April 26th, 2024 - Travel to Parma, Idaho

We woke to rain, rain and more rain.  What a muddy mess.. But we got packed up, hooked up and away we went north. (My Andy took the brunt of getting wet.  Thank you Andy.)

The rivers were running high:

The clouds were low:

But the further north we went, the clouds and rain were breaking up:

To the west of this area is the location of the McDermitt Caldera - an ancient super volcano where the geologists discovered the largest deposit of lithium in the world.

There are links here:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/green-tech/a45086253/worlds-largest-lithium-deposit-found-in-nevada/

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-evidence-mcdermitt-caldera-largest-lithium.html

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/30/23849619/lithium-ev-battery-thacker-pass-mine-mcdermitt-caldera

When I saw the signs and all the activity happening in Winnemucca, I just had to do the research.  Right now construction has started on some of the mine buildings and they currently bus people from Winnemucca to work there.  The main company and well as some of the communities are starting to put in the infrastructure (housing, roads, schools, water supply, etc.) to prepare for the influx of people.

If you are really interested on what is happening, there is a lot of information out there and I plan to follow along.

(On a side note:  In 2007, we came thru the sleepy town of Williston, North Dakota.  A few years later when we came thru, we were shocked at the changes.  This was in the middle of the oil boom there.   There are so many pros and cons to this that I will not go there on this blog.)

How about this - the Say When Café!  LOL!

Into Oregon:

The scenery is just breathtaking:

Free Range Cattle EVERYWHERE!:

A little snow..

Rain in the distance:

Reminded me of the little girl with the red coat in Schindlers List:

Another OMNI!  Although I think this one has been decommissioned:

These are also called VORTEC. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF_omnidirectional_range

The scenery continues:

Down into the valley:

Up the other side:

To the plateau:

Check out those mountains:

Into Idaho:

Where we went up:

Then down into the valley below:

Farming:

Many horses (and cattle too):

HOPS Farms:

Canals for the farms:

And many beautiful rivers:

We landed in Parma, Idaho at Old Fort Boise RV Park - a cute little 9-space RV park.   Our friend, Sue, lives about 90 miles from here in the summer and we were so so glad she could come down and spend the weekend with us.

Here is our space and Sue is behind us:

We spent the rest of that day/night just getting caught up, doing our happy hour and laughing away.  We were outside for a while - sun was nice but then it did get windy. 

What a great day!

Tomorrow we will do some exploring so stay tuned.

A note on today's journey - US-95 from Winnemucca to Parma is one of the more beautiful drives in this country.  If you have a chance to do it, go for it.  There are many places to camp and hotel/motels in the little towns.  Breathtaking Views!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 241 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Nevada: NV-289; BL-80; US-95

Oregon: US-95

Idaho: US-95