All my life I've heard rumors that people actually live in the tiny mining towns covering the state of Nevada, but these tales were set in a category similar to that of Tahoe Tessie and Big foot. Alas, I have come to discover that the rumors are true. People do, in fact, live in these small towns. I spent the weekend in Battle Mountain (I am not even going to insert a joke about the abbreviation because I'm quite positive they have heard them all) and learned first hand, from the natives :) what goes on in said town. I will admit, I have driven past Battle Mountain roughly 100 times in my life without ever giving it a second thought, or blink for that matter. Yet after spending some time there I am convinced that there is great beauty in all of these towns (even if some of them seem creepy--Goldfield anyone?) When arriving in town Brian pointed out the mountains and reminisced about countless childhood and adolescent memories accompanying the mountain range. From a distance, however, they seemed brown and, well, let's be honest... boring. Surprise!!! When we got up on the mountain.... this is what greeted us....
Who would have thought that the brown and boring mountain contained such beautiful greenery? There was also all kinds of wildlife (though aside from the cows and bulls I mainly had to take it on good authority that there were antelope and deer---not to get sidetracked, but did you know that the plural of deer is deer? No? Well, now you know:) We spent the day on this mountain and I never got bored...not for a minute which, as I previously mentioned, leads me to be suspicious about all the boring looking mountains in this state.
Of course a trip to Battle Mountain would not be complete without guns...I mean beautiful as it is, it is still a redneck town.
I can't say I was a very good shot with these guns, but I can say they were fun to shoot! (more to come on my ever enhancing gun shooting ability)
I pretty much look awesome shooting that gun... although I should probably be pushing my chest forward and my rear back, right babe?
Brian's brother was an excellent sport about humoring me and taking pictures of us. Plus, good photography skills must run in the family because he did get some good shots!
So this is the shack that Brian convinced his daughter the ghost of Old Man Someone ( I can't remember his name now which you would think was amazing considering his presence on this trip) lived in. Apparently this ghost was the source of all kinds of pranks and amusement over the years.
This was our first pit stop on the mountain. Again, I beckon you to notice that this mountain is, in fact, GREEN!
Still beautiful and even though it was a cold weekend, the clouds added to the ambiance making it really perfect.
I really wanted to jump in to this water hole... and I will someday, but it was pretty darn cold. Please notice sweatshirts.
We were planning a trip to Elko to go to Brian's dad's company party (kind of a mouthful). We woke up Saturday to rain galore. We contemplated skipping the outdoor picnic (mind you this was August!) but eventually forged ahead and drove the hour to the park. It did rain...hard. In fact, while we were eating very delicious food, our plates were filling up with water faster than we could empty them. But..... I am so glad we went because it was so. much. fun! Also, it was kind of a bonus that the weather was 0h-so-crappy because we got to enjoy all the awesome activities line free!
My strained face in this pic is quite telling. This was hard. Seriously hard. The first time I ran forward the rubber band pulled me right on my back. Then I got the hang of it, but I never made it farther than I am in the picture.
This bounce house was one of many. I thought that it was a good selection because it had a cover over it but.... it didn't matter. By the end of the day it was a water house just like all the rest. So we let the kids get sopping wet and then stripped them down for the trip home. Brian's nephew is a trooper and I wish I had a picture of him but a description will have to do. He appeared for most of the day as if he was emerging from a swimming pool fully dressed. I know that I exaggerate, but this is not a hyperbole. It was quite hysterical and looked like a lot of fun!
At this point we were still wearing shoes and socks. Suffice it to say they were a little wet and needed to be removed.
And here we are before church on Sunday. I know I know, we're cute :)
Brian's madre and the girls eating a snack and hanging out. This was seriously such a fun trip. I felt so welcomed by Brian's family and really had an enjoyable time!
The last day of our trip Brian took the kids on a "treasure hunt" and I use the term "treasure" in the very loosest of terms. Where do you go treasure hunting you ask? Oh to the local landfill!!! This is seriously funny. But, to be clear, it is a very OLD landfill so it's not like stinky garbage and cigarette packs. It's more like 60-yr-old coke bottles and laudanum containers. There were also a few tires and a toilet :) But for the most part it was glass....old glass. The kids had a blast and even got to catch a horny toad. Xiana insisted that she get to hold it, but it kind of scared her and she ended up dropping it from really high up... poor little toad.
