Driving the Great Northwest - One Laugh after Another

Stop laughing!

So I'm sure that you are asking yourself, "Why in the world is Billings Montana one of your destinations while traveling the Great Northwest?"

I say "Why Not!"

Well actually Stijn was an exchange student here about 10 years ago or so, and while he is here in America on his extended visa he wanted to visit his host family.

We arrived on April 22 in plenty of time to settle in, get reacquainted and enjoy a fabulous meal with the Bough family!

One of the many things I didn't know about Billings is that they have some great comedian acts.  In fact our first night here we headed on over to "The Carlin Martini Bar and Nightclub" and laughed ourselves silly to the improv act of "Projectile".

We had so much fun here that the next night we went to "The R Club" at the Billings Hotel to see Alvin Williams and Morgan Preston.  Alvin was the opening act and was entertaining, but I have to tell you, when Morgan Preston hit the stage, my cheeks were hurting from laughing so hard!  A lot of what made him so funny to me was his style of in your face comedy.  But, when he mentioned a little town in the middle of no-where Nevada called "Tonopah", I absolutely lost it!

Of course when he mentioned Tonopah I had to blurt out "I used to live there!"  Which he replied "What the #?*! for?"  He then continued his story leaving out details to which I knew I needed to fill in....like the Mizpah Hotel where he got off of the Greyhound bus.

(photo courtesy of TonopahNevada.com)

Needless to say he continued to heckle me a little bit more throughout his performance. But he really was a nice guy and even let me have my picture taken with him.

 

I certainly never expected to be in Billings Montana and be listening to a comedian making jokes about Tonopah!

Who Knew?

Click here if you would like to see a few more pictures

Driving The Great Northwest - A Taste of the Old West

It's April 1st and our route takes us north on US95 out of Las Vegas and our first two nights are spent in Tonopah Nevada.  I'm sure you're asking yourself "What the heck for?" Even though Tonopah has alot of history as the "Queen of the Silver Camps", we were actually staying because my youngest grandson was turning two and we had a birthday party to attend on Saturday.  After a nice Easter breakfast and watching Ryan hunt for some eggs, we continued north to Reno.

Because we arrived in Reno in the early afternoon I thought it would be great for Stijn to experience some more of the "Old West".  And what better place to see it then in "Virgina City".

Virginia City is only 23 miles from Reno and is a town of relics and memories and ghosts of the past.  So when we arrived it seemed fitting to head straight to "The Delta Saloon" to see the "Suicide Table".

It seemed really fitting to head into one of the bars and saddle up on a stool and have a drink.  And what better place to go and feel like you have stepped back in time to the old Comstock days then in the "Bucket of Blood Saloon"

After a little souvenir shopping we headed off the other side of the mountain into Carson City and made the loop back to Reno to stay the night with my dear friends Veronica and Rigo.

We are anxious to get an early start the next morning.....heading to the coast of California!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Reno and Virginia City"

Who Knew?

I really want you to get to know me.

So what you need to know first and foremost is that I love to travel.

Growing up we never took a family vacation. We never went anywhere actually. I grew up in Los Angeles California and a "vacation" for us was to load up the station wagon and make the drive down to Salton Sea to visit my grandparents little getaway they had down there for the weekend. And this wasn't very often. I remember how excited I would be knowing we were going "somewhere"! I was thrilled to stay in my grandparents great little 1950's silver camp trailer and help my grandmother sell hot dogs and snow cones from her little portable food stand while my grandfather fished all day for corvina from the pier. I can remember at night sitting outside and looking up at the stars and pointing out the Milky Way and both "Dipper's".
When we had the opportunity to move to Nevada in the early 1970's, I had my mother packed and renting a UHaul "To go where no Smith has gone before". Out of the State of California! Now this was only to the neighboring State of Nevada in a little town called "Tonopah" but at the age of 14 I thought, what a great adventure!

When I was raising my family I made sure we took family vacations nearly every summer. I would get ideas of places to visit from magazines, television or even just talking with co-workers and friends. But most importantly from my children. One year my daughter learned in school that there was a place where she could stand in one spot and be in four States at the same time. So I planned a whole vacation around her curiosity. I would always figure out how to see and do as much as possible in a two week period.

During these 23 years we were able to explore so many beautiful places. Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and even back to California. And then finally.....the airplane ride! My first airplane ride at the age of 37 to Nashville Tennessee to see Christmas in the Park. I remember getting there, parking the car and walking through the parking lot and I just started to cry. I was so overwhelmed with the thought that I was actually experiencing such a beautiful place. I get that way. I can't tell you how many times I have had to fight the tears when I get somewhere.

The past 12 years I have had the opportunity to visit just about every State now and about 23 countries.

I look back now and think to myself that I have always had a desire to get out and explore new and different places.

Who knew?