Lovely Lovelock Nevada

Yes it is lovelier up close than the view you get from the Interstate.

I know OJ Simpson lives there and all
At the Lovelock Correctional Facility
http://doc.nv.gov/Facilities/LCC_Facility/
plus we've driven right by without even a glance at the town.

So finally, in September, we decided to take a little day trip and 

we found it to be a quirky picturesque place and 

Perfect for an afternoon of picture taking and sightseeing.

We first stopped at the Pershing County Courthouse.

http://pershingcounty.net/

It's right in the center of town...

Across from the Safeway!

We walked the well kept grounds...
Admiring the old building and plaques like this one...
The Ten Commandments

And right behind the courthouse is a little park...

Lover's Lock

http://www.cityoflovelock.com/

We enjoyed looking through all the locks...

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

Some are quite old.

This is my favorite!

Then we drove around and snapped a few pics.

Reservation Administration Buildings...

The little local hospital...

and just as we were leaving town we saw these guys...

I'm sure the owners wondered why I was taking a picture of their goats and Llama, lol

We found out later that there are caves nearby
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovelock_Cave
Maybe we can visit them before we leave the area.
All in all, Lovelock is very quaint historic town.
Another nice day trip in the vast Nevada desert!

Thunder Mountain Monument

So, I know it's been a while since I posted.
We are still "traveling" at the moment here
in lovely Northern Nevada!
I've got a major backup of pictures and sightseeing to share and I hope to get it all posted before we leave and head into our new adventure!
Yes! There is a new adventure on the horizon.
But for now we have been taking in the local sights,
homeschooling with a fabulous group (more about that soon)
and enjoying every last minute of mountains and snow that we can stand!
So, catching up on my backlog for now...
Back in September...
We took a little drive up the road and stopped at
THUNDER MOUNTAIN MONUMENT 

in Imlay, Nevada

http://www.thundermountainmonument.com/

I am speechless.

Wow!

yes, it's for real!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunder_Mountain_Monument

Someone had a lot of time on their hands...

Read it for yourself.

It was a lot to take in at once...

But we walked around it and took a lot of pictures!

Everything was repurposed from trash.

This is some serious recycling...

Major Art...

But appears to be very poor engineering...

It's great for an afternoon of photography!

Lots of funky statues...

This whole building is concrete and bottles...

Wow...

Art everywhere...

Just gets more interesting...

Everything is handmade...

Years in the making...

I cannot even imagine the time spent on this monument...

http://www.nevadadaytrips.com/thunder-mountain.html 

One of the strangest places I have ever seen, lol.

Seriously, so weird...

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/7813

I tried really hard to keep an open mind.

But alas I failed.

I'll wait for you at the truck, lol.

Spencer is smiling because it's time to leave, lol.

You just have to see this place for yourself.

So if you are ever out sightseeing in Northern Nevada...
Be sure to stop by Thunder Mountain Monument in
Imlay, Nevada.

2 Year Freedomversary

Yesterday we celebrated our 2 year freedomversary by going to Taco Bell.
That's the best mexican food in town, haha!
Just 2 short years ago we began our temporary travel life together...

Leaving suburbia behind and embarking on the unknown.

I'm glad we jumped like we did because if we had known everything we know now...

Well, we may have done a few things differently...

And that could have affected the outcome.

But I relish that fearless blissful ignorant moment when we took such a giant leap.

A leap of faith...

That taught us so much...
Confirming what we already knew to be true...
Making us stronger and more self sufficient,

Changing our view of some things...
But mostly reinforcing our core beliefs.

Our life slowed down to a crawl,

Broke the cycle of suburban living,

And gave us a new debt free future full of hope and purpose.

We needed that and we will carry that with us forever,

Wherever we roam!

We are so thankful for all the amazing kindred spirits we crossed paths with this past year.

I respect your privacy so I won't indulge too much information about you...

But if you are reading this, you know who you are!

And I Thank YOU!

You friended us when we needed it the most.
You supported our crazy travel notion and
You brought a new perspective to our southern souls!
You gifted us much more than you realize by your kindness.
But mostly you restored our hope in humanity by
Reminding us that good folks are everywhere! 

This year brought even more lovely excursions,
although I find it will be hard to ever top our first year of full time travel.
(Washington State was amazing!!)

We purposely slowed down our adventures this year,
So that we could enjoy the slow desert life.
(and bank some $$)
With that decision...
We invested in some camping gear and we camped...
In the high desert...at Wildhorse...

and South Fork Recreation areas.

We went sightseeing in Lamoille...
Drove all through Owhyee Reservation,

Spent many a day in Elko and Reno.
We drove and hiked all over Northern Nevada...
To Fort McDermitt and
To the edge of civilization in Denio.
We visited Lake Tahoe AGAIN, lol.
Drove into California and Oregon a few times too...
Even marked Idaho off our bucket list!
We've played in the snow.
Found ourselves in a sand storm.
We've stargazed more that I like to admit.
And picnicked...
Walked all over Winnemucca Mountain,
Water Canyon and Grass Valley.
Visited lovely Lovelock...
Rye Patch,
and Thunder Mountain Monument in Imlay.
Drove through Fernley and Silver Springs...
Saw wild horses...
and Antelope...
Visited Virginia City...
Exercised our 2nd Amendment...
Took our homeschool to a new level...
And I'm sure there's more...
We are so thankful for these desert adventures and looking forward to 2016.
Right now the future is unknown to us and
We are trusting God for his plan to reveal itself soon!
Yes, I'm very homesick and ready to go home to Texas, at least for a visit.
I love Nevada though and it will always be our home away from home!