According to Google Maps, we traveled 474 miles, and drove for 10 hours and 3 minutes during our week in Nevada while avoiding highways.
Each state we visit, we will choose at least one point of interest from each of the following categories: Famous Person, Famous Food, Road Side Attraction, State Capitol & State Museum, National Park, Historic Location, Can't Miss Attraction, and Made in the USA Tour. Some of the categories may have more than one selection, and sometimes a category will be vacant due to the lack of a candidate. Please click on the links below for the corresponding blog related our experiences in Nevada over the past week.
Famous Person: Glenn Lucky
Famous Food: Wynn Buffet
Roadside Attraction: Reno Arch
State Capitol/Museum: Carson City, NV
National Park: Great Basin National Park (Canceled due to weather)
Historic Location: Railroad Pass Casino, Virginia City, Cirque du Soleil Mystere’ Can't miss attraction: Hoover Dam, Lake Tahoe
Made in the USA tour: Ethel M. Chocolate & Cactus Garden
Please view our previous blog posts for the past week for further explanations of our experiences in Nevada.
A breakdown of our expenses of the past week are as follows:
Gas $ $153.00
$ 2.39 gal. in Fernley, NV was the lowest price paid.
$ 2.59 gal. in Carson City, NV was highest price paid.
Comments: We did not drive a lot in Nevada
Groceries: $220.00
Walmart $ 86.00
Costco $134.00
Comments:
We bought a lot of food in case we got stranded in the desert!
Dining out $181.00
Costco $ 6.00 (unbudgeted, 3 slices of pizza on the go)
Costco $ 6.00 (unbudgeted, 3 slices of pizza on the go)
Costco $ 4.00 (unbudgeted, 3 slices of pizza on the go)
Wynn Buffet $93.00 (budgeted, HUGE disappointment)
White Castle $30.00 (budgeted, yummy veggie sliders)
New York Pizza $19.00 (unbudgeted and overpriced)
Starbucks $ 2.00 (1 hot tea in exchange for Wifi)
Chinese $21.00 (unbudgeted and nasty)
Comments:
We splurged a bit since we were in Vegas!
Entertainment: $262.00
Redbox $6.00 (movies x3)
Mystere $166.00 (budgeted, spectacular show)
Anthony Cools $82.00 (unbudgeted but hilarious show)
Silver mine tour $8.00 (budgeted and fascinating)
Comments:
Oops! We splurged again!
Lodging: $0.00
Walmart $ 0.00 (slept in parking lot x6 nights)
Casino $ 0.00 (stealth parked in lot x1 night)
Comments:
We continue to do great in this category
Miscellaneous: $34.00
Parking $10.00
Vegas Monorail $24.00
Comments:
Of course, we did great in this category
Nevada Expenses Grand Total: $ 850.00 EEEK! We need to tighten our belts!
(Our expense list does not include re-occurring expenses such as insurance and cellphone etc. )
Is Nevada Our New Home State?
Here are the rules:
Below are the 5 categories that are important to us in choosing our new home state. Each category is rated from 1 to 10 based on our personal experience in no particular order. 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest for each category. Each category will receive 2 scores; 1 from Lori and 1 from Nate. The average of these two scores will determine the final score for each category. To determine a state’s final score, we will average the total score of each category. If a state’s final score is less than 8, then that state is eliminated from consideration. At the end of our year long cross country trip, the states that scored 8 or higher will be subject to further consideration. In addition, Lori and I each have 1 wild card option, which allows a state that otherwise would have been eliminated, to be considered as our new home state.
Economy:
Nate: 5
Mining, cattle ranching and tourism are the pillars of the Nevada economy! This not very diversified!
Lori: 7
“With an average median household income of $52,431, Nevada ranks 29th in the nation. Ehhhh!”
Economy score: 6
Cost of Living:
Nate: 8
“With a 0% income tax, and a sales tax of 7.94% after local surcharges, everyone is a winner in Nevada!
Lori: 6
“Since most of Nevada is desert, food needs to be shipped in making it more expensive!”
Cost of living score: 7
Quality of life:
Nate: 3
“Nevada has a scathingly hot dry desert climate! Heatwaves and droughts are the biggest risks! On a more positive note, Nevada is one of the most least likely states to experience a natural disaster”
Lori: 4
“The national average for violent crime is 3.8. In Nevada, the state average for violent crime is 6.96 almost double the National average. If you live here, you better be packing!”
Quality of life score: 3.5
Culture:
Nate: 9
“In Nevada you can drink 24/7, gamble 24/7, solicit a hooker 24/7, and get married and divorced in the same day! Although I choose NOT to, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to! Nevada was the most free state I visited on my trip thus far”
Lori: 8
“From shows, gambling, dancing, live music, to ninja star and axe throwing, zip lining, and even climbing a rock wall on the outside of a hotel, Nevada has every form of entertainment you could ever desire!”
Culture Score: 8.5
Environment:
Nate: 4
“Within the state's 2 main cities, services are readily available, but outside of these areas, you better have a satellite phone”
Lori: 4
“85% of the Nevada’s residents live in and around Reno and Las Vegas, and the remainder of the state is a barren desert”.
Environment Score: 4
The verdict is in:
The final score for Nevada was 5.8, and it will NOT be our new home state! Neither Lori nor I opted to use our Wild Card Option on this state.
Below are the current standings:
Michigan 8.3
Oregon 8.2
Ohio 7.6
Indiana 7.4
South Dakota 7.1
North Dakota 6.9
Washington 6.9
Virginia 6.6
Wyoming 6.5
Pennsylvania 6.5
Idaho 6.1
West Virginia 6.0
California 5.9
Nevada 5.8
Nebraska 5.7
Kentucky 4.9
Wisconsin 4.5
Minnesota 4.2
Montana 4.1
Missouri 3.5
Iowa 3.3
Illinois 1.9
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