Heading East.

Gold Ranch RV Resort

Verdi, NV 89439

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RV LIFE:

We've come to the end of our week with the Cedar Creek RV Owners' Club. A really great group of people, (even if my seat kept being taken).

Here's our rigs all lined up. I think we were 28 rigs and took up 3 rows.

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:

A group of about 45 of us headed out to the Atlantis Casino for the TOUCAN CHARLIE'S BUFFET. 

And upon arriving at the register to pay ahead, we were ID'd!!!!! Life comes full circle doesn't it? In your teens you can't wait to hit 21. In your 30's you're thrilled to be ID'd to make sure we're 21. In your 40's you just look at the clerk and say "really?", because you KNOW you look over 21. Toucan Charlie gives a senior discount for 55 and older. Our FIRST SENIOR DISCOUNT! And yes, we were ID'd.

We are led to the back of the dining room where a bunch of tables have been pushed together for our group. Two long rows of tables and not much room in between the 2 tables. I have no patience for that, so I proceeded to pull the tables away from each other and others helped, so we could get to the seats in the middle. Oh Geeze! As we're moving the tables apart a couple swoops in and takes the seats that we just made room for. Ooooooh boy I was angry. Best for me to just walk away. Which I did and found an empty row of tables. We had much more room at these tables anyway and I knew the folks that sat near us better anyway. So there!

The buffet came out to about $25.00 (w/tax and tip included). Great buffet. Rated 2nd best this year. Last year it was rated 1st. Scott had a plateful of lots of crab legs piled on next to me on my left and Lee Anne piled on next to me on my right. I was a little anxious, since I am deathly allergic to shellfish. I just thought of all the crab juice squirting me as they hammered, tore, & twisted those legs to get at the meat.  Lots of salads, Chinese, Mongolian BBQ, Mexican, fish, prime rib, etc. I would say 95% of the food was great. I was disappointed in the deserts. The cakes were blah, the cheesecake was fair-good.

Wait staff was great. It is very chaotic in the dining room, with hundreds of people expecting to be taken care of.  Our waiter had a smile on his face and was great about refilling our drinks and answering any questions.

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So, we are heading East along Interstate 80, all the way to Mass. Mainly overnight stops, 300 miles and hopefully arrive by 3:00pm.

Segway ride

Gold Ranch RV Resort

Verdi, NV 89439

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RV LIFE:
Yesterday, we had a "pot luck" dinner with our Cedar Creek Club members. This is always a fun dinner. We get to try cuisines from different parts of the country & gather recipes also.
I made Captain Crunch Chicken, which was originally introduced at Planet Hollywood. Here's the recipe I use from CD KITCHEN.

Planet Hollywood's Captain Crunch Chicken

Recipe At A Glance

5 stars based on 7 reviews
 Ready in: Under 30 minutes?
 Difficulty:   3/5

Serves/Makes:   4

   

PHOTO BY: NICK
Click image to view

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Captain Crunch cereal
1 1/2 cup corn flakes 

I use 3 cups CC cereal & 1/2 cup corn flakes

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds chicken breast cut in 1 ounce tenders
vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:

Coarsely grind or crush the two cereals and set aside. Beat the egg with milk and set aside. Stir together the flour, onion and garlic powders and black pepper. Set this aside also.

Dip the chicken pieces into the seasoned flour. Move around to coat well, then shake off the excess flour. Dip into the egg wash, coating well, then dip into the cereal mixture, coating well.

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet to 325 degrees F.

Drop coated chicken tenders carefully into the hot oil and cook until golden brown and fully cooked, 3 to 5 minutes depending on size. Drain and serve immediately with Creole mustard sauce.

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PRODUCT REVIEW:
I made 4 pounds of chicken. I first bought boneless chicken breast and then had to cut the fatty parts out and then cut into bite or nugget size pieces.  This is so much easier with the correct utensils.
To cut off the fatty parts I use Emeril's kitchen shears. The fat really just cuts off like you're cutting paper. There is a big difference between the cheap kitchen shears and the "professional" shears. I think i paid $15.-$20. 5 yrs ago for these shears and they still work great. What's nice about these shears is that they easily come apart for thorough cleaning.
 The other essential is a good sharp knife.  I bought Scott a set of Guy Fieri knives a few years back. They are scary sharp!

