My View

From our apartment is always quite lovely...

Usually we see an incredible sunrise.

This morning we woke to a wintry mix of all things Nevada.

Snow and sleet began falling around 6 am and blanketed my mountain backyard

With a white a icey goodness these Texans haven't seen since Washington State last year.

I'm sure travel is a slick mess for most around here, but we are warm and cozy for the day...

Enjoying our ever changing view from the comfort of our apartment. 

Moments like this make me so glad we reconsidered the whole rv camper thing...

I cannot even imagine the propane it would take to keep us warm,

Not sure how you brave souls make it all winter travel nursing in rv's in the northwest.

So today we are enjoying the tale end of our Nevada winter and looking forward to warm dry clear days of stargazing and road tripping this summer. 

Walmart

I know a lot of people don't like Walmart...

And that's ok because in the past it really hasn't been my first shopping preference either,

At least not in Texas.
Oh how I hate to admit it...

But, as we have travelled out west,
Walmart has become a huge lifesaver for us.

Since there's no Walgreens or CVS...

Walmart has been my only pharmacy.

Since there's no Kroger or HEB...

Walmart has been my go to grocery store.

Since there's no Hobby Lobby or Michael's...

Walmart has been my craft store.
Honestly, it's my everything store.

It's also the only place in town to print pictures too.

My daughter ordered prints of my grandchildren online 

and even had them printed for me here in Winnemucca for Valentine's Day.

I just went to the photo dept and they were ready for pickup.

I have really grown to love this Walmart...

And the best part... No crowds most of the time.

Some days I even have it all to myself!

*happydance*
Of course at other times it's full of ranchers loading up on monthly supplies,
And the parking lot is full of campers on their journey.

Since we landed back here on 2/6...

I think I've gone to Walmart at least 10 times or more, lol.

And I'm not kidding either.

There's always that one item we need and Walmart has it in stock.

We do shop local stores, but they are expensive and small 

with a very limited selection.

I've tried to embrace the little local supermarkets,

 but the unfamiliar brands and the sticker shock drive me away fast!

At least with Walmart I'm familiar with most everything and it's somewhat west coast affordable!

So...
Thank you Walmart...
For stocking my Texas comfort food...

and
for being my one little shopping pleasure out here in the desert.

Day In Day Out

I really don't have much to blog about right now.

We've settled back into our daily routine nicely and now are looking into

 some future adventures as soon as it warms up.

This summer we hope to travel to Idaho Falls and into Wyoming 

to see the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.

Maybe even Salt Lake City, too.

Such places I've never imagined we'd ever see!

This travel nursing life affords us such great opportunity!

But right now...

It's pretty cold this morning, 17 degrees, and dry.

Too cold for us to plan on any outside activities today.

We won't venture off too far until May or so. 

Maybe a trip or 2 to Reno for shopping and dinner, but that's all we might do right now.

We are enjoying our quiet life in the desert.

Hours upon hours of deep sleep and relaxation.

I've been cooking simple home meals, reading and homeschooling.

Watching direct tv and netflix, too!

Planning on visiting the local library this week and if it warms up...

maybe an afternoon walk in the park.

Otherwise...just acclimating back to the slow daily routine of life 

here in the vast Wild West desert of Nevada.

Waking Up in the Cold Desert

It's cold here...

31 degrees right this very minute.

6:36 am pacific time.

That didn't stop me from stepping outside for a few minutes to watch an amazing sunrise 

and snap some bad pics with my handy dandy iPhone 4, lol

So remarkable to me...

How the sunrises in the desert seem so magnificent.

The colors so vibrant...

Especially the pinks and oranges in the morning.

Wow! 

Oh how I've missed it.

Reminds me of a favorite verse...

Lamentations 3:22-24New King James Version (NKJV)

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Our Secret Honey Hole

But now it's not so much a secret anymore.

Anyway, we like it here and is affords us the perfect combination of

 a good strong contract and great affordable housing in the middle of nowhere.

Literally.

I think that is what scares people off...

The remoteness of it all.

We however enjoy solitary confinement in wide open spaces.

It's good for us but maybe not for everyone. 

I can see that a social butterfly would wither away here.

