Who needs a gym?! -- Nov. 5, 2011

Fernley & Fallon, NV:

This morning, we had 16 degree temperatures outside and our freezer inside was not freezing things. What's wrong with this picture? We hoped there wasn't a problem with our refrigerator/freezer. The refrigerator seemed cold, so we made sure the door of  the freezer was latched tight before we headed out the door to work.

Next we went outside to find frost on the car windshield. (Why couldn't there be frost in our freezer?) After scraping the frost, we hightailed it to Les Schwab to buy snow chains before going to work. 

Snow chains may come in  handy tomorrow when we go to Great Basin National Park, about 280 miles from Fallon. It will be a long drive and snow is expected in that area tonight (1" - 3").  Driving home from work tonight, we could see the mountains far to the east, covered in snow. The air is so clear here!

Who needs a gym for a workout? Just sign up to work at amazon.com for the holiday season! Eight hour shifts are our schedule this week (as trainees ); however, starting Wednesday, we go to four ten-hour days. (I guess we'll be experienced by then.) Our job is in receiving--as in checking in incoming shipments. I've never seen so much stuff in all my life. 

All day long, we empty boxes, scan items and put them in bins to be taken to the nether regions of the warehouse. Many of the items we've worked with are very heavy and don't come out of their packing boxes easily. (I wrestle with boxes all day long and I think the boxes are winning the fight. In my mind box wrestling takes a close second to alligator wrestling. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.) Whenever I go into a store now, I have an appreciation for the effort it took to get the products from the producer to the shelves.

Since we started full-timing in our 5er two weeks ago, we had recently gotten rid of most of the "stuff" we collected over 28 years together...not to mention things we held on to from our childhoods and our children's childhoods. It boggles our minds to think of all the things people are buying/collecting/using. Our lives have become so much simpler since we've sold our stick & brick house. Both of us love this adventure.

After work, we went to Lowe's in Fernley and Ace Hardware in Fallon. I was looking for a new bright orange safety vest to wear at work. We were given plastic ones, but they don't breathe and about two hours into the day, my back was soaked with sweat. The new safety vest I bought is mesh so it should breathe better.

After Ace Hardware, we went to Walgreen's in Fallon to buy snacks. When driving out of the parking lot, we saw a man lying next to his car. (Remember it's about 24 degrees outside.) A blanket was dangling out of the passenger car door. His chest was heaving like he was having trouble breathing. I told Bob to stop and I ran into Walgreen's and shouted for them to call 911 as a man was lying on the ground outside his car and looked like he needed immediate help. 

One of the Walgreen's workers told her co-worker to call 911 and ask for an ambulance, then ran outside with me. As we went back out, we saw him get up and try to get back in the car. We thought maybe he'd be all right, but he fell back out onto the ground. 

The Walgreen's worker said she could handle it from there and sent us on our way. She went over and talked to the man, then she went back halfway back to the front door to tell the workers inside the store something. We think, since the man had been in the passenger seat, that his significant other may have been in the store. We felt bad leaving because we felt we should have done more to help.

When we got back to our 5er (fifth wheel), the interior temperature of our trailer was 46 degrees. Brrrrrr! We got the heat turned up immediately! Next, Bob checked the freezer. Everything was frozen solid again, so the door of the freezer must have been left ajar last night and once we closed it this morning everything worked as it should. 

Bob made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. I made a big spinach salad with pecans, gala apple chunks, black beans, diced sharp cheddar cheese and tomatoes.

Good news about some mail we've been waiting for...our permanent OR driver's licenses were mailed to Mom's house. (We received temporary ones when we passed our written exam at DMV.) She will forward them to us along with the license plates for Bob's truck.

Bob was researching US 50, the route we will be taking to Great Basin National Park tomorrow. The road is part of the original Pony Express route. We won't have a lot of time to sightsee along the way as it will take us about 4-1/2 hours to get to Ely, NV. Once there, we will spend the night in a motel, then head over to Lehman caves on Monday morning. 

Lehman Caves is just one cave, but somehow it got stuck with the "Caves" moniker. From the National Park Service (NPS) website: "Lehman Caves is a beautiful marble cave ornately decorated with stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, flowstone, popcorn, and over 300 rare shield formations." 

Here is the NPS description of the tour we want to go on Monday morning:  

Grand Palace Tour:

"Grand Palace Tours are approximately 90 minutes long. The Grand Palace Tour travels 0.6 miles, and children must be at least 5 years old to join the Grand Palace Tour. This tour visits the Gothic Palace, the Music Room, the Lodge Room, Inscription Room, and the Grand Palace sections of Lehman Caves, including a chance to view the famous "Parachute Shield' formation." 

Sounds great, can't wait!

Excited (Travel? Are we going to travel?) Travel Bug out.