PETS:
Devin's paws are doing much better. We are still soaking in Epsom salt and Betadine.

Really, that IS better.

My morning started out lousy.  Our Irish Setter Devin woke me at 7am (which is fine), but I heard chewing, that didn't sound like a toy or his bone.  Sure enough, he was chewing on an antler button! If you've been following what I've been doing, then you know, I just finished the comfy cardigan and used 3 antler buttons.
I've had this finished sweater draped over my recliner (where Devin sometimes sleeps) since it's been finished. I also use it every cool morning. Last night, I left it on my computer chair. The buttons must have been hanging low. And yep, there's holes where the buttons were.
I AM SO ANGRY! My husband took him for a walk this morning because I didn't want to be around him.
Thank goodness the yarn was cheap acrylic and thank goodness it's black.  I can probably sew the hole together and use large round buttons to cover the mending. Grrrrrr. Just think how angry I would be if I had used good wool!!!!

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RECREATION:

Today we headed to the center of Reno for a SEGWAY TOUR! What a fun experience! Cost was $65.00 each. There was 1/2 hour of training, and then 2 hours of riding around town, with Walter giving info about the local sights, history, good restaurants, events, etc.

We toured along the Truckee River in the middle of town. What a beautiful section. the River is open to the public for free. They allow swimming, rafting etc. Very nice to see families cooling off in the beautiful river.

We stopped at Eats & Sweets, about 1/2 way through the tour. Cute little ice cream, candy, luncheon, dog, store.
We passed by the Reno Museum of Art. Isn't this a cool sculpture???

This sculpture looks like wood, tree limbs, but it is made out of bronze. Absolutely amazing.
Overall, this was a really good day!

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:


We stopped here in the middle of our Segway tour by www.RenofunTours.com. Cute little store with a little bit of quite a variety.  Looks like an ice cream store, but when you walk in there are dog treats and dog toys, plus ice cream, plus a light luncheon sandwich menu and a candy section.
CUPCAKE:I had a mocha cupcake, which was pretty good. Rich chocolate cake with a creamy mocha frosting.
CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY: Delicious! Large sweet strawberry, covered with milk chocolate (or dark if you prefer). Yum!
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BOOK REVIEW:

The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is my 8th DeMille book. I've loved all but 2 (including this one).I thought this was going to be a good book. Thought the "gold coast" community was interesting and aggravating. Snobs! They need a dose of reality. So when a mafia boss moves next door, they see another type of life, but still that is not normal, middle class life.
Book went on and on and on about the day to day life of the rich. And on and on and on.  1/3 through the book, I thought something would have happened, then 1/2 way through, still waiting for something more interesting than the lives of the rich and infamous. 3/4 through the book, I had to finish it now.
Ended with such a sense of sadness, wastefullness.


View all my reviews

Grapefruit Martini!

Gold Ranch RV Resort

Verdi, NV 89439

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RV LIFE:

Laundry day: Laundry: no big deal. Camp laundries have been fine so far. Only average about $10. a month. The worst part of doing laundry is folding and putting away the clothes. That's the same whether you go to a laundromat or launder at home. I wouldn't want to "waste" precious space in the RV for a washer and dryer.

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Our rating 4 out of 5.

This is a great place to bring a date, as long as it's not crowded. I loved the cozy atmosphere, with couches around the fireplace, a couple of booths and a few tables. This is not a big place, but has a log cabin cozy feel.
DRINKS: Hubby had a  Bloody Mary which was EXCELLENT. Just enough spice, with some spice I couldn't pick out. Garnished with pickled string bean, & olives. I had a Grapefruit Martini. DOUBLE EXCELLENT!!! Smooth, refreshing, can't really taste the alcohol but can feel it. This is made with real fresh squeezed pink grapefruit. I'd go back for that alone.
POTSTICKERS: Average. Nice dipping sauce.
CRABCAKES: Very good.  Not loaded with crab but the flavor was really good.
RIBS: Not Texas bbq, but above par for restaurant ribs that don't specialize in ribs.
CAESAR SALAD with Chicken: Very good.
BANANA SASQUATCH: Fair. Was sort of like Bananas Foster, but the vanilla ice cream was horrible. Also disappointed that the whipped "cream" on top was greasy fake stuff.
Waitress was terrific.

