Blog Update - Death Valley and Pahrump NV!

As most of you that follow along, know I traveled from Salt Lake City to Pahrump Nevada to take care of some personal business, explained later. I am in a Passport America campground - Wine Ridge RV Resort! It is a beautiful park and really set up as a winter destination, there are quite a few rigs here for the winter. Two pools, two hot tubs, wonderful shower facilities, free breakfast every morning and weekly dinners! Pickle Ball courts, horse shoes...plenty to do!

Being so close to Death Valley National Park, I figured I would click another National Park off my list and shoot some pictures. By the way - I have now visited 18 National Parks and six National Wildlife Refuges!

But first a couple sunset pics from the campground, while I was cooking my steak on my new BBQ!





So yesterday morning I loaded up the truck with water and my cameras and headed out on a planned 238 mile round trip! Windy but not raining and a little cool, so a perfect day to see some sights!



Got to 260 feet below sea level and this was at the visitor center!



The mountains were beautiful and very colorful!



The place is huge and very difficult to capture the expanse and varying colors...worth another trip here for sure! Maybe tomorrow after the Ghost Town!

Here is a 9 shot panorama of the colorful mountains! BTW the mountains on the west side had some snow on them from yesterdays storm and the wind was blowing so hard it was almost impossible to stand up or open the car door!



Here is a shot of the basin!



Late afternoon it was time to return to Pahrump and do a little more exploring. As I drove into town and headed for "The Ranch", I passed through what only can be described as a speed trap - 45 MPH drops to 35 then right back up to 45! Well, I was in the 45 MPH range and one of Nevada's finest was there to stop me. I was more than a little concerned, since my plates were expired and the registration expired! Luckily it was a nice trooper and I explained that it would have been changed had Friday not been a holiday, he understood and only wrote me a ticket for 10 MPH over and seat belt...I want to be thrown clear, I hate seat belts!!

So after about 20 minutes of worrying and wondering if I was headed to jail...he delivered the ticket and I was on my way, seat belt fastened and under 35 MPH until I was out of the trap area...

So I pulled into the parking lot at the ranch and grabbed a few shots before going inside!







So I went inside and was promptly buzzed in the door (security) and met by what can only be described as the "Madam", nice woman, but obviously not on the list of delights. I explained that a beer or cocktail was in order and I was led into the bar, I was the only person there, settled on a beer and she proceeded to explain the system. Since I was not there to see a particular girl, she would bring all 6 out for introductions and review. I told her I was more interested in a T-Shirt and my beer...three other guys entered the bar and she brought out the girls. They were all very lovely and promptly introduced themselves and asked my name and then headed to the new guys to do the same. Then they broke off into groups of two to talk some business and offer to take me on a tour. I declined the tour, but was interested in the price list...promptly told that they would not discuss price in the bar, but would be happy to take me to a more private place to discuss the terms and conditions...and each girl sets their own prices!

So I figured what the hell and headed to a short tour and a discussion with a pretty young blond! The place is very clean and looks to be well run. Needless to say the prices were far more than I was willing to indulge in....but she was very courteous and offered to find another girl who may have lower prices...I kindly extricated myself from the situation and returned to my beer and T-Shirt - finished my beer and left and headed for a casino downtown for a light dinner and a little gambling.

That didn't go well either - out about $60.00 on the slots, but won 22 cents!! On my way out the door on a progressive penny slot!! Did have a nice inexpensive dinner then back to the RV for some early sleep time!

Today I intend to head back towards Death Valley and find a Ghost town and take a few more pics...if the wind is down, I may head back in the park and see what I can see!

Don't expect to be back at the Ranch anytime soon, but it was fun and I have a T-Shirt to remember it by, also got a nice shirt at Death Valley!

Bit nipply out this morning with the cold front that went through yesterday - 38 degrees this morning, warm and toasty in the RV...but even now it is only 49 degrees and headed for the low 60s's!

Stay tuned for some Ghost Town pics...

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - On the road again - Recap!

Well, I am back on the road again - had a great time in Ohio and got to spend some quality time with my sister and her husband and of course some great times with my old classmates!!

Really do have to send major Thank You's to Thom McKinney for taking the bull by the horns and providing a great location for the birthday party and Libby and Jan for helping at the door and helping promote and shame some lazy-assed people to show up! For the record we had about 60 people total - 55 registered at the door and a few spouses! I am so happy we had a great turn-out!

