From Pahrump Onward

We decided to see a couple of things we had missed before leaving Pahrump. First, we went back to Shoshone to see the "Hobo" Houses and the cementary. An old prospector scooped a room size room out of hard packed caliche hills, poked a stovepipe through the roof and took residence. He carved out several more places and rented them to other propectors. The last full time resident lived there until the 1970s. There was an outhouse with two "holes". The Hobo Houses now have doors and locks to keep people from destroying the cave houses.

The nearby cemetary has tombstone that vary in dates of births and deaths. One tombstone has engraved on it "I told you I was sick". Guess no one believed her, huh?

The other place we wanted to see before we left Pahrump was Red Rock Canyon and boy am I glad we went. The scenery was so beautiful it's had to tell you about it. There are so many different kinds of mountains made up of sandstone, limestone, etc. Each peak is named and there are hiking trails at levels from easy to strenuous.

From the scenic route heading back to Pahrump, we stopped at Bonnie Springs Ranch/Old Nevada Village. There is a pond with many ducks and many many turtles. There was a pair of beautiful swans too. We had lunch at a restaurant there by the pond. Food was good and the prices were reasonable. After we finished lunch, we took a walk around the petting zoo and even though we have seen many animals at other zoos, we were impressed with the freedom some of the animals were allowed. There were male peacocks everywhere with their tails spread out in all its splender. In a seperate space (separated from the males) was a beautiful all white peacock. It had to be a female because "she" looked like a fairy princess with her all white tail spread out for all to admire.

The old village is much like Tombstone and we did not attend the gun fights, etc.

We had a wonderful time in Pahrump, saw a lot, did a lot, ate a lot but now it was time to say goodbye to new friends and get on the road again.

We left Pahrump early on May 24 and traveled to Hawthorne,, NV where we spent the night at Whiskey Flats RV. It is a fairly new park and very very clean. We call for a shuttle from the nearby casino to pick us up. We had dinner at the casino (food mediocre and priced too high for the quality of the food).

We left Hawthorne earlyt the next morning on our way to Honey Lake RV in Milford, CA. Here is one of those situations where you should not "judge the book by the cover". Honey Lake is an old park but the manager met us and made us feel very welcome. They have a small cantina and we decided to have lunch there (they have only sandwiches, (hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.) Food was good and prices were reasonable. While eating our lunch, we met a delightful couple who lived about five miles away. Both had worked in some capacity for the California Correction Facility but were now retired. They were interested in our travels even though both said they would not give up their home to take on a life one the road.

Right across the road was "Honey Lake' which is 28 miles long and dry as a bone right now. The manager gave us some information on the lake and we found out that it goes dry every so often when the snow in the area has been slight.

We left Milford heading further into California (little did we know that we would be traveling through two mountain ranges (we almost knew how the pioneers felt). There were so many twist and turns, sometimes we were so close to the rock mountain on one side that I wouldn't even look.

There was road work going on all along the way, we had to go slow then stop and wait for the pilot car to bring a group through turn around and have us "follow him". I have never seen such beautiful tall straight and big pine trees. There were trees all over the mountains, except where it was apparent there had been a fire.

When we left Susanville on Highway 44, we came into National Forests. I think they were all part of the Lassen National Forest, Shasta National Forest and Trinity National Forest. We were up and down and all around mountains. We were surprised to see large bodies of water. The first body of water we came to was Hog Flat Reservoir. Then there was McCoy Reservoir. All along the way we could see Lassen Peak (at least I think that's the name) which was covered with snow. This has been quite a change from the 90s in Pahrump.

I almost forgot, while in Milford, we picked up a passenger (a large bee) and we let him out when we stopped for lumnch at Whiskeytown in Redding, CA. No, we did not kill him, but sure were glad he didn't want to continue traveling with us.

Almost all the way to McKinleyville the North Fork/Trinity River ran along the road. At places you could see the white caps and one place even advertised "white water rafting'. It didn't look that deep and I imagine it is cold as all get out.

Well, that catches you up to where we are now (a couple of nights in McKinleyville). We'll be going out to see some of the things around here (the paper we were given said there are 101 things to see and do. I know we won't do/see them all. We'll pick out the ones we want to see/do most.

Until next step on our journey, have a great day.