nevada continues

We've been bouncing between Ca. & NV since our last post. One omission from our last was a tour of the Jelly Belly candy factory near Sacromento. Neither of us knew all that goes into that magical little jellybean. It was very interesting, and we had many samples along the way.
On the way south from Tahoe, the landscape changed much with the lower elevations. The mountains got smaller and balder. Still beautiful, but in a different way.
We went from Carson City ( named for Kit C. ), and headed for Yosemite NP. Sadly, it closed because of an early snow. Those that know me even a bit know my aversion to the white stuff and the accompanying cold temps. So we didn't hang around long. We'll do there & Sequoia on trip B in the future.
On the way again, we promptly got a flat on the van, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. But, after a short delay, our roadside assistance co. came and changed it out. We got it repaired & remounted in a little mining town called Tonopah. It was still cold & windy there, but we spent my b-day evening in a neat casino from which we left $13.75 richer. But we enjoyed Mn. nite football, some good eats, and warmth! So, all was well with the world again. Therein proves that it doesn't take much to make us happy now...
We got to visit Death Valley and it was amazing. That land , tho mostly desolate, has its own unique asthetic scenes. And again, we both tried to envision trekking thru in a covered wagon for days & days & days. It's a very humbling thought and give us great respect for those
hearty pioneers. And what a change from the forested mountains we'd just left. Wow.....

We're now in the best ever camping resort we've experienced yet. It's in the town of Pahrump, maybe an hour out of Veagas. Amenities are xllent, the people are all nice, and the weather has been near perfect. The photo here is a small example of some of the beauty around us.
This morning, we had a bingo experience that humbled me. I mean, there were 80 yr. old ladies nearby that were keeping up better than I was. The #'s were flying, mentally draining my previously fractured, concussion pounded brain. I guess it was the Big Guy's way of tellin' me to stay away from gambling. Message received ( for now, anyway )
We'll be heading for a weeklong Vegas timeshare stop around the end of the month, so the next message we post should include our Sin City sojurn. We're hoping to hookup with our friend Dave Connor there, so that should be fun. Later !