Monday, May 8, 2006
South Fork State Rec Area, Elko, NV - May 5-7
Both state rec areas we visited in NV turned out to be real delights. This cg is actually about 20 miles south of Elko, set on a hill overlooking the reservoir. As with Rye Patch, there were no hookups, but water was available nearby all the sites, which were level & paved. There were also lovely snow-covered peaks in the distance.Because the setting was so nice, we decided to stay an extra day. Our first day we familiarized ourselves with the town, caught up on some well-needed grocery shopping, and visited a couple of casinos. Modern slot machines are a far cry from the old "one-armed bandits" where you would drop in a quarter (at least!), pull down the crank, and watch the various fruits spin by until you invariably wound up with a lemon (no payoff). Nowadays, many, if not most, are penny slots. Almost all are digital with some sort of "theme" -- anything from fireworks to Wheel of Fortune to Cops & Donuts (you name it, they've probably used it) -- and a virtual display of the spinning theme-related characters. And, for the right combination of characters, they usually have a "bonus game" -- a computer game that comes up and lets you win extra credits (pennies). They also permit playing more than one "line" and more than one credit per line, so playing 20 lines and 20 credits/line means that you're plopping down four bucks per spin -- on a penny slot! We only bet one line & one credit because we mainly want to see the bonus game.
On our second day we drove to Lamoille Canyon, nicknamed the Yosemite of Nevada. We highly recommend this drive to anyone who is ever in the area. It's a glaciated canyon with sheer walls and numerous waterfalls -- each seemingly taller and prettier than the last. And there is a Natl Forest campground with RV spaces -- definitely one of the most beautiful cgs in America. The road beyond the cg was closed due to snow, but we enjoyed every bit of the drive# posted by Doug and Willie @ 3:26 PM 
