Historic Hoover Dam

Our travel schedule is tight heading back to Texas but we wanted to make sure and visit as many bucket list places as we possible can.
We know this life is temporary and who knows when we will have another opportunity for a west coast adventure. 

There's so much to see and do out west and I pray we can return someday to share more adventures with our family! 

Travel with all our kids and grand kids does seem impossible right now but someday we hope to share our adventures in smaller bites with the ones we love. 

We woke up tired and contemplated the importance of getting up so early and driving almost an hour away to see a dam.

We finally decided that Historic Hoover Dam was a must see bucket list item, so we trekked out there 10/21/2014.

It's a nice drive just east of Las Vegas. The weather was gorgeous and the views simply amazing!

and the water is so blue...similar to Lake Tahoe but with no woods.

Since we are driving halfway across the US with all our belongings loaded on top of our jeep we are flagged for a search at the entrance to the dam.

Fun for everyone...
Lots of security here so be prepared to be searched, we were!

It slows us down a little but we are granted access so here we go...

So amazing and so glad we didn't change our mind and sleep in.

It was so tempting...

Anyway, the dam is huge and there is a lot of historical information. 

http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/

It sits on the Nevada Arizona Border so that was interesting.

It's well worth the visit and so affordable.

The only fee we paid was the $10 parking fee, but there's numerous tours to take...

Even repelling and a raft tour.

Not for us today.

So, we walk through some of the monuments and read about the history of the Dam.

it's good luck to rub the feet of  the angel...

I don't believe in random luck but I go ahead and rub the angel feet anyway, lol.

We are just happy to be here and enjoy the gift of sightseeing.

Lake Mead is just a short drive down the road...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mead

 so we decide to park and get out for a few minutes.

and it is beautiful!

We are so thankful to give Spencer these good memories!

The bluest water but does seem a little low.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lake-mead-is-shrinking-and-with-it-las-vegas-water-supply/

And I can't forget the Pat Tillman Bridge...

http://www.hooverdambypass.org/

we drove on it, but you can walk up a jillion flights of stairs to actually walk across it.
Not today, sorry. 

We do spend about 2-3 hours there and decide to leave and have lunch in Boulder City 

at an A&W burger restaurant. 

We initially tried to eat at the Dairy Queen, but alas as most DQ's are only treat shops out west, 

this one was too. So, A&W it is.

Good burgers...good root beer and now we are all ready for a nap, lol

Gotta rest up for more Las Vegas sightseeing this afternoon and evening!

What happens in Vegas Part 1

Stays in Vegas... Haha!
We spent 3 days and 2 nights in Las Vegas.
So much to see and do.

The first evening we arrived tired and hungry after a long drive from Winnemucca,
but we couldn't let that slow us down.
So, we unloaded and did what everyone does in Vegas!
We hit the strip, lol!

We found the Paris Hotel...where we honeymooned nearly 15 years ago!

http://www.parislasvegas.com/

and one of our favs...The Hard Rock Cafe!

http://www.hardrock.com/cafes/las-vegas/

My guys really enjoyed dinner here and of course we had to purchase a few souvenirs too!

We didn't stay out too late so we could be rested for another big day of sightseeing the next morning!

Historic Hoover Dam here we come... and much more Las Vegas too!

Our epic Texas road trip begins...

October 20th was a beautiful clear cold morning and a wonderful start to our epic road trip back to Texas.
Our jeep is loaded down, complete with 2 cats and most of our worldly possessions.

We leave Winnemucca early, about 6am and travel east toward Battle Mountain. After grabbing some quick breakfast and topping off our gas tank we head south on a lonely hwy to Las Vegas... And I mean lonely highway, like we drive for miles and miles and never see a car. 

The long desolate drive gives us plenty of time to reflect on the past 19 weeks. I definitely will miss the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and the amazing views from our apt and my mountain backyard.

It's hard to imagine a place so vast and empty...no traffic ever, so much elbow room and freedom! 

That's the one thing that I will remember forever!

Around lunchtime, we find an area to rest and enjoy our picnic lunch, of course we are still in the middle of nowhere. I'm so glad I packed our food for the day as the opportunities for lunch have been minimal, like a dirty gas station on a desolate highway.  

Thank goodness we were able to get gas often since our little tank only holds 12 gallons. 

So, after a brief stop we continue on to Las Vegas. Somewhere near the Death Valley exit, my phone starts working and we pick up a location for Area 51. Makes sense... In the middle of no where, near Death Valley and near Edwards Air Force base. Could be...

Finally 9 hours later we enter the outskirts of Las Vegas. We are met with traffic, and restaurants, and people...lots of them! Our Laquinta is just west of town and we arrive safely. Our room is good and we are ready to rest on the first leg of our epic road trip home. 

