Thursday, June 12, 2014

Wendover Will

Wendover, UT and NV

We almost didn’t spend any time in Wendover. I had no idea there was so much to see and do in this little town. And there was so much we didn’t get to see that Wendover is on my bucket list to visit again.

Wendover Will welcomes you to his town.

DSCN1533He is the world’s tallest mechanical cowboy at 90 ft. He has over ¼ mile of neon tubing. He was built in 1952 when he replaced a pole light, originally erected in the 1920’s, at the State Line Cobblestone Service Station that served as an oasis for travelers along the Victory and Lincoln Highways. The owner was William Smith who built a casino at the service station location when casinos became legal in 1930. It’s now the Wendover Nugget. Will was moved from the Nugget to his current location at the western entrance to Wendover.

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Wendover, Utah, and West Wendover, NV, are actually two cities located in two different counties and states. That means the towns each have their own mayors, city councils, administrative and public works departments. The towns are served by two city police departments, two county sheriffs and two state highway patrols.

Right at the border, there are two huge casinos (on the Nevada side, of course) – the Nugget and the Mandalay Bay. We decided to try our luck at the Bay and each of us took our $20 off to the slots. I am notoriously unlucky and usually lose my $20 in about ten minutes or less. I actually played for over two hours on that $20 before it was gone. Jim did much better. He cashed in with $75.

P1080488All was not fun and sightseeing though. We have a toilet that is leaking. Jim spent several hours trying to figure out what was wrong.

Put in new seals and tightened all the connections and we thought the problem was taken care of. Guess not. So tomorrow he’ll have to take another stab at it.

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15 comments:

  1. MerikayJune 12, 2014 at 7:08 AM

    I will remember that place. What else besides the casinos is good to look for?

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  2. Wanderin'June 12, 2014 at 7:55 AM

    Many towns have bordering little towns. All the little towns which are really part of the big towns have different school districts with separate boards, fire districts, mayors and the list goes on. Just think of the money that would be saved if they consolidated. However, if that even were possible, all the executives would lose their job. You know that's not going to happen even if it saved millions ... and it would probably save many millions!

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  3. JackJune 12, 2014 at 8:09 AM

    I'm almost sure we went through Wendover many years ago, but we, obviously, didn't stop. Funny, I don't remember the cowboy. Need to look back in my diaries and at my atlas to see just where you are. Boy, are you lucky to have Jim. I'm not sure what I would do if my toilet started to leak. Probably buy a port potty! LOL Funny to see this because just the other day I wondered how I would replace the gasket (I think that's what keeps the water in the toilet) if it went bad. I suppose I'll be dropping a few hundred dollars to an RV Repairman somewhere along the line. Glad you're having such a great time on your trip.

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  4. joehJune 12, 2014 at 9:13 AM

    What a sign, only in America. Tomorrows post highlights some strange NJ landmarks.

    My money is on Jim to solve the toilet problem.

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  5. Rod Ivers June 12, 2014 at 9:18 AM

    I have that exact same Toilet in the motorhome, and it has leaked all over the floor since it was new... I complained to the factory and they fixed it only to have it leak yet again...

    We had towels on the floor to soak up the water wringing them out in the shower as we have no tub... Eventually I took the entire stool off and had Apache Junction RV rebuild the entire fixture with the kit of parts..... replacing everything..... Even then it still leaked a little.... This time I replaced the couplers on the water lines and wrapped everything with teflon tape before reassembly... Hold your breath, cause it might start dripping again any moment.....

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  6. GypsyJune 12, 2014 at 9:59 AM

    Oh, now I can place Wendover - right on the border. It's been a long time since I've traveled that far on I-80 from CA as I avoid driving around SLC. I stopped at pet-friendly Motel 6 on the Utah side so I never got to gamble there.

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  7. Big DudeJune 12, 2014 at 10:05 AM

    South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV are like this with a casino right on the state border. When we used to ski in the SLC area, some of our group would always drive over to Wendover and invest their lift ticket money in the slots.

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  8. MontanagirlJune 12, 2014 at 2:32 PM

    Interesting post!! Oh, and there's nothing like a leaky toilet, unless it's a leaky kitchen faucet.

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  9. Paul and Marti DahlJune 12, 2014 at 6:21 PM

    So all of Jim's winnings went right down the toilet? ;c)

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  10. Bob and JoJune 12, 2014 at 6:48 PM

    Those dang Dahls beat me to the punchline.

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  11. CarolynJune 12, 2014 at 7:25 PM

    hahaaaa... the Dahl's and whoever posts for Bob and Jo ...

    and yep you've got a gem in Jim ... don't recall seeing Wendover Will.. surely I'd remember. seems awfully familiar

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  12. Ray and Cindy WarnerJune 12, 2014 at 8:24 PM

    Sandi, just keep in mind that not a single casino in Nevada was built by the winning slot players.

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  13. billandjanrvingtheusa.blogspot.comJune 14, 2014 at 5:45 AM

    Third time to see if my comment will post. Say "Hi" to Tom and Diane for us.

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  14. AnonymousJune 15, 2014 at 7:02 PM

    I'd lose my $20 also - so the one and only time I've ever been in a Casino I took a whopping $5.00 to play with !!

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  15. JimboJune 17, 2014 at 10:20 AM

    My $20 usually is gone in a few minutes like you.

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Thanks for visiting today. I look forward to reading your comments. Have a beautiful day.

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