Charlie was worried that if we’d had any mechanical issues, or hit a cow, we could be stranded for a month. Thankfully, we didn’t have any mechanical issues, nor did we hit a cow. But, we almost had one when we saw the entomological wonder that awaited us in the desert.
Using our handy camping app, we found a free campsite just outside of Austin, Nevada that touted petroglyphs. As we drove down the road to the campsite, I saw what I initially thought were cow patties in the middle of the road. But then I noticed they were MOVING.
Upon closer inspection, we saw that they were gigantic crickets that were swarming and eating dead crickets on the road. Glancing around the desert landscape, we could see the crickets were scampering all over the desert floor, emerging by the thousands en masse on to the road, from all directions.
It was like a scene from a horror movie.
What were those things? Where did they come from? Was it mating season? The closest thing I could find with my online search was Mormon Cricket? Maybe Spider Cricket? The photos don’t do them justice, they were HUGE and close to half the size of my palm.
There were several campers already there - including tent campers who were flicking the gargantuan bugs off their tent walls. We slowly drove around the campsite, in gross disbelief at the size and quantities of crickets, before deciding we’d take a hard pass on this spot and keep driving to camp at a higher elevation. There was no way my husband - with his extreme bug phobia - would be staying at this location, despite the awesome rate.
As we pulled away, crushing scores of swarming massive crickets under our tires (that splattered the Airstream) Charlie said, “See kids? That’s why it’s FREE. Now ROLL up your windows!”
Those crickets are huge! Ewww!!
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