Windy's Ranch and Rescue - Pig Sanctuary - Nevada - 2023/09/12

It's been a long summer, traveling all up and down the West side of the United States. Today we're going to a place that's really fun! It's Windy's Ranch and Rescue!

Look at that map of all the different places we've spent the night in the RV. It's filling up, but there's a hole right in the middle. We'd best take care of that one now while we're over here. 

Theresa found a Harvest Host site in Nevada and we were excited to book it! It's a Pig Sanctuary! Alli adores pigs. They are one of her favorite animals. She's going to love this. 

Ooh, but there's a problem. There's an iron gate across the front that's got a maximum height of 12 feet. That's unfortunate because we're 12' 9" or so. But, the website also said later in the summer the gate would be raised. Theresa was in contact with the owner and sure enough, a few weeks before we arrived, the gate was raised! 

Let's go! 

Goodbye Utah! 

Hello Nevada! It was an easy drive to the ranch. When we arrived, I was happy to see that the gates had been raised, but was a little daunted by the area inside the gates. Since that's photo, additional structures have been built. I've overlayed a silhouette of the size of my truck and trailer together. I've got to make a U-turn in here? Oh my. 

Thankfully they were quick to shuffle cars around if it looked like I was getting too close. It took quite a bit of back and forth...

But there it is! A full 180! 

Welcome! 

The kids were quick to get out of the truck and see all our new friends! 

Janice (the owner of Windy's Rescue) takes in the tiny teacup pigs that people adopt that grow up to be regular sized pigs. 

Janice - There's no such thing as a teacup pig. If you feed a pig it will grow. And pigs can live up to 20 years! 

There's more than just pigs here on the ranch. These happy puppies came by to see us too, wanting as much attention as we could give them. 

Oh my. They love having their bellies rubbed. 

The chickens inspecting my work while I get set up for the night. 

You can see just a few of the tire marks from all my back and forth I had to do. We disconnected the truck from the RV because we heard there was another traveler spending the night here too! Oh my! I hope they're in something small! 

Janice injured her leg a few days prior, but her daughter Tiffany offered to give us a tour of the ranch. 

Behind the main house is a large field with lots of free-roaming animals. 

Nice mohawk! 

Tiffany offered to take us even further in to see the really big pigs. Oh my. 

Big, but gentle. 

Those guys in the front were tiny compared to these back here. 

A curious donkey came over to see us. 

Oh my, now this is a really big guy. 

It wasn't just Alli who thought they were adorable. We were all smiles. 

Adorable. 

I have never seen a pig this large. Tiffany estimated him to be in the 800 pound range. 

Ian getting sniffed by another pig. 

But even though he's so large, he still likes to have his belly rubbed, just like the little ones. 

They would walk over, lean against us, then lay down for a belly rub. 

And all of them seemed really happy. No one was pushy or aggressive. They just seemed curious and happy to see someone. 

Inside another fenced off area were goats, ducks, and geese. 

Hi goats! It reminded us of our friend Henry's goats back home in Florida. 

Hi ducks! 

Tiffany offered to let the kids feed them. 

And it didn't take long for the goats to make their way into the duck feed. 

Ruby the donkey coming over to say hi again. She took a special liking to Ian.

And here's a horse named Fifty. Why Fifty? Because he originally cost his owners 50,000 dollars. 

Ruby inserting herself into the mix to get extra attention. 

Yep, Ian has a favorite. 

We were treated to a beautiful sunset. 

In another cages area there were a ton of cats. Tiffany asked if we'd like to go see them too. Me and the kids were interested, but Theresa is allergic, so she stayed out. 

Now I wasn't sure if these kitties would be the skittish kind that would hiss and run whenever they saw someone new, or the friendly kind. 

Luckily they were all wanting of attention and were very friendly. 

Just wanting someone to pet them. 

I recall an old Sesame Street song about a pig singing a song about "There are chickens in the trees". A rooster comes along and corrects him that there are no chickens in trees. 

Just in case you don't remember it.

And I'm afraid to say that that rooster was wrong. There are certainly chickens in trees. Tiffany said they hide out in the trees to escape predators. 

The dogs were following us around everywhere. 

Hi fluffy dog. 

Near the front of the ranch are a few more pigs. 

And boy do they like belly rubs. 

Alli really enjoyed petting and playing with all the cute pigs. 

We retired to the RV for the night. 

A video of our animal encounters that day.

The next morning, I asked the kids how they slept. Turns out it was an easy wakeup. What they say about chickens and sunrise is true. The chicken coop was right outside their window and their sleep was interrupted. 

While we got the RV hooked up to the truck, the kids gave the animals all the attention. 

Thank you Janice! 

With a typical Harvest Host, it's polite to make a purchase or otherwise support the place you're staying. There's nothing to buy here, but we can make a donation. Last night, while Tiffany was giving us the tour, we gave her a donation, but the kids wanted to dig into their savings and also give a donation to the rescue themselves. Janice was touched and the next morning brought them each a shirt with Rescue's logo on it. And Alli's is pink! Aww. Thank you!

Goodbye pigs!

And now we can add Nevada to the list of states we've spent the night in with the RV! Our map is filling up!

Time to start the drive east. 

Careful pigs! And luckily the other person staying the night here was in this small van. Easy to navigate here. 

Thank you Janice, Tiffany, and Windy's Rescue for hosting us! And thank you for raising the entrance gate so we could stay here!