2 years

We have been traveling now for almost 2 years.

Yes, 2 years!
We have lived more in these past 2 years than I ever imagined.
It literally flew by... and I do still believe it is temporary. 

As is this life in general.

Yesterday also marked 2 years of being houseless...

No mortgage and NO debt.
Of course we maintain a legal home in Texas and I don't see that ever changing.

But today we experience pure freedom as we make our choices
for location employment and housing.

Corporate furnished housing has worked out the best for us.

Ultimately coordinating it ourselves with the stipend has proven to be the most

financially beneficial and seems to give us more control.

None of the "you have to vacate in 48 hours..."

We will vacate when we want to according to our lease agreement...

Love it!

And we will move onto the next location as we please...
Travel Nursing has afforded us all these options and more!

We have been blessed to travel through Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, 

California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada these past 2 years!

Wow! What a gift!

Spending most of our time in Nevada in the high desert.

Just living...

In freedom...

Camping...

Sightseeing...

Stargazing...

Just breathing it all in...

(wow! you can really see my torn rotator cuff here! lol)
and of course hubby has been working at his life calling.

Which is what all of this is about, his amazing career that affords us such excitement!

We look to the future...

The remainder of this year has us committed to Nevada with plans to return to Texas to visit.

2016 is still up for grabs! 

As always we pray for God's direction and we accept his timing ultimately.

Whenever and Wherever that may be...

Denio

Also known as the middle of nowhere...

Denio, Nevada 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denio,_Nevada

Literally...

I'm not joking...

These folks don't like crowds...

Come to think of it, we don't like crowds either. 

We sorta like this place!

We drove so far into nowhere that we ended up in Oregon.

So quaint...

So old...

So stuck in time...

Time stood still here 50 years ago.

Even the gas station closed...
we found this taped to an old pump.

The only store and diner closed.

The motel closed.

But, the post office...

community center...

library...

 and 

Public school through 8th grade are still open.

But... That. Is. All.
We came upon an old telephone booth...

by the side of the road...

Steve stepped in and said...

" OMG! this thing still works! "lol we had a good laugh!

Spencer didn't know what to think!

 We had a nice history lesson complete with 
"this is where you insert the quarter,lol"

Denio... not much here but 

it made for a fun afternoon and some great photos!

Now... time to head back to civilization...

The Real Virginia City

 We go to Reno about once a month to get our big city fix.

Ya know... Like shopping, dining, traffic, crime, etc...

But we never made it to Virginia City til now! 

http://www.visitvirginiacitynv.com/

Last summer the fires were too bad that there was no visibility for months,

So we decided that as soon as we could get out there this summer we would definately do it!!

The day finally arrived and we drove off the beaten path through Fernley.

Saw lots of wild horse warning signs.

Sadly, I've no pictures of my own.

Finally in Silver Springs we saw about 6 just outside of town.

We definitely took the scenic route today...

And here we are...

The real Wild Wild West of Virginia City!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_City,_Nevada

Quite amazing that what remains of a mining boomtown has been preserved here for years!

This is "near" the famed Ponderosa Ranch from Bonanza.

This map is totally wrong, lol, but the whole town literally looks like a old western TV set.

We parked in the parking lot of this old church...

So quaint... 

And continued to walk into town down the narrow main road.
Here's the famed Bucket of Blood Saloon...

It was lunchtime and there were numerous restruants to choose from.

We selected this place...

http://www.reddogvc.com/

So glad we did! 

Wow! Some of the best pizza ever!

And trust me... We know our pizza! lol

http://www.reddogvc.com/listmessenger/public/files/comstockerweb.jpg

Every building here is so unique and completely stuck in time although most have modern updates.

Of course we found a candy shop!

and the old post office still in operation!

They have done a great job preserving the old west.

Complete with lots of characters roaming around...

they have a staged gunfight, too!

these two wound up in jail, lol

where are the Cartwright's when you need them?

And no visit is complete without the train ride.

Yep we rode the steam train to a ghost town, lol.

Here's the old depot in Gold Hill...

Went through some tunnels too...

Even found an old trestle...

Fun afternoon!

We just stayed for a few hours.

About 3pm we took the winding canyon drive to Reno! 

Taking in some of the best views ever.

But the best part was yet to come...

As we left Virginia City and drove to Reno we were able to spot numerous Wild Horses.

These looked healthier and even had some younger colts with them!

The canyon drive winded through the mountains with the best view of Reno opening up before us!

And the best view of the wild horses...

These days are so good.

Nevada... so free and wild!

No pics though, just so thankful and amazed to see them at all.

Finally arriving in Reno and checking into our hotel for 3 days and 2 nights!

Time to rest, eat and shop!