Marines in Lamoille

Marines in Lamoille

August 12,2018

We were returning from the beautiful, 12-mile drive up into Lamoille Canyon of the Ruby Mountains of Northern Nevada.  (see goo.gl/XwbakD).  Back in 2004, Pat and I had hiked up into up into theses glacier-carved mountains and now wished to refresh those memories.  The last time here, we climbed several miles up to the rim of the mountains surrounding the valley and obtained some great views of remaining patches of snow, lakes, forests, wildlife and the desert far below.  This time we wandered up the trail maybe 1/2 mile while taking photos of wildflowers and such.  It was late in the afternoon, so one mile round-trip was enough and Pat was hungry.

Anyway, as we emerged from the mouth of the Lamoille Canyon, we decided to check out the small town of Lamoille.  There, we found saw this sign, “Pine Lodge and Dinner House.”  We asked the bartender if we might be able to obtain a hamburger or something.  I warned her that we were sorta “low carbohydrate” eaters.  Two women sitting at the bar spoke up and asked if we were on the Keto diet.  I replied in the affirmative, and that triggered a conversation.  “We are on the  Keto plan too,” they replied.  So, we chatted about the advantages of eating fewer carbohydrates, until one of them mentioned that they had recently decided to leave the Marine Corps.

Dinner House

 

“Semper Fi — 3rd Battalion Fifth Marines,” I said.  That did it!  Now we had two connections, so we gave each other “high fives” and I asked if they would join us for dinner.  “I wish to hear your war stories,” I said.  They agreed, so we passed around the end of the bar into the dining room.  I expected wobbly tables with plastic tablecloths — but what we saw was a room full of well-dressed customers and gourmet settings.  We found the one empty table in the far back and checked the menu.  We were not gonna get a hamburger here, the price of the meals ranged from $20 to $70 and they had a large selection of wines. 

Dinner House Dining Room

 

Pat ordered roasted pork and since I don’t eat dinner, ordered only a beer.  The two 30-something Marines ordered steaks and began telling their stories.  

They had been in the Marines for about 8 years, were dedicated to the Corps and had served in several different countries.  Several times in combat situations they knew the risk they were taking and thought that they might die.   One was guarding the American Consulate in Honduras during an uprising when she realized that there were only 6 Marines there to protect against about 35,000 hostile natives.  The Honduras Army arrived just in time to save them.  Another time, one of them walked alone into a large room in Afghanistan filled with hostile Muslim men.  She somehow explained to them that it was her job to search only Muslim women and she made her escape.

One of the women Marines was about to be promoted to Gunny Sergeant and really loved the Marine Corps, but they both decided to leave the Marine Corps anyway.  Now, they both have jobs working in Nevada gold mines where about 70% of the gold in the USA produced.  They live near Elko, Nevada and drive two hours each way to and from the gold mines every day.  The Newmont Gold Company pays intern workers about $25/hour, so these women likely make good money and they can eat nice steaks with some frequency.  Both had consumed a couple of drinks before we arrived, so they were relatively well-lubricated and having fun.  Conversation was lively at our table and we enjoyed their company and their stories. 

Anyway, when the check arrived for the meal, these gold-mining Marines insisted on paying for Pat’s meal and my beer.  I resisted their offer, but they would not be denied.  Anyway, I got their email address and promised that the next time we come through Elko, the steaks are on us.

 

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