Hello Texas

It's great to be back home! We had a wonderful roadtrip back to Texas, sightseeing all through Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico! I'll be blogging about our 2 weeks of living on the lam while we were in between Steve's contracts and I'll also break the trip down in bite size pieces so I can savor every single moment over and over again. It was a magical end to our west coast adventure... Celebrating our birthdays on the road and even spending a lovely week in Springtown, Tx with my Mom and Dad! We have been in a state of constant reunion these last few days/weeks. It's good but travel life is hard sometimes and we find ourselves tired and discouraged, it's emotional and full of never ending hellos and goodbyes. It's our choice though, to live in freedom and to choose a full life of endless possibilities. This travel life isn't new to us anymore and maybe some of the sparkle has left. Now life continues and presents constant job opportunities which require much decision making. We never had so many choices before us...soon we must decide a travel plan for 2015/2016. We must also come to terms with a new travel vehicle and make some hard decisions regarding housing. So scary and exciting all at once, and honestly we have multiple possibilities, each can be good for us.

 So now... we eat kolaches, bbq and Mexican food, we spend day after day visiting with family and friends, we schedule dr appts, rearrange our storage, enjoy great cell service, wifi, and cable, 

shop at HEB and Kroger, and pray and wait...

 just part of the adventure.  

Goodbye Winnemucca

Don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

14 months is a long time to be away from home.

I have been ready to leave for the last 6 weeks and today is the one week mark!

Yes! We are leaving Nevada and heading to Texas in 1 week.

I'm sure it will drag and seem like the longest 7 days of my life!

Steve says that I'm a little too harsh.

Maybe, but I'm being truthful.
Overall, Nevada wasn't bad to us...
Maybe we were bad to Nevada? 

lol, always comparing it to Texas.

That's not fair since there's no comparison.
Winnemucca 

http://www.winnemuccacity.org/

has been our least favorite location on our west coast adventure.

We loved Sparks, Reno and Lake Tahoe and so thankful 

we were able to travel to California to see San Fransisco and Yosemite too!

But the life here is so different from Texas,
sinful and free, so slow moving...

The sky so vast and empty

The desert so beautiful and barren,

The night air so clear and cold...

so dark that moonlight

and stars are the only light 

you can see...

all happening at once!

Full of the nothingness that is Nevada.

I did try to embrace it but it ended up just being a 

lonely money making star gazing stop in the desert.

That's all I have to say about Winnemucca

Til we meet again...Doubt it.

Now we begin our countdown to our final road trip as we travel back to Texas.
We're so thankful for these days but we're tired and ready to be home!

Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse

One of the perks of living in the high desert is the unlimited opportunity for stargazing!
In July I was able to view the super moon from my front porch
and it was a glorious sight to behold.

Another spectacular event took place just yesterday on Wednesday October 8, 2014...

http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-a-blood-moon-lunar-eclipses-2014-2015
The Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse

http://t.space.com/all/27380-blood-moon-eclipse-photos-october-2014#1

I was met with a rare opportunity to witness such a bucket list event...

 The skies so clear the air so crisp and a million stars sparkling...

Beyond blessed with a once in a lifetime view...

Simply amazing and so breathtaking.

I awoke about 3 am with hopes of seeing it in the northwest sky and lo and behold...

There it was!

The vast clear skies of Nevada offers some of the best viewing opportunities in the US.

All the phases of the lunar eclipse slowly revealed itself
over the course of the next few hours and wow!

Beginning with a blood moon rising and ending with a big finale of a huge bright full moon!

The most amazing moment was hearing coyotes howling and then what sounded like a kill. Goosebumps all over... Nature is so amazing out here in Nevada.

Later that evening I noticed how bright the full moon was but I didn't take any pictures.
So, this morning I wake up and do what I always do.
I go to the window and open it to feel the cool desert breeze and lo and behold ...

here we go again...
another amazing clear cold morning in the desert

with the full moon setting on Winnemucca Mountain right in my backyard !

Friends, for the record, I'm a christian, a dreamer, a stargazer...
I'm not a writer nor a photographer.
I write from my perspective so I can remember these good days forever.
I take pictures with my handy dandy canon powershot sx50.
All of these photos I took from my front porch or through the window screen of my bedroom,
 never even leaving my apartment.
I count each day a gift and this 14 month west coast adventure of mine,
well it's a once in a lifetime chance to see God's handiwork over and over again...

Decisions

Everything we do matters.

My freedom to choose is a powerful thing.

So powerful that it reconciles my past and determines my future.

Today is the culmination of all my past choices!

That means the choices we make today are super important.

It's that time again when one contract is ending and a new one beginning...

When we choose the next destination of our adventure. Today we make decisions regarding our future, our careers and our housing.

Such decisions requiring much consideration and prayer.

So today...

We choose freedom over slavery!

We choose living over existing! 

We choose light and love and 

peace and joy! 

Today we choose hope as we continue on our life's journey. 

Today we choose this life and we pray God's blessings as we travel this road home.