I LOVE this picture. Seriously, it looks like an ad or something... I don't know what it would be advertising, but cute, right?
See, I told you there was a toilet!
And that sums up the first of what I hope will be many trips to good old Battle Mountain.
Who would have thought that the brown and boring mountain contained such beautiful greenery? There was also all kinds of wildlife (though aside from the cows and bulls I mainly had to take it on good authority that there were antelope and deer---not to get sidetracked, but did you know that the plural of deer is deer? No? Well, now you know:) We spent the day on this mountain and I never got bored...not for a minute which, as I previously mentioned, leads me to be suspicious about all the boring looking mountains in this state.
Of course a trip to Battle Mountain would not be complete without guns...I mean beautiful as it is, it is still a redneck town.
I can't say I was a very good shot with these guns, but I can say they were fun to shoot! (more to come on my ever enhancing gun shooting ability)
I pretty much look awesome shooting that gun... although I should probably be pushing my chest forward and my rear back, right babe?
Brian's brother was an excellent sport about humoring me and taking pictures of us. Plus, good photography skills must run in the family because he did get some good shots!
So this is the shack that Brian convinced his daughter the ghost of Old Man Someone ( I can't remember his name now which you would think was amazing considering his presence on this trip) lived in. Apparently this ghost was the source of all kinds of pranks and amusement over the years.
This was our first pit stop on the mountain. Again, I beckon you to notice that this mountain is, in fact, GREEN!
Still beautiful and even though it was a cold weekend, the clouds added to the ambiance making it really perfect.
I really wanted to jump in to this water hole... and I will someday, but it was pretty darn cold. Please notice sweatshirts.
We were planning a trip to Elko to go to Brian's dad's company party (kind of a mouthful). We woke up Saturday to rain galore. We contemplated skipping the outdoor picnic (mind you this was August!) but eventually forged ahead and drove the hour to the park. It did rain...hard. In fact, while we were eating very delicious food, our plates were filling up with water faster than we could empty them. But..... I am so glad we went because it was so. much. fun! Also, it was kind of a bonus that the weather was 0h-so-crappy because we got to enjoy all the awesome activities line free!
My strained face in this pic is quite telling. This was hard. Seriously hard. The first time I ran forward the rubber band pulled me right on my back. Then I got the hang of it, but I never made it farther than I am in the picture.
This bounce house was one of many. I thought that it was a good selection because it had a cover over it but.... it didn't matter. By the end of the day it was a water house just like all the rest. So we let the kids get sopping wet and then stripped them down for the trip home. Brian's nephew is a trooper and I wish I had a picture of him but a description will have to do. He appeared for most of the day as if he was emerging from a swimming pool fully dressed. I know that I exaggerate, but this is not a hyperbole. It was quite hysterical and looked like a lot of fun!
At this point we were still wearing shoes and socks. Suffice it to say they were a little wet and needed to be removed.
And here we are before church on Sunday. I know I know, we're cute :)
Brian's madre and the girls eating a snack and hanging out. This was seriously such a fun trip. I felt so welcomed by Brian's family and really had an enjoyable time!The last day of our trip Brian took the kids on a "treasure hunt" and I use the term "treasure" in the very loosest of terms. Where do you go treasure hunting you ask? Oh to the local landfill!!! This is seriously funny. But, to be clear, it is a very OLD landfill so it's not like stinky garbage and cigarette packs. It's more like 60-yr-old coke bottles and laudanum containers. There were also a few tires and a toilet :) But for the most part it was glass....old glass. The kids had a blast and even got to catch a horny toad. Xiana insisted that she get to hold it, but it kind of scared her and she ended up dropping it from really high up... poor little toad.
I LOVE this picture. Seriously, it looks like an ad or something... I don't know what it would be advertising, but cute, right?
See, I told you there was a toilet!
Those are great! I am jealous of the sweat shirts. SERIOUSLY jealous. Beautiful my dear.
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