Nevada - Days 8 - 10 - errands and campground life

Grand Sierra Resort RV Park, Reno

Friday, 8 through Sunday, 10 April 2022

Sometime between my Wednesday visits to tire shops and Thursday's drive on mountain roads, I decided to go back to the Big O Tire Shop, because they at least had 2 of the kind of tires I wanted, and it was the front tires that desperately needed to be replaced.  I hoped that if I was there when they opened at 8:00, they might be able to work me in quickly if someone with an appointment didn't show up.

So Friday morning, we left the campground a few minutes after 7:00 and were sitting in their parking lot at 7:20.  There was no rush hour traffic at all, which I had a hard time believing when I saw it and an even harder time now in my memory.  It wasn't just that I was on the side of I-80 heading out of town, there were very few cars on the other side of the highway too.  Very strange.

Well, my reasoning may have been right, but sadly everyone turned up for their appointments and I had to wait more than an hour for them to take me.  But it was a pleasant morning (unlike the hot afternoon of 2 days ago), and this time I was prepared for the wait, so it wasn't bad.

I walked the dogs while they replaced my tires and felt a real sense of relief that it was taken care of.  

From there, I drove back via the university so I could stop at the post office over there, and also because there was a big city park over there - Rancho San Rafael Park.  I figured I could give the dogs someplace different to walk in; we'd spent so many walks going around the campground I thought they'd be bored with it.

It turned out that even on a Friday mid-morning lots of other people thought that park was a good idea too and it was packed with dogs and their owners.  I did walk my critters but I had to work hard to find a route we could all relax on.

From there we went through town, I stopped off at the recycling place again, then went to the gas station with the cheapest price in town, and then back to the campground.

I noticed the japonica is in full flower now here.

From then on through the next 2 days, I got some work done.  It had occurred to me that I was well into the month of April, and that taxes were due April 15th (or thereabouts), and that I hadn't lifted a finger yet about mine.  So, with my occasional internet signal, I found the IRS forms online, I found the 1099s and so forth that David has been faithfully forwarding, and I sat down and did it.  Actually, I like doing taxes; I've liked it ever since I had to do Pete's fishing business taxes even before we were married.  I like basic math, and I like rules, and I like it that if you follow the rules you get an answer.

I've found over the years that my 1st, 2nd and 3rd run-throughs are never the accurate ones, so I never panic with an answer that says I owe the gummint a whole bunch of money.  This time the final result (is that your final answer?) was that I owed $37, which I can live with.

Having no printer, I just wrote the 1040 and accompanying schedules by hand (I'm sure the IRS worker who gets my tax returns hates to see them).  I figured I'd get to Las Vegas by early afternoon on Tuesday the 12th, and I could make copies there.

And I worked out a driving route from here to Tonopah (pronounced with the accent on the 1st syllable), where I have a reservation for Monday night and which is about halfway between Reno and Las Vegas, and then a driving route to an Office Depot (for copying) in Las Vegas and a post office (for mailing) before going to the next campground.

During these 2+ days, I also managed to get published 6 blog posts, almost getting me out of California.  Really nuts being still so far behind.

This campground has one side along the Truckee River; there are rocks here and there in the water that make little areas of white water around them.  When we're walking very early in the morning in the dark, the water is so loud it sounds like ocean waves.  I like that sound.

There was also a hike-and-bike path between the river and the campground's fence, and people often passed by.  The space I was originally supposed to have backed up to the fence and, though the fence was high, it wasn't a situation I'd have felt comfortable sleeping in.  Another reason to be glad I moved.  The site I moved to was much wider, was paved instead of gravel, was nearly level, and had 2 nice shade trees and a picnic table.  A much better site no matter how you looked at it.

The brand for this resort - GSR - always makes me think "gun shot residue" as my first thought.  I guess I watched too much NCIS.  Fortunately I haven't heard any gunshots here.  Anyway, they offer a number of amenities, one of which is a driving range where golfers hit their balls toward a pond.

I guess each of those islands is a specific distance, and maybe those buckets in the closer ones are for a prize?  I couldn't figure it out just by looking, but there was an office and a machine constantly filling buckets with golf balls (do you suppose they dredge the lake from time to time to retrieve the balls?) and I'm sure somebody there was willing to explain it.  I had the dogs with me, of course, and Gracie was getting very antsy about the sound of balls being hit, so we didn't stick around.

I think there was a skunk who lived in that area, likely somewhere along the path by the river.  Especially at night I'd notice the smell, and one morning while it was still dark Dext alerted to something, and I wondered if it were the skunk.  I held on to his leash extra hard, just in case.

The days while we were here were warm - upper 60s - and the nights were chilly - upper 30s and low 40s.  That's pleasant weather to me.

So despite the lack of crock pot liners, with my new water pump and new tires and almost up-to-date blog, plus the sightseeing in the area, I feel like our stay here was successful.