However we flourish in the peace and quiet...
And technically
We are only 2 1/2 hours from Reno/Lake Tahoe...
4 1/2 hours from Boise, Idaho...
And 5 1/2 hours from Salt Lake City, Utah.

And as far as the honey hole...
as Steve refers to the assignment here.

He finds contentment in his career and compensation in his salary concurrently.

What a blessing!
In a short period of time we have found that most, but not all,
travel nurse contracts pay very low for the more desirable locations...
like Colorado, Hawaii and Florida.
There's no money to be made there but the opportunity for travel is unlimited.
We may do that someday.
The high paying jobs usually land you in the neediest less desirable areas.
That's just what we've experienced.
And that's ok with us.
We'll make hay while the sun shines at the honey hole
then venture off on more lavish adventures soon!

Slowing Down in the Desert

And I mean way down...

Life as we know it just came to a screeching halt... again!

Desert living is a lot like Texas living...

Just in super slow motion. 

Our first major adjustment...

The speed limit.

In town it's 25 mph.

That's it, no faster.

No one and I mean no one is in a hurry.

No traffic, no lines, no noise.

Even at Walmart, lol

Just miles and miles of peace and quiet. 

It still seems strange to me that life here is this slow 

and the people here are so friendly, helpful and chatty.

It's a time warp I guess?

Last year it was difficult for me to acclamate to such a slow way of life, but once I did...

 I was able to truly appreciate living here in the high desert.

and I eventually grew to love it 

and my peaceful view of Winnemucca mountain from my bedroom window...

I even missed it while we were back in Texas, lol! 

Seriously this has to be the biggest perk of living out here. 

The incredible slow pace of life surrounded by peace and quiet...

And the cold clear sunshine...

And our luxury furnished apartment...

And the starry night sky...

And my rockin bed...

And the vast wide open roads of freedom...

And hubby's amazing hospital gig...

so much room to breathe...

I appreciate it all so much more...

I could go on and on and on but that would require too much thinking. 

Right now we are resting, relaxing and recharging in our own personal retreat 

in the high desert of Nevada at...

The Hall Hacienda

High Desert Storm

We lived out here in Nevada last summer for 5 months...

Same exact apartment building and we never saw a drop of rain hit the ground.

There were a few lightening storms but they never produced any liquid precipitation. 

So this afternoon was quite the surprise when a lovely little storm rolled in and produced some hail.

Wow!

Small little pellets about the size of peas!

Caught us by surprise... 

Glad they were small or they may have damaged our new truck. 

But all is well and we enjoyed a few moments of witnessing heaven's amazing display of power!

Settled in Nevada

For now...

It was fast and easy this time around.

Moving halfway across the USA should be more complicated than this...

I keep waiting for a disaster to occur.

But nothing...

Seriously,

This time around is so routine.

We've got it down to a science.

I'll blog soon about how and what we pack to make our travel so smooth 

and how we pared everything down to the bare necessities.

This freedom from stuff has made all the difference.

I apologize up front for these low quality iPhone pics but this is exactly 

how our apartment looks right this very minute.

No prepping or staging... Just living in the moment.

So, we landed safely in Winnemucca, Nevada a few days ago.

Unloaded and unpacked rather quickly into our lovely apartment.

I can't say enough good things about our total housing package.

The large kitchen has an abundance of cabinets, granite counters, 

and high quality fridgidaire appliances. 

Most every small appliances, housewares and utensils were supplied as well. 

Every single need for comfort is met.

Aaah just as I remembered,

the beds are amazing...

and so is the view from my bedroom...

Steve already set up our tv in the bedroom complete with dvd player and apple tv! 

yippee! 

The brand spanking new washer/dryer is down the hall in its own utility room! 

So spacious...

No skimping on the bathrooms either...

Wonderful granite double sink vanity with a separate tub/toilet area for privacy!

There's 2 complete bedrooms/bathrooms.

Fully furnished with all new linens too!

Even the dining room is spacious and convenient! 

Every living expense is included in the flat rate monthly rent, 

and nothing has been left out...

no corners have been cut on this unit.

We absolutely love the big screen tv complete with direct tv programming...

Most corporate housing does not include tv, internet, cable so this is a huge bonus for us! 

We love the super fast wifi!

The only purchase we have made is this little desk at walmart for our home office...

We simply need to bring our personal items, clothing and food.