Bananas Sasquatch

GOLD RANCH RV RESORT in Verdi, NV

Gold Ranch RV Resort

Verdi, NV 89439

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RV PARK REVIEW:

Site #58, $28.17/day (group discount)
+SITES: Long sites for large RV's, paved, but uneven. Gravel with a 12'x12' patch of nice grass.
+HOOK UPS: FHU
+LAUNDRY: Fairly clean. Washers could have been cleaned a little better. 2012: $1.50 wash/dry.
+PETS: Pets welcome. Poop bags provided at multiple dumpsters.
-WIFI: Pay at site, free at office.
+VERIZON INTERNET: Worked great
+SPRINT INTERNET: Worked great, 5 bars, 3G
+VERIZON PHONE: 5 bars
+AT&T PHONE: 5 bars
+BOOK EXCHANGE: There is a nice selection of books and room for more in the office/lounge area. There are book shelves on either side of the fireplace. Nice lounge area with comfy couches and WiFi hook ups.
+POOL: I normally don't include this, but since I had to pass it to get to the laundry, I'll include it. Nice sized pool, clean and also a hot tub.
This park is within walking distance of the casino, Sierra Cafe Restaurant, Jack in the Box, gas station, convenience store. We are actually right off the highway, but we don't really see or hear the traffic noise.

This park is right on the border of NV/CA

When we walk the dogs around the outskirts of the park, we are in California! The pink line above is the state border. Do you think we're cheating if we fill in our travels map to include California? Our RV isn't there, but...
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RV LIFE:
This week is the Annual International Rally for the Cedar Creek RV Owners Club (CCRVOC).  There are 26 rigs gathering. This is a great group of people.
Friendly, but they give you your space.
Knowledgeable.
Helpful with RV mods, upgrades, repairs, etc.: We weren't here 3 hrs and we saw a group of guys with their heads in the hood of a truck engine compartment and their butts sticking out to the ladies. Sorry, it was not a sexy sight.

Last June (2011), the rally was held near Lancaster, PA. At that time we were still living in our house in NJ. This rally was only 3 hours away. What a great opportunity for our "maiden voyage".
This group has a forum and I posted that this would be our first time setting up and staying in the RV. I invited all to come and watch Scott park and level, so they could have a good laugh. (Oh, I'm sooo mean!) Ended up, we had a pull through site, but we did need to level. At that time, I had no clue as to the concept of leveling. Lee was the first to come over and he was great. He watched, but didn't make fun nor offer to do it for us. He just watched and made sure we were doing ok.
So now a year later, with another CCRVOC rally in November in SC under our belt, we are here together again in NV, participating in our 3rd CCRVOC rally. We are much more experienced, having been full timing for almost a year now. Our responsibilities  lessened, with having sold our house. Ahhhh, this is the life.
If any of our blog readers are Cedar Creek RV owners, I would encourage you to join us. Here is the CCRVOC WEBSITE.
Activities for this week include,
Hors d'oeuvres get together
Boiled omelet breakfast
Early bird brown bag (bring your own) dinner
Pot Luck dinner
Boat Cruise
Casino buffet dinner
Sightseeing
Members' dinner provided by the club.
Waffle breakfast (Mmm, Mmmm, Good!)
Open house: we get to look in everyone's RV if their door is open. This is a great way to get ideas for storage, improvement, modifications, etc.
As you can see by our "activities", most are centered on FOOD!
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It has been horribly windy here since we arrived 3 days ago. This is supposedly very unusual, but it really
S-U-C-K-S! To put it bluntly. The sun is shining, the temp is between 65-70°, but the damned wind does not give up! We can't put our setter flags out... we can't put our name sign out... the hanging basket of petunias is really becoming damaged from the constant wind blowing on it. You know how you rotate a plant by a window, so all sides eventually get sun? Well, I have to rotate my flower pot, to give ease to the sides from constant wind damage.  The RV is shaking, our slide out awning covers are rippling. We can't keep our chairs out, because they'll blow away. We are spending a lot of time inside, enjoying the sun and the heat of the sun from our large windows.
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Just a little side note about RV Life-It is very difficult to find cans of seltzer in the West. I don't really drink soda, I am mainly a water drinker, but once in a while I really want some carbonation, and a seltzer hits the spot.  I can find bottles of seltzer, but 12 ounce cans are a rare find. Sigh...
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PETS:
Devin's paw is getting better. He had a slight relapse, so Scott soaked it in water with Epsom salt and Benadine. Then Scott inspected the foot, squeezed here and there and pop! Another cheatgrass awn appeared and Scott pulled it out. Devin was a trooper. Just laid there and let Scott do what was needed.

