Home Means Nevada

If you are of the opinion that Nevada doesn't have much to offer in the area of beauty, you probably aren't alone and I might have been in agreement with you prior to this past week that we spent traveling the state! This was Justin's first official vacation since obtaininghis job at UPS, and since times are tough everywhere we decided to try and keep our costs low but our fun level high. So we opted for a family "camping" trip.

We started our adventure in Sunnyside, a very small town about 2 hours outside Las Vegas. My Aunt Sherri and Uncle Tom have a house out there, so we hung out with them for a few days. Lincoln loved everything about Sunnyside!!

Here is with the snake that Sherri and Tom caught for him on their property before we arrived.

And here he is fishing at the lake. He did really good for a 3 year old stuck on a boat out in the middle of a lake.

Look at the fish Daddy caught!

Lincoln loved the "motorcycles"!! Once he had his first ride, it was hard to pry him off. He was nothing but smiles the entire time. He loved the hills, and would scream "Yee Haw"and always wanted to go faster and faster.

After leaving Sunnyside we headed further north towards Wheeler Peak, the highest peak in Nevada. It is part of the Great Basin National Park, home of Lehman Caves, which I had never been to before. And it was pretty cool!! On our way there we stopped in Ely and rode the Ghost train.

Here is Lincoln enjoying his first steam engine train ride. We were pretty happy to be inside the passenger car, as the open car got pretty sooty.

Here is Lincoln and his Daddy at our campground at the top of Mt. Wheeler. Our campsite made us feel like we were the only ones there.

What a big helper!

He's got a little bit longer to go before he fit's in his Daddy's gloves! :)

Lehman Caves was pretty dark, at least from Lincoln's perspective! And he was very interested in touching everything the Rangers told us not to touch!

After leaving Great Basin National Park we made our way up to Elko and got our first glimpse at the Ruby Mountains. We stayed in a hotel in Elko the first night before heading up to Lamoille Canyon. (And I feel sorry for those that live in Elko, we didn't have many dinner options while in town) After a quick dip in the pool and a hot shower we were ready for another round of camping. And what a beautiful place it was!

Our campsite was in a campground called Fletcher Canyon, and it was right next to a swiftly running stream. The sound of running water was so soothing at night! And look at the view! :)

As we traveled back home, we headed down a new road to check out some other parts of our state. We saw some little towns, including Eureka, Pioche, Panaca, and a few others that you will miss if you blink. But just outside Panaca we found a hidden gem. The Cathedral Gorge State Park. This place is pretty cool. Lincoln loved walking up into the crevices. And once we were inside it really did remind me of the tall cathedral walls I saw while in Europe, but made of mud instead of stone.

Overall, we had a great trip. And it reminded me that I really do like camping, but I am still not a huge fan of bugs. And I despise bug spray and love hot showers and flushing toilets!