Cave Lake State Park Picture Blog

When we first arrived, we checked out the campground near the lake, but it was full.  It's always the first one to fill up.  Cave Lake offers hiking, fishing, boating and camping.

Next, we went to Elk Flats Campground and claimed a spot.  There's not a bad one to be had.  It's a beautiful campground with stunning views.  The elevation is high enough to make the temperature comfortable, even in July.

Ready for a picnic, we drove back over to the lake.  Of course we're not ones to settle for a designated picnic area, so we found a dirt road, followed it for 1.5 miles and found a great little stream and waterfall to enjoy.

After our picnic, we enjoyed a little trout fishing at the lake.

As the night air got cool, we went back to set up camp.

Finally, we topped off our perfect day with a cup of hot cocoa.  We LOVE Cave Lake, and would recommend it to anyone who's thinking about checking it out.  Happy Trails!

Young Man vs. Wild

Dean  (the husband)
Shalane  (the wife  :O)

A young man from Las Vegas finds himself in the mountains.  It is so remote that his cell phone and internet access is non-existent.  What does he do?  Well, if he is visiting us, he goes fishing.   We woke up early so that we could make it to the lake as the sun was coming up over the mountain.  I thought that we would stay for an hour but we were there for over three hours.  We each caught six trout, and the day had just begun.   Michael had actually been ice fishing up here before and was anxious to fish the lake and see the area in warmer weather.   Later in the evening, we went to the lake at Echo Canyon State Park.  This time it was bass, and lots of them.  It was a constant state of casting and reeling in the fish.  We won’t discuss the size of the bass that we were catching, but we did get a few trout that were keepers.

Now, I’m sure that this young man, born and raised in Vegas, has always thought of us as a little unconventional.  However, over the course of the day, I think that he is finally understanding why we do what we do.   No he’s not.  He still thinks we’re nuts.  He says that he understands why we would want to travel around for three months each summer, but he can’t imagine living in an RV year-round.  It’s really hard to convince a person that this is a good idea.  People either get it, or they don’t.  Some people envy us, and some think we’re crazy.  Only one of our three children “gets it."  Hannah understands that our lifestyle is adventurous and liberating.  She keeps talking about doing what we do and wonders how she can do it NOW!    Michael has to leave tomorrow, but we‘ll fish one more time tomorrow morning.  I don’t think he is ready to move into an RV, but I do think that he at least has a better appreciation of why we live in one. 

There are so many fascinating things to see in rural America.  So many TV shows make a big deal out of going to “Vegas.”  I’ve lived there for the past 5 years, and I say, give me Lincoln County, Nevada any day.  Honestly, when we didn’t live in Vegas, we watched every one of those shows.  We lived in small towns and LOVED going to visit the bright lights of the city.    Okay, Las Vegas really is a fun and interesting place to visit.  It’s just that everyone knows about it.  Thank goodness few people know about all those awesome places within 200 miles of that city.  If they did, there might be a big population shift.  We hope to share our love of these hard to find places.  If we have to, we  will do it one person at a time.  One young man from Vegas saw a little of it today.  One down, 1,250,000 to go.  Hey, you gotta start some where!  

There are MANY people that live in the city but love the outdoors and rural America.  Unfortunately, jobs often keep us in the city.  Obviously, just the fact that Dean and I have been in Vegas for the past few years proves that not all people that live in the city are “city people.”  Many of them are reading this blog.  The good news is, that if you decide to, you can always make your way out, even if it’s just for the weekend.  For example, Las Vegas has a lot a great places to go outside the city.  Red Rock Canyon offers great hiking, as does Mt. Charleston.  Cold Creek is within 30 minutes and offers fishing ponds and wild horses roaming freely around the community.  Boulder City is a nice area to visit with its fun little tourist shops,  helicopter rides, Lake Mead and Boulder Dam.  So, you see, we can ALL, city people, or small town folks, take a minute to get away from the daily grind and enjoy the outdoors.  For those of us that live in RVs, we just can’t get enough of it.  Thus, the reason we do what we do.  There is just too much to see and do to be stuffed into a house that doesn't even have wheels on it.  That's just craziness! lol  :O)  Happy Trails!

Have You Ever...?

Dean (the husband)
Shalane  (the wife  :O)

Have you ever been fishing, and you know, in the first 15 seconds, that you are going to have a good time?  That very thing happened to me last night.  I had been waiting all day to throw my line in the water.  We like to go out about 7 pm at Spring Valley State Park, because that’s the time when all the trout are feeding.  It usually last for about 60 to 90 minutes.  Actually, it lasts much longer than that, but it gets to the point that you can’t see the bobber.  Anyhow, I baited the hook for the first time, cast the line out about 40 feet off the pier, and within 15 seconds I saw the bobber go under the water.  One quick tug and I was reeling in my first fish of the year.   Nope!  He’s not telling fish stories.  His first cast of the season, and he got the first fish.  I didn’t have near as good a night as he did, but he was kind enough not to gloat.  We went on to catch  11 fish for the night, all of them were rainbow trout.   I’ll cook them up tomorrow, probably over a campfire, but I haven’t decided yet.

 We were fishing off the pier with a young family that had driven all the way up from Panaca, NV, about 30 miles away.  When we got there we heard them say, “That’s number 9,” as they pulled in another fish.  Not long after that however, we heard one of the young ones announce to his mom that the line with all the fish on it had come undone and that they had lost all 9 fish.  We couldn’t quite replace all of them, but we did give them the first 7 fish that we caught before they had to leave to head back home.  Like I said, it was a good night, and not just because of the success that we had.  Somehow, knowing that we had helped this rather large, young family bring home a little feast of fish made us feel like we had been placed there at that place and at that time for a reason.  It was so cute.  The little boy was so excited each time Dean gave him another fish.

This afternoon, before going fishing, we spent a lot time getting the truck ready for our next big Greendockin’ adventure.  We have decided to go visit our family and friends in Kansas next month and take only the truck and not the travel trailer.   We plan on Greendockin’ every step of the way.  Our goal is to NOT stay in a single hotel or campground.  We’re looking for back roads and small towns.  We have limited room inside the truck, and wanted to make sure that we could get all of our Greendockin’ supplies in there.  After all, Greendockin’ is not about going without!  It’s not about revisiting the stone ages.  No way!  Greendockin’ is about enjoying back-road, low-cost adventures in reasonable comfort and with a few frivolous amenities.  :O)   It was a success!  In fact, we plan on leaving the trailer here within the next couple of days and finding a nice, secluded spot to boondock.     If you have never done this, you HAVE to try it.  There’s no way to describe the beauty of the starlit night, the solitude, the peace, and even the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you are completely self sufficient and self sustained.   It is SO gratifying, and if you have the opportunity to enjoy it with your best friend, like Dean and I do, it is all the better.  This means, of course, that we may not be blogging for a couple of days, as we don't plan in being real close to civilization.  Check in on us though.  We'll for sure be back on the grid by the end of the week.  :O)

One quick note on the solar generator.  We had used it last night and got it down to about 40% full, so I decided to recharge it this morning at 9 o’clock.  By 11 a.m. it was fully charged.  This is good information to know as we head out across the United States next month.