At his worst

Much better, just one spot

Devin is now playing with his toys again too!

When we went to the vet last week, we had Lyla weighed. She's got a weight problem just like Mom!  We are both hypothyroid and we are both overweight. Lyla weighed in at 70 pounds!!! Tsk Tsk! She should be about 55-60 pounds at the most! And her Mom weighs in at....well, we won't go there.  But Mom is overweight also!

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:


This is a Denny's type restaurant inside the Gold Ranch Casino. Friendly staff, large restaurant.
CHEESE QUESADILLAS with Chicken: Very good. I was a little surprised that the flour tortilla had some herbs in it. At first I wasn't sure I liked it, since I was expecting just a plain tortilla. But once I accepted it, it was a nice added touch. A combo of 2 or 3 cheeses with sparse chunks of chicken.
HAMBURGER STEAK: (Similar to Salisbury Steak) The meat was average, but the sauteed onions and mushrooms that were generously covering the "steak" was delicious.
ONION RINGS: Average+. If I was in the mood for onion rings, I'd order again, but would not go there specifically for the rings.
Over all and decent , inexpensive place. Even cheaper if you get a free "player's card" in the casino. Then you get discounted meals.

What was that?

Gold Ranch RV Casino

Verdi, NV 89439

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We are currently in Verdi, NV.This is right on the California border. We can walk from our RV site about 300 feet and be in California.
And how are we welcomed??? EARTHQUAKE! We haven't been here 6 hours and we felt it!
It's been REALLY windy here. Shaking the RV, not pleasant to be outside, etc. So while we were settled inside, I was at the computer and Scott was watching TV in bed about 9pm. We've been feeling the RV shake all day, so got to know that feeling well.
Huh? That's an odd sensation, almost like someone pushed on the RV or a wave current. I looked at Scott and Scott looked at me. We both joked and said "Earthquake?". Scott entered a Google search of "Earthquake Reno". Sure enough a 4.2 magnitude earthquake hit at 8:51pm about 20 miles South of us!!!!!! Oh crap!!!!!

From the LA Times: A shallow magnitude 4.2 earthquake was reported Friday evening six miles from Incline Village-Crystal Bay, Nev., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 8:51 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 6.8 miles.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was six miles from Tahoe Vista, six miles from Kings Beach, 16 miles from Reno and 96 miles from Sacramento.
In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.

No damage was done at the center of where the earthquake happened. And we only felt a ripple, but that was a new, eerie experience for us!!!

About 20 miles away

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ELECTRONIC WOES:

Seems our bedroom Tivo has bit the dust.  A month or two ago, our Living Room Tivo needed a new power supply and has been fine since. These are older units, so they are expected to not last long. 

Now the decision, do we stick with Direct TV/Tivo combo, like we presently have only newer model? Or, do we just get Direct TV's DVR model. I love Tivo and that is what I'm used to. I do not like learning new remotes and Scott has been on the receiving end of my extreme unhappiness when I have to use 1 remote for one thing and another for something else, or Scott changes the screen to wide screen and forgets to put it back. It is not a nice experience hearing me rant. 

