Town Trip

A ranch wife’s days are marked by the next town trip. A list is carefully made prior to each trip, because forgetting to buy a curtain rod doesn’t mean that you can run to the hardware store the next day; it means the sun shines through the window and blinds you while you’re trying to type in the kitchen for at least two weeks until you go to town again.

I made my first grocery run two days after we arrived at the Alvord. I’m not sure how this is possible, but we now live even farther from town than we did at the Diamond A. I drove 300 miles round trip for groceries. Isn’t that nuts? When the average housewife spends 5 hours in a moving vehicle with a toddler, she brings a suitcase and visits her parents for a week. Me, I just picked up some fresh bananas, and a few loaves of a bread.

This was my starting point for my all-day shopping marathon.

The view on the way to town is sure beautiful.

See this wide, beautiful, flat, non-rutted dirt road? I can go 60 MPH and there’s only three turns until the Nevada state line. Hell to the yizzle.

What a beautiful sight! It’s glorious! Wondrous! Makes a woman glad to be alive and well in the US of A. I’m talking about the nice straight, tall, strong, reliable power lines. No more off that off-the-grid, hippie s#$@ with daily power bumps.

Jeez, who drives that dirty green Dodge? I had to stop for a little diesel and an orange juice.

I definitely had to use these buttons on the Oregon highway. Ol’ Greenie is sportin’ Nevada plates and kept wanting to spit the bit out and charge right past 55.

It was a relief to cross the cattle guard into the Silver State, turn off the cruise control and over and under a few strides.

About a million miles (okay, more like 100) of this until we reach town. At least I’m not in a covered wagon pulled by a three-legged mule carrying a cracked water barrel. That would really suck.

Hello, Winnemucca! I like Winnemucca. It’s not booming and out of control with out of state miners like Elko is. It’s got a Super Walmart, Raley’s, Tip’s Western Wear and the Nevada Rancher office. What more could a desolate ranch wife want?

It helps to have good company on road trips. I’m training my errand helper from the diaper up 🙂

Once lunch was eaten, groceries were bought, and McDonald’s drive-through was picked up for the drive home, it was back to the desert for us. The road ahead can be fraught with many perils, including but not limited to fussy babies, diaper disasters, losing your FM radio stations, running out of M&m’s and…..

….Mexican fighting bulls?

I really enjoy this sign. He just looks so perky and spirited. I bet his name is Octavion.

Scarcely 10 hours later, we’re almost home!

Forget the state line signs. You know you’re in Oregon when you see a herd of antelope by the roadside.

This is the sight that greeted me when I arrived home. Looks like Jim found a roping partner.

I’m seriously considering getting on the once-a-month grocery run to Nampa, which is even farther away, but going to Costco and just stocking up on canned goods and pasta like it’s 1999. It also occurred to me that I would run out of certain items less if I learned how to make them from scratch. How do you make an English muffin? Lasagna? String cheese?

Signing off for now, this is Jolyn “What are all these measuring cups for?” Young.

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