https://nellislife.com/desert-eagle-rv-park/
And to my delight this FamCamp is just what my soul needs: Spacious spots, some green around it and lots of space to ride my bike with the puppies.
No, Nellis didn't come with red roses but instead beautiful palm trees, desert shrubs and never ending blue skies.
My vision of RV life had been restored.
Amen.
The often untold stories of full time RV life and travel sometimes include rocky hurdles.
Ours started in the middle of Nevada, at this to me "god awful" desert town of Tonopah.
http://www.tonopahnevada.com/things-to-do/
We had already been driving thru the desert for several hours coming from Carson City, NV. On the map, Tonopah was a good stopping point on our long way to Las Vegas. On that map Joe had found the only truck parking in town. Our plan was to dry camp at said truck parking area, and after getting some downtime in, to continue our travels the next morning via hwy. 95.
Now I must mention that I generally enjoy diversity and change, well until I met Tonopah that is....
Driving thru town took a whopping 10 minutes. Arriving at the end of town we locate it on the left. It's spacious enough for Joe to park our 5th wheel at the far edge, hoping to cut down on semi truck noise during the night.
We weren't excited by any means to park there. Our view was the one of trash littering the area and desert dirt and bare mountainous terrain in the distance.
Not even 10 minutes after getting ourselves situated a lady from the truck stop convenience shop comes out and points out to Joe that because this is the only permitted parking area for semis in town, RV parking is prohibited and asked us to leave. She recommended a parking area nearby behind the towns casino.
Annoyed we move our rig and find the casino. Just when I thought our last option was already pushing it, this one was even worse.
About 10 RV's were already parked tightly next to each other in this small concrete pad. The new view was one of the casino's and grocery store's dumpsters as well as the back of the buildings on one side. On the opposite side we got to look at a VERY shade neighborhood and trash in the dirt patches around the parking area. Not to mention the dog poop piles of dog owners, too lazy to pick up after their beloved furry family members.
Then it turns out that parking wasn't free. We saw the tiny RV pads had hook ups. Which was actually a good sign, making us hopeful that we would at least able to take a shower in our rig. So we were gladly gonna pay for this luxury.
Come to find out that the water was broken and the hook up fee was really just for the parking with zero amenity.
Poor Joe had to endure my meltdown! No, this is not how I had pictured our travel adventures. Before ever hitting the road I pictured green all around me, space to breath and relaxation. Up until that point our budget paid for often tight, bare and unattractive campgrounds and military FamCamps next to air strips.
So Tonopah was the final "kick" that threw my now damaged view of RV life over the edge. A couple of hours of sobbing and feeling sorry foryself followed.
The next morning we hooked up the trailer as usuall, situated all our pets and were ready for our 3 hour drive to Las Vegas. The forecast predicted very high winds, with gusts reaching up to 60 mph. We needed go get the heck out and on the road before it all got bad.
So here we are all hitched up and ready, when Joe notices a very large puddle of fluid under the front of the F-350. Even I, with knowing absolutely nothing about car repair, know right away, this is not a good sight to see. Joe goes into trouble shooting action and then determines that it is safe enough to start our drive in hopes that we would make it to Vegas alright. He would then get to the bottom of the underlying problem and fix it after our arrival.
2 hours delayed we leave Tonopah in the middle of the wind storm.
Here is where I should point that there are no areas to stop between Tonopah and Vegas, should you need some shelter from the weather; nor are some parts of the highway not out in the open desert.
So here we are driving through these intense blasts of wind, shaking our trailer for the entire drive. Looking into the far distance we often see nothing but grey skies, filled with sand flying across the Nevada desert. The skies never lighten up one bit. Each miles continues to challenge Joe's driving skills, pulling about 12.000 lbs. Our home, the only home we now have. Very precious cargo!
To our surprise we never see a tipped over trailer or semi. Pure luck, is all that comes to mind.
A long 3 hours later we finally roll into Vegas, another FamCamp. This time at Nellis AFB.
https://nellislife.com/desert-eagle-rv-park/
And to my delight this FamCamp is just what my soul needs: Spacious spots, some green around it and lots of space to ride my bike with the puppies.
No, Nellis didn't come with red roses but instead beautiful palm trees, desert shrubs and never ending blue skies.
My vision of RV life had been restored.
Amen.
our spot
Las Vegas
Desert Eagle RV Park
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