With that being said, Scott is sticking with what I know...Tivo, even though the Direct TV DVR has more features. But so I don't sound so horrible, another reason Scott is sticking with Tivo is so we can swap the hard drive from the old one, so we can see the shows already recorded and also, so he doesn't have to rewire things for a new device. That's the story and I'm making him stick to it!

WINNEMUCCA RV PARK, Winnemucca, NV 89445

Winnemucca RV Park

 Winnemucca, NV 89445

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RV PARK REVIEW:
Can't really rate this RV park. We were lucky to get a site since we didn't arrive until 4pm and they only had 2 sites left.  Staff is nice.
- SITES: Tight together, short, buddy sites (shared utility post).
+ HOOK UPS: FHU
- PETS: Policy states must be under 25#'s, but they let our 60# dogs in without question. Small (10'x20'), dirty fenced in pet walk area. No poop bags supplied, but they do supply a heavy metal shovel and a bent up rake to scoop. A sign is posted that dogs should be on leash. Huh? In a fenced in area? I'll be glad to leave tomorrow.
 That is the only place they want dogs to do their business. The grassy areas along the edge of the park are for tenting. They try to use every inch for income. These tent areas are 10'x10' areas with a grill along the fence line.
/ WIFI: Free, but they did not offer us the code and we didn't bother since it was only overnight.
/VERIZON INTERNET: Very slow, sometimes timing out.
-SPRINT INTERNET: No signal at all
I was VERY happy to leave this place. I couldn't take this more than one night. I'd rather boondock in a parking lot than stay here.
Now, when I hear the name Winnemucca, its a trigger!

WINNEMUCCA?!! Slowly I turn, step by step...

Maybe you're too young to know what I'm talking about. Let the video below explain.

Here's another RV park with a ridiculous pet friendly policy. Story is from GO PET FRIENDLY, travel blog.
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SIGHTS:

Traveling from Boise, ID to Winnemucca, NV, we did spend about 45 minutes in Oregon.
This trip on US 95 took us through a lot of nothing.  Desert like, desolate ridges, then we hit some huge sand dunes, before arriving in  Winnemucca on Winnemucca Blvd. at Winnemucca RV Park. (Ohhhhh, that name will haunt me!)
We saw at least 3 casinos in this town. I think the town "boasts" 5 casinos.  Gee, that's a reason to stay. Yea, right. When I was in my late 20's I used to go on bus trips to Atlantic City. Someone from work would hire a bus and we'd fill it up. Lots of drinking on the bus. My friend, Beverly would make a thermos of Kamakazi, and we'd do shots the whole 1.5 hr drive down to AC. By the time we arrived, we were feeling very goooood. Part of the package deal for the bus, was we'd recieve a roll of quarters to get us started at a Casino. But not Bev and I. We'd use the money to go eat, or shop or whatever on the boardwalk. They were great times.
I didn't realize all of Nevada allowed gambling.  The only thing I like about the casinos are the cheap and good buffets!
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RV LIFE:
Weather has been crazy! Extreme changes in temperatures. Arriving at Winnemucca (slowly I turn...), it was terribly hot. So hot the dogs didn't want to get out the of air conditioned truck even though they were stuck in there for 4 hours. When I got them out, they tried to jump back in!
I was hoping to do a quick wash (if there is such a thing), but it was so hot out, I have HAVE to stay inside.

Scott is the cook in our family. He hasn't been cooking as much while living our RV life. The kitchen is very small and there are so many new restaurants to try out. But when he cooks, it's always a treat.  He even cleans up the kitchen and does the dishes, well sort of.

I guess he doesn't like to do flatware. Can I really complain? No I can't, but I can still tease him about it. Yes ladies, my hubby is sweet, easy going, a gentleman, & he cooks...and he taken...he's mine. I'm very lucky.
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PETS:
We were late arriving in Winnemucca (grrrr! that name...) because we didn't wake up until 9:30am!!!! I'm usually up by 7am because Devin gets me up. The last 2 days, he has let me sleep AND HE HAS CUDDLED WITH ME!!! So, is this because he is not feeling well because of his sore feet? or is he just changing? I love that he is cuddling with me, but I don't want to be sleeping to 9:30am again...7:30am is a perfect time for me to wake up. Do you hear that Devin?