Lake Mead, Prescott Valley, and Cottonwood, Arizona

The four hour drive from Tonopah to Boulder City in Nevada was uneventful.  We got parked at the Elks lodge and set up.   

The next day we ran errands to prepare for our water-ski trip.  When we got to our boat storage garage, one of the tires was flat on the boat trailer.  Ugh!  Then, we were all packed up with our ski and camping gear and on our way to the lake around 4:30 when one of the wheels on the boat trailer started smoking.  We pulled over and Al pulled the wheel off. 

A portion of Lake Mead is visible in the background.

 

 

We were broken down next to the stinky sewage station and the temps were hot.

Luckily we were only a couple of miles from the Elks lodge.  Al tried some things to fix the problem but ended up towing the boat back to the Elks lodge on 3 wheels.  Then he worked on it until 10:30 PM. 

Al working on the boat trailer in front of our RV

Our friends, Bill and Maureen, were already at Temple Bar waiting for us.  The next morning, they drove the hour+ from Temple Bar so that Al and Bill could work on the trailer wheel.  They worked on the boat wheels all day with a trip to Las Vegas to get new rotors.   They ended up replacing all the rotors.

 

They were finally finished around 4PM and then the third problem, the power to the RV went out.  After about 30 minutes of searching down the problem it was the RV battery kill switch that got knocked when Al put a crate back in the trailer basement.  After all the fixes, we all went to the bar at the Elks to have a drink (just one) to celebrate.  We all drove to Temple Bar and we set up our tent for the night.  The weather was perfect!

We got some nice sunsets

After a one day delay to our water-ski trip, we finally got on the water to do some skiing.  

Al, Nancy, Bill, and Maureen
After lunch we like to just float around in the water and talk.

We got in two days of skiing before the trip was over.

We packed up our gear and then all went to Boulder City to wash, vacuum, and wax the boat.  Then put it back in the storage garage.  After, Bill and Maureen left to drive to their homes (AZ and CA, respectively) and we did laundry in town.  Then back to the RV to put our laundry away and then back to storage to drop off the rest of our gear. 

The next morning we had some yummy chilaquiles (a traditional Mexican breakfast dish made with tortillas, eggs, and either green or red sauce) in Boulder City at Huevos Street restaurant across the street from the Elks.  Then the long drive to Bill’s house in Prescott Valley. 

We hung out at Bill's house for four nights doing some hiking with his club, eating at our favorite Thai restaurant, and working on small projects.  

The day we left we stopped off at RV Armor in Prescott to talk to them about reinforcing the roof on our RV so we don't have to worry about any water leaks.  After learning more about their process, we drove about an hour to the Thousand Trails park in Cottonwood, Arizona to relax for six nights.  We previously spent the month of May at this park which is near Sedona.   

We got to rest up a bit and got ready before we made our way to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Balloon Fiesta.  Before leaving town we filled up with diesel for $4.59/gallon.  

I'll pick up from here on the next entry.  

Thanks for following along......

Dry Camping in Winnemacca, Hawthorne, and Tonopah, Nevada

We had a peaceful night at the Round Barn and drove about four hours to Water Canyon Recreation Area in Winnemucca, Nevada.  It was a boring drive and there were not many diesel stations along the route but we luckily made it to a Maverick station in town.  Then we headed to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) area for some free camping if we could find an empty spot as there are only 10 at this location. 

 

 Yea, we snagged a nice spot in a shaded area!

A little creek behind our site.

We did a little hiking.

Al got out his drone and took some photos of our campsite.

A good look at our solar panels.  
The two big boxes at the front and back of the roof
are air conditioners.

We stayed at this site for two nights and enjoyed a little hiking and the cooler weather. 

The next day we had another boring drive south to Sportsman Beach campground in Hawthorne, Nevada.  We squeezed into a site with no hookups for $3/night with a great view of Walker Lake!  In the past we stayed at the Elks lodge in town.  The main road hugs the side of the lake and we noticed campgrounds by the lake on a previous trip and made a note to try one our next time in the area.  We liked it better than staying at the Elks.

 

 

We spent two nights at Walker Lake.  Next we drove about 2.5 hrs to Tonopah and arrived at the BLM site and got parked.  This is our third time staying at this location.  The temps were really nice with a breeze.  There were more people here this time (maybe 6-7) other rigs parked here for the night with us.  

This was our route from the Round Barn in Oregon to Water Canyon NRA, Sportsman Beach on Walker Lake, and Tonopah, in Nevada.  That was five nights of dry camping/boondocking with no hookups. 

Next we'll be driving to Boulder City, Nevada near Las Vegas to do a water-ski trip at Lake Mead with friends.

A Round Barn in Diamond, Oregon

We left Sunriver and drove 4.5 hours to a Harvest Host site in Diamond, Oregon.  This site is the location of the Pete French Round Barn State Heritage Site.   We got parked near the visitor center/gift shop and set up.  

   

 Then we went for the short walk to the Round Barn to check it out.

  

The Pete French Round Barn stands in the heart of Harney County and remains a monument to one man’s livestock empire. Peter French arrived in 1872 and began amassing land and cattle. By the mid-1880s, his enterprise had grown to 70,000 acres and 45,000 head of cattle.

Some claimed he didn’t legally acquire the land or water rights, which prompted land disputes and court cases and added to his controversial reputation. One of the disputes eventually led to his murder in 1897.

Although dubbed the ‘Cattle King,” French was the first rancher in the area to put up hay. He also raised thousands of sheep for their wool. The Round Barn was used to train wild horses to pull long wagon trains full of wool, hay and supplies to market in Oregon City.

In today’s landscape, this type of barn is unique. But during 1880–1920, round barns became popular in the Midwest where they were promoted as being efficient for progressive methods of farming. 

 

  

The barn was built to provide covered space for training and exercising horses during the winter. The French livestock operation in the 1880s and 1890s was so extensive that nearly three hundred horse and mule colts were born each year; and while some were sold, most were trained for use on the sprawling ranch. During the bitter winter season, young horses and mules could be trained inside the barn for riding and freight hauling, and mature horses could be exercised in the covered circular paddock.

 

 

Peter French's years of aggressive tactics caught up to him in 1897.

In the late 1880's, homesteader Edward Oliver made a 160-acre claim on a section of French-Glenn's "P" Ranch along the contested Malheur Lake shoreline.  The shoreline had been resurveyed and was open for settlement.  French claimed the land and tried to throw Oliver and his homesteading neighbors out.  This time, French lost in court.

In the next battle of their 10-year war, Oliver successfully asked the county court for a road easement so he didn't have to go six miles out of his way to avoid trespassing.  Furious, French sued the county for the road's removal.

On December 26, 1897, the frustrated Oliver decided to avoid the six-mile detour and rode onto French-Glenn land.  Peter French was moving some cattle that day, and the two men met.  Facing each other on horseback, they argued bitterly.  French hit Oliver with a willow whip and started to ride away.  "He got only a few feet when Oliver drew a pistol and shot him," reported the Sacramento Record.  "French fell to the ground dead with a bullet in his brain."

 Our route to get to the Round Barn:

Another interesting site to spend the night.   We're headed to Nevada next.