Our plan was to stay in Reno for two nights at the KOA park, but things weren’t quite as we’d expected, so we left this morning after only one night.

It’s not that we’re hard to please, but this KOA was one of the more pricey nights on our trip and therefore we expected things to be pleasant. I’d made the reservations a couple of months ago and at that time, I requested that we be placed as close to the casino as possible. One of the reasons I selected the KOA was that they advertised free wifi service.

As it turned out, after we had checked in and set up, we found wifi wasn’t available for us. Our campsite was too far out. Not only was it as from the casinos as possible, we were also beside a noisy road.

It would have been one thing if the park had been full, but it was only about 15-20% occupied, leaving many empty sites in our “price range.”

Apparently they were “saving” those prime spots for longer stays or for folks who just drove-in without a reservation. It was a little maddening to walk ½ mile past vacant sites to ours which was in the back-most corner.

So this morning (Tuesday) we packed up and left. Our destination is Wells, Nevada, where we can stay in a Flying J. It’s supposed to be pretty chilly tonight (low 40’s). When we get to Salt Lake City tomorrow (Wednesday), we will probably resort to boondocking again. We just can’t see paying camping fees when we pull in late and pull out early. Thursday our plan is to stop at a Moose Lodge in Cheyenne, WY.

Moose lodges have been great! Except for the first one (in Brazil, IN) we have met nice folks who really rolled out the welcome mat. Brazil was our first night out, and we hadn’t learned how to break the ice. The best by far was Albuquerque. They even gave us a small gift to remember them by. Bakersfield folks were also welcoming. Wish we could find a lodge tonight, but I don’t think there’s one in the area.

When I wrote yesterday, I was concerned about the weather. As it turned out. In Reno, it was about 80. The early evening was about 65 degrees. We were very comfortable. And we got rid of one blanket when we slept.

After dinner last night, we went “downtown” and checked out the large hotels. Looked like small version of Las Vegas. We finally tried a couple of slot machines, just so we could say we’d done it. Gamblers would have laughed at us agonizing over our penny and nickle bets. At one point I won 16 cents and John hit it big and was ahead 50 cents. We found we could make it last by going from machine to machine. The $3 we spent was “cheap entertainment” and kept us busy for about an hour, but gambling just isn’t our thing. We had enough sight-seeing by about 9:00 so we were back in our place petting the dog.

Right now where we’re driving there are mountains in the distance, but the scrub land on either side of the road is flat and dry looking, interspersed with salt flats. Actually the scenery keeps changing. Sharp and rocky looking mountains in some areas are replaced with more gentle ones. In many areas the mountains on the horizon have snow on them.

I’m a little concerned about Estes Park, Colorado, where we plan to stay for three nights this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It’s in the Rocky Mountains, and I forgot my snow boots. I keep hoping I won’t need them, but it’s looking more and more like there’ll be snow. The boots were on my list, and I thought I packed them under the bed, but so far I haven’t found them. John has his and we do have a winter jacket and gloves, but when we saw there was two to four feet of snow in the Sierra-Nevada mountains, I realized early May in the mountains still means snow! I’ll worry about that when we come to it.

We’re becoming experts on the condition of roads by state. When we were in California, I-80 was patched, washboard, and horrid. In Nevada, for the most part, I-80 is smooth and newly resurfaced. Traffic is light the day is beautiful. Temps in the mid to high 60’s.

Only about an hour until we reach Wells, NV.

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Well, we decided not to stop at Wells. It was a little too early to “call it a day” when we don’t have electricity so we’re heading on down the road to Wendover. Guess it’s right on the border between Nevada and Utah. Since Nevada is kinda wild, and Utah very conservative, it’ll be interesting. We’ll be that much closer to Salt Lake City. Tomorrow, we’ll get up and take off for SLC. If we find it interesting, we’ll hang around for the day.

The temperature is down to 61 degrees. (It was near 70 all day.) Maybe it’ll be slightly warmer when we get down out of these mountains.

The scenery has changed again. This stretch we’re driving through has tree covered mountains. First time today that we’ve seen trees.