The Shootin' Range

Right in our own backyard!

Located on...

Seriously...

It's really nice for a shooting range!

Spent an afternoon popping off some rounds, lol.

BANG BANG...

We've got 2 small handguns...

And Nurse Haley wanted to shoot one so she met us out there!

She's a good shot!

me and my Ruger LC9

Steve and his Ruger SR9C

Fun afternoon but it got hot really fast so we got some gas and took a drive

 to the top of Winnemucca Mountain!
I'll blog about that tomorrow!

Winnemucca Basque Festival

I'm so glad I went ahead to the parade on Saturday 6/12/15.

I almost talked myself out of it, 

But I went...

ALONE, ugh.

So, this is really out of my element to go somewhere by myself.

But I faced my fears and headed downtown mid morning.

And guess what?

I'm ok... Just me and my handy dandy camera!

I found a great parking space and a spot in the shade

To view the Basque Festival Parade!

http://nabasque.org/fliers/winnemucca_festival_flyer.pdf

It's sort of a big deal here!

http://www.winnemucca.nv.us/attractions_basque_culture.html

The Basque people have a long history in this area.

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

So, Winnemucca celebrates their heritage with a parade and festival in June each year.

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

In the beautiful high desert of Nevada!

http://nevadabasque.com/who-are-the-basques/

on one of the old historic hotels in town...

Here's some parade pics! 

From the beginning...

The grand marshall

children dressed in traditional basque clothing!

a good turn out on this warm summer day!

Traditional basque music... it sounded a lot like Texas polka music!

Winnemucca Fire Dept!

HGH EMS

These ambulances are massive!

They have the best rescue vehicles!

Local folks turned out too!

Softball teams!

Lots of kids enjoying the candy!

more parade...

Winnemucca rural fire dept.

more floats...

Massive BLM Fire Trucks!

and I mean MASSIVE, like a tank!

Even Smokey the Bear was there!

The crowd was really enjoying it!

More huge BLM fire fighting equipment!

WOW!

I guess that's about it.
There was a festival with food, dancing, music but I didn't stay for all that!
The parade was enough for one day!

Winnemucca Farms

I try to buy local whenever I can and so I bought a bag of 

Winnemucca Farms Potatoes!

They are huge!

Fresh and affordable...

Got em at Walmart, lol! Just a perk of living in Winnemucca!

A Short Year Ago

We found ourselves landing right smack dab here in the high desert of Nevada.

A very soft smooth landing into an amazing comfortable apartment and assignment.

Our first thought was... what have we gotten ourselves into?

The nothingness is quite shocking at first, well mostly because we are big city folk.

But as time went on...

 The desert became our friend and the quiet was less deafening.

In fact, it became a comfort.

The stars spoke to us nightly...
The mountains surrounded us with protection...
The air filled our lungs with freedom...

and slowly we found peace we never imagined existed.

Maybe its not all that we said. 

Maybe the desert is just a lonely stop on life's highway.

Just 5 months later we said goodbye to our temporary Nevada home and headed back to Texas...

To our loved ones. 

To our real home.

To our friends and family.
 To shopping and dining.
And unfortunately to crime and traffic.

But alas, it was short lived. 

The west was calling our name again, ever tugging at our hearts. 

We returned 4 months later...
And yes, the desert is still a comforting and peaceful place.
 the perfect place for a dreamer and stargazer like me...

Not our forever home though...
Just our pretend home away from home...
Til we get back home, to Texas, that is...

Texas Lakehouse

So, I emptied out my cameras...
and found lots of wonderful pictures I need to share!

While we were in Texas earlier this year, Spencer and I went to the Lakehouse 

that belongs to my daughters boyfriends family. 

I know it's confusing but anyway...

We had a good relaxing weekend visiting with Emilie, Zach,

And his family in Broaddus, Texas on Lake Sam Rayburn.

Fun!

Beautiful sunset behind me!

We played with dogs...

chugger and bonnie

We enjoyed a campfire...

Spencer, Emilie and Zach went canoeing...

They picked up bonnie on the way back!

I even rode the 4 wheeler with Zach's mom, lol

So fun and oh how I miss them and being in Texas.

Grass Valley Road

One fine evening we took a lovely drive just a few miles out of town.

We headed south of Winnemucca on Grass Valley Road and in just a few short minutes

 we were in the middle of no where!

Literally...

Again...

So peaceful...

Surrounded by mountain views...

Just a quiet moment...

Inhaling the clean air...

While the sun begins to set in the beautiful high desert!

Strawberry Moon

I love stargazing in the desert!

We have the best views out here.

So on June 2, we set out to look for the strawberry full moon!

Steve drove us to a rest stop on the edge of town

Where we could watch the moon rising in the mountains!

Simply breathtaking!

These views I'll never forget...

This desert life...

So slow and peaceful...

And God's amazing handiwork...

Wow...

I've no words to describe it!

Each day is such a gift out here in the cold clear desert.