California Trip 2022 Day 1

Yesterday was a full day. Our trip was from Nampa, Idaho to Sparks, Nevada.  The wiggles and I left early, the wife and teens leaving after she got off work. The twins and I had time to kill, figured we would stop every chance we got. 

There were two stops at McDonald’s, first in Nampa and then again in Winnemucca.

We stopped quickly by the back side of Deer Flat Nature Preserve and then traveled on to Marsing. We stopped at the park for more play and to chase ducks and butterflies.

There was a four year old boy at the park next to the river, I think he just turned four as he was happy to let us know, time and again. Don’t know anything else about him except that he was four. His mother fished nearby, keeping an eye on the little guy at all times. Of course, Athena, our mini mom took him underwing the whole time we were there.

Next we moved on down Highway 95 toward Oregon. When we arrive Scarlett realized that jumping from one side of the sign to the other meant she was jumping from one state to the other. She kept jumping back and forth, Oregon, Idaho, Oregon, Idaho…

Our next stop was Jordan Valley, where they played on the ”very old” playground set, which reminded me of the ones from my youth, hard metal basic pieces, a slide, a monkey bar, etc. Trying to reprise their sister Sere’s cartwheel from years ago at the same place they made their attempts. 

Just past Jordan Valley lays Antelope Reservoir, which had been drained to a tiny fraction of the lake’s capacity. We hiked down to the water’s edge, the dried broken lakebed under foot. They found an old metal stovepipe, which they dug out like treasure and then held it up proudly. That is until they noticed the red rust particles covering their hands. Dirty work archeological sites can be.

We continued on to Rome, Oregon, seeking out the Pilliars of Rome a collection of mighty cliff faces warn down to resemble pilliars you might find at the monuments of ancient Italy.

We then headed toward Nevada, our next planned stop was the border sign and maybe Ice Cream at McDermott. By the time we arrive though both twins had dozed off from the extension of the day so far. Knowing better than waking sleeping giants or eight year olds, I drove on.

Only to get stuck in road construction traffic about a mile past McDermott. Highway 95 was being repaved and traffic was down to one late taking turns each way. A sign warned of up to a 30 minute wait, which is what found myself waiting before slowing moving forward.

Reaching Winnemucca, Nevada we stopped to admire the various military vehicles at the Veterans Memorial. This lies just outside of town on the 95 and can easily be missed, but worth stopping to take a look at.

McDonald’s called our name and the twins enjoyed the very large and quite unique play place.  We filled up the tank and headed south on interstate 80. We had hoped to stop at lovelock to check out the locks of love. We have one there and the twins wanted to find it. Unfortunately darkness fell as we approached Lovelock.

We continued forward our next stop would be the casino, The Nugget, in Sparks, Nevada. We were asked if we wanted a room up high and both of the twins were excited with that concept. Our room on the 26th floor overlooked the lights of Sparks. 

The rest of the family arrived about an hour later, and I excused myself to explore the casino floor.

Although many of the tables were closed, I found it easy to play any game I wanted. I am not a big slot person, but I have been messing around with the newer spinners with the secondary games. You tend to have to play 3-5 dollars a hand to have the mini games activate. I hit twice on these last night, turning 60.00 into almost 900. I walked out with a spring to my step.

And day one of our trip ended with a smile.

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