Day 20, 2021

Washoe Lake State Park to McDermot, Oregon
Got a great spot at Washoe Lake State Park, even though the sign at the entrance said that this loop was full. Decided to take a chance and glad we did. The warmth of the space heater and having the satellite come instantly on without having to find the signal first is definitely worth the $10 per night charge.
We spent Wednesday just getting settled in and were expecting to go site seeing on Thursday, but mother nature had other plans. Thursday brought rain, hail, snow and high winds, so we just stayed inside for the day (well except for Dinky Dawg’s walks).
Fridays weather was better, but not by much, so we decided to brave the elements and get out to explore the area. First stop was to Walmart to get some supplies, then we headed out to see the next State Park on our list…but what’s that?!? A thrift store. Well, we gotta stop…Okay back to the plan…what…an estate sale?!?..Okay, back to the plan…Finally made it to Dayton State Park. It had a 10 spot boondocking campground, which was pretty full, and a nice day use area. Got out and explored a bit. Lots of history at this park. It was the site of Carson Junction, where the desert and river trail met on the California Immigrant Trail. The Carson River flooded back in 2017 and wiped out most of the park, so we were lucky to get to see what was left of it.
The next stop was Virginia City. The sky’s were starting to really cloud up, but we decided to chance it. Started to snow on us just before we got there, but it wasn’t sticking. Tons of tourists cars, narrow roads and no place to park had us just driving from one end to the other and back. Had to keep pulling over for cars to get by because the Beast (my affectionate name for Lee’s truck) is so wide with the dually tires. Decided to take the truck route back to town for some different scenery. Seriously, 25 mph switchbacks at about a 10 to 15% grade. Took twice as long to get down than it did to get up. But the view was pretty.
Found a Chocolate Factory at the bottom of the Mountain, so of course Lee insisted (not really) that we stop and check it out. Got some fudge, yum, and found the factory seconds rack (like a clearance rack at the candy store, sweet), where we picked up some Sponge candy (kinda like the insides of a butterfinger, but lighter and airy) and some Peanut Brittle (my mom’s is so much better). Sugar rush!
Headed back towards Carson City and found another thrift store. Just had to stop and look…Then back to Walmart to pick up the refrigerator items and something for dinner (who wants to cook after a day like today). Made it home just as another wind and rain storm rolled through. Great timing.
Saturday is all day Nascar. Truck and Xfinity on TV then the Arca race on the computer. Good thing it’s raining, so we are content to stay inside.
We were planning on leaving on Monday, but the weather was so nice that we decided to do some more site seeing. We decided to get a couple more stamps in our Parks Passport. We went up to the Lake Tahoe State Park. We couldn’t let Dinky Dawg out of the car, since the park was on the beach, but we did get some great pictures of the lake. Lee finally bought me my Walking Stick that he promised to buy me for Christmas. Of course we overpaid for it, but it’s really pretty. We went to the Visitors center and they had a cool display of memoribilia from the show Bonanza. We didn’t get to see the Ponderosa because some private person bought the land and tore it all down. But I did get to have my picture taken with the cardboard cutouts.
Then we went to the Mormon Station Historic Monument in Genoa, NV. Genoa was the first settlement in Nevada, and the Mormon Station was the last settlement on the California Emmegrant Trail before you got to California. You should have seen the look on Lee’s face when I told him that he had to go to the bar and have a beverage. He was shocked since we rarely have drinks when we were traveling. Then he found out that it was the oldest saloon in Nevada. Cool.
So for those of you keeping track, we have finally hit the 15th Nevada State Park visited, so we are able to get a free 1 year Parks Pass. I am hoping that they will give us a credit towards the All Access Pass (which is what we have for camping). Wouldn’t that be awesome.
Headed out Tuesday morning for our next stop. It was windier than we would have liked, but we made it ok.