Monday, Oct. 20, 2014 – Long Travel Day to Amargosa Valley, With Flat Tire

Set the alarm for before the crack of dawn, and dawn was just starting to break as we got up and ready to go. We had decided to pick up breakfast on the road, not even making coffee, so that we could get out early. Managed to get out of the campsite by 7:30, but ran into a glitch at the dump, which we eventually solved, but it slowed us down. A quick stop in Carson City to pick up breakfast before hitting the highway, heading east on 50 to 95A, then south. Roads were good, straight and pretty empty, and things were going fine until after we passed Yerington, when suddenly I blew a tire on the RV. This is the first tire we’ve lost on the Open Range, and it was probably because we didn’t empty our gray water at the dump this morning, a contributing factor at least. Fortunately, we happened to be right in front of a gas station (a rare occurrence on this route, so it was great luck), so we pulled in and got to work. Twenty minutes later, the tire was changed and we were on our way again. When we reached Tonopah about 100 miles later, I found a tire store that had a replacement, so while Hubby has getting lunch to go at a casino just up the road, I got the new tire remounted and back in place under the RV. We’ll mount it ourselves later when we have a little more time. We both finished about the same time, miraculously, and I grabbed my lunch and we headed out again, feeling relieved we had a spare again. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and despite all the delays, we still managed to pull into Amargosa Valley RV Park by 4:45. Glen the manager welcomed us, and told us that we could put the horses inside the fence around the residence, rather than putting up a portable fence. It was quite a large space, though I offered to put the portable corral inside to keep them from wandering too much, but they seemed to think it would be all right, so we let them go. Fed them, set up the RV, and since the horses had a safe place, Hubby decided we could stay an extra day to visit Death Valley National Park tomorrow. That prompted him to set up the satellite dish, which he managed to do just before dark, with a beautiful sunset behind him. Settled down for the evening, nowhere near as exhausted as we though we would be considering the long drive and the extra work of dealing with a flat tire. Guess we’re building up our stamina again! Won’t be long out of bed, though : -)