I flew back to Salt Lake City on Monday the 27th with several projects to accomplish before hitting the road. The thermostat went out on my fridge in the RV so needed to make that repair - then for some reason when I returned the battery on the truck was dead - brand new battery?? So had to get it jump started and then charged..all is well now - there must be a slow drain someplace - everything was turned off it should have been fine??

Took a few more pics in Ohio for you leaf people!







Fixed the fridge on Tuesday and went shopping for the road trip on Wednesday after the fridge cooled down - have a full fridge and ready for adventures!!

Thursday morning I hitched up and drove 481 miles to Pahrump Nevada. Have some business to take care of here and a couple side trips to Death Valley and a Ghost town! May stop by the Chicken Ranch Whorehouse and check out the girls and prices, but suspect it will be more than I want to pay - I can take care of things fine by myself!

While camping on the North Fork this summer, I experienced the ultimate "Outdoor Kitchen" made by Camp Chef and knew that I had to have the full set-up - so while in Salt Lake City I went shopping and bought the 2 burner expedition model, the one burner griddle and the one burner BBQ. See pics below! Friggin thing has two 30K BTU Burners - the griddle works great and have a big rib-eye out for dinner - Ice maker plugged in table set up - outdoor kitchen??? Have fun in the cold weather my Ohio friends...livin the dream!

Anyway after a long and tedious drive through Las Vegas rush hour - arrived Pahrump at about 7:00 pm local time and went to a suggested RV Park and pulled in - nobody in the office, so it said find a site and check in when they open in the morning, so that is what I did. What a beautiful Park. It is the Wine Ridge RV Resort. Go HERE< to check out their site.. This place is beautiful, I will be here for 5 nights before heading to my winter home in 29 Palms, CA.

Some pics of the camp site today! And the new Camp Chef!

Camp all set up!



The new grill ready for breakfast!



Bacon done perfectly!!



The ice maker plugged in and ready for "Happy Hour"!



BBQ set on the grill for tonight's steak!





Plan is to stay here for the weekend with a trip to Death Valley tomorrow and a ghost town on Sunday - DMV on Monday then head to 29 Palms on Tuesday or so...have work to do when I get there!! Gotta do SOME work!

Stay Tuned!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Ohio Update October 20th, 2014

So for those who are a little slow or don't keep up with my travel plans - I am in Barberton Ohio, came back for a graduation class birthday party and to spend some time with family and friends. The fall colors have been fantastic, however the grey gloomy skies and rain have limited my photography, but hope it will clear up before I leave in a week!

In the meantime here are a few shots and some pics from the Birthday Party - which was an absolute blast! Have to thank Thom McKinney and the Dutch for hosting and doing a wonderful job of it!











I love this quote!





Took a walk around Lake Anna - simply beautiful!







In case you wondered what Pat Millhoff looks like - contrary to popular belief she IS Alive!







Had a great group for Barberton Chicken at Belgrade Gardens!!



Now for the class birthday party pictures!

































What a grand time and great turn-out which just goes t prove it does NOT need to be fancy to satisfy the class of 1968!!

I want to personally thank each and everyone of you who attended and a big raspberry cheer to those who didn't!

See everyone again at Angie's tonight!!!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - New North Fork Video 10-3-2014

Since I got to Salt Lake on Monday - Steve and I have been working on editing some of the GoPro video that we shot on the July trip to the North Fork of the Flathead River, camped for 2 weeks and shot a bunch of different sequences, some good, some bad and with my laptop I just don't have the software required to create a good first rate video which is where my good friend Steve Carter comes in. He has the software and expertise to edit and cut and combine the different sequences, then add some stills and title pages etc.

Anyway - here is the end result and I love it - 15 minutes of a 14 day trip! Once the little video window opens click on the little arrows in the lower right of the video window to go to full screen! It looks best at full screen



Many thanks to my good friends in Kalispell for inviting me on their annual summer adventure and to Steve for taking the time to help me compose and create the final video. Alena - sorry but the Booger comment was just too hard to resist!

Stay tuned - going to take more fall color pictures before heading to Ohio next Wednesday.

See everyone in Ohio soon!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!