Before I begin, my apologies to all of our readers...when I set up the parameters for our blog, I had failed to notice that it did not allow comments to be made without being a registered follower. It's been fixed (I think) so comment away everybody!
Dad and Mom Brown (Les and Sandy) drove us around to many of the local scenic areas of Mesquite, NV. One place we saw, Snow Canyon, has always been a place we wanted to visit. I had visions of trees, fast running streams and lofty peaks with mountain goats and soaring eagles. Ok...maybe not the eagles, but hopefully the remnants of recent snows. The canyon is actually named after the Snow family...early pioneers of the area. The canyon was flooded with lava years ago and some of the areas where the lava flowed over the sandstone hills and into the canyon are still visible. There are walking trails, a camping and picnic area, etc. to see.
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Snow Canyon...sandstone hills with lava flows in the valley |
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| Karen and her dad, Les...on the edge. The next day, Les and I visited the local pioneer museum. Almost all of the items in the museum had been donated by descendants of the local pioneers...there were butter churns, treddle sewing machines, countless photos, farm tools, books, and even an old telephone switchboard. |
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| We've seen different "animal" signs on our travels, but burro signs are pretty rare |
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| A small town grocery/gas station and our "rescue" This gas station has a great story to go with it...we were traveling in N. California towards Alturas and were in need of gas...almost into our "danger zone" of 1/4 tank and, at the rate the truck burns fuel, we weren't sure if it would make the last 40 miles without sweating bullets. Luckily, we spotted this station. And No Waiting! The minivan in the pic showed up just as we did. The pump was one of the old style...no credit card reader...so I headed towards the store to prepay. The fella that got out of the minivan said that he would go in and turn on the pump! hmmmm...okay...? So I start thinking that maybe the customers must have to really selfserve here in this town. Anyway, Karen went in to use the restroom and visit with the folks while I pumped. What we found out was astounding. It seems the fella and his wife (the owners) had just driven in to town to turn on the pumps for some friends that were arriving later for gas. The store had been closed for almost 3 weeks! The Lord sure does work in wonderous ways! Sadly, they also told us that they are selling the business. In fact, we were to be their last actual customers. The next day, July 1st, they were being required to "dip" (measure) their fuel tanks and pay the State of California a 17 cent per gallon state-wide fuel tax increase. When they retired from ranching, the owners said they wanted to start the station to provide fuel for the area since it was a such long way to the next one. Due to the tax increase and being unable to hire help to run the station, they couldn't justify keeping it open any longer. Ironically, there are a lot of folks around their area that are unemployed, including some that recently quit working for them. Evidently, the unemployment insurance program that was recently expanded and extended made it more lucrative to stay on unemployment than to get a job. What was news to us is that a person can actually quit their job and still get an unemployment check. What a wonderful legacy we are leaving for the next generation...Don't work, the government will just take care of you! I wonder what will happen when the tax revenue stops coming in due to businesses closing up... Thanks again, Lord (and the station owners) for being there for us! And, please help us to regain our national sanity. |
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