It's even cat friendly, but no dogs allowed...lol

What a relief it has been.

And the best part... 

It feels like home already.

Now we are ready for an adventure!

Home away from Home

The last stretch of our epic Nevada road trip brought us a little excitement!

We left civilization, I mean Las Vegas on 2/6/15 about 7:30 am.
Steve made sure to stop and get me one final starbucks as we know there won't be any for a while...

We've driven this lonely road before...miles and miles of open empty highway.
With just an 8 hour drive ahead of us, 
We take the desolate route through Goldfield...

It's a historic mining town...

And Tonopah...

http://tonopahnevada.com/

enjoying the snow capped mountain views...

until out of no where we encounter a nasty dust storm.

Our visibility went from viewing the horizon to only seeing your hand in front of your face 

All in just a matter of minutes.

Wow, scary... But Steve slowed down and continued on. 

Only because there was no traffic.

Otherwise we would have had to pull over.

It cleared out near Austin, NV 

http://austinnevada.com/

and we continued to make good time

 arriving in Winnemucca about 2:45 in the afternoon.

The skies were overcast so I couldn't see the mountains in the distance.

We take housing at our past apartment complex.

High Ground Village Courtyard

http://highgroundvillageapartments.com/

It's ready and wonderful! 

Very well furnished with amazing beds, new linens, and new appliances,

Big tv, cable, internet with wifi all ready for us.

We love it and are so ready to sleep hard in the cold dark desert tonight...

Enjoying the freedom we have so missed and being able to breathe in the wide open spaces...

Our home away from home today...

Winnemucca, NV

Las Vegas

We left Albuquerque early, about 7 am on 2/4/2015.

What a beautiful morning and an amazing sunrise in our rear view mirror, wow!

It was a chilly 32 degrees and we see lots of snow in the passes and on the mountains.

While we love the beautiful painted desert and interesting rock formations in New Mexico we are always saddened by the extreme poverty.

Such sad living conditions exist in NM.

Numerous towns with no water, schools or clinics.

And I cannot believe the squalor that exists on the Indian reservations.

So so sad...too sad to even blog about it all.

Anyway, as we cross into Arizona, 

housing seems to pick up and govt housing switches from muddy cramped trailer parks to little square houses with small yards.

Much better.

The drive is relaxing and uneventful.

We pull into one of our favorite picturesque towns for lunch... Flagstaff.

Decided on Wendy's, Yummy!

Since we've no time to waste we head straight to Nevada and we arrive early to our wonderful suite at Laquinta Red Rock Summerlin Las Vegas.

It's good, we're tired, sightseeing, dinner and to bed.

Albuquerque

2/3/2015 was the hardest driving leg of our journey and 

most of it was driving northbound through Texas.

When we finally reached Amarillo we were able to increase our speed 

and it was interstate all the way!

We found a lovely rest stop along the way and enjoyed a picnic lunch, 

but it was really cold and windy.

Snapped a few pics...

And headed back on the road!

Arriving in Albuquerque about 3:30 pm.

Our wonderful suite at Laquinta was ready so we unloaded 

and enjoyed a nice dinner at the Cracker Barrel.

So tired that we turned in early so we would be well rested for another early departure in the AM!

Tomorrow's destination... Las Vegas, Nevada!

Weatherford

The first stop on our Nevada roadtrip was Weatherford, Texas. 

On 2/2/2015, We spent the better part of the morning just 

cleaning out our Kingwood apartment and checking out! 

We left about 10:30 am and made the short 5 hour drive to Weatherford.

Here we are less crowded in our new truck...

Spencer holding a cat in his lap!

lol
and I just noticed the light sabor sticking out of the backpack!
hahaha!
We never travel without one...never know when you might need it!

Of course, we went straight to the Laquinta, checked in, unloaded what had to be unloaded 

and went to run some errands... 

On the short list...visiting my parents, banking, and tire repair! 

We usually stay with my parents, but they have been ill and need to rest.

We had a good visit with them and we will be back by when we return to Texas.

Whew, got it all done and even went to Buffalo Wild Wings as per Spencer's request!

We hit the hay and had a good night's sleep so we could rise and shine early for the longest leg of our journey...tomorrow's destination Albuquerque, NM.