We took a lunch and drove to the Cactus Wren Park. Here we took several bike trails, riding for a couple of hours. Initially our route took us along the highway, but we did ride through some nice residential and shopping areas as well.
And always the mountains…
These really little guys were out playing Saturday soccer…it won’t be much longer before Oliver and Austin are playing!!! Time passes so quickly!
We spent the afternoon
quietly. We did some cleaning and some
laundry and did some reading and relaxing.
We spent most of today walking along the Las Vegas Strip. There are two free parking lots in town. Planet Hollywood and Treasure Island both allow you to park for free. We chose to park at Planet Hollywood. They make you walk a long way through their indoor shopping area before you make it to the street. The inside of the mall was very opulent. At one end, the ceiling was painted to look like the sky at dusk, giving you the illusion the you were actually not inside at all.
We passed a store filled with sport memorabilia. This is Shaq’s size 22 basketball shoe!
Outside, walking along the street, you are assaulted with sights and sounds and smells…an over-stimulation of the senses…but jaw dropping! We started with the Bellagio.
The decadence, the luxury, the beauty of this place.
The ceiling in the lobby is covered with more than 2,000 hand blown Chihuly flower blossoms. It is gorgeous!
Another Chihuly arrangement.
We didn’t gamble, but I was getting ready to take a picture of the casino.
This lady with her three little dogs was walking through. She allowed one of the little dogs to poop on the carpet inside the Bellagio!!! I was flabbergasted!! She whipped out a little orange poop bag and proceeded to pick up most of the dog poo…a young guy walking by made her go back and get the rest. A casino guard came to assist…
The conservatory and botanical garden was my favorite part of the day. The theme for the Spring 2019 exhibit is Japanese Spring. You could smell the cherry blossoms.
We walked down the Boulevard, taking in the sights.
They are still building…
We stopped for lunch at the Sugar Factory.
By the time we walked back past Caesar’s Palace, the fountains were all spouting pink water!
The Strip from the pedestrian bridge at Planet Hollywood.
We aren’t city people, but this is a special city. It was fun to spend the day here.
Tim and I have both noticed that the planes appear to be suspended in the air for a long time as they take off and before they land. I’m not sure if it’s because we can see so far, or if it might be due to the elevation, or maybe even the clear, dry air.
We spent a lazy afternoon and then grilled some bison burgers.
The furnace was making a
really bad clunking noise. Tim had gone
up on the roof and taken the cover off, but he couldn’t figure out what was
wrong. We called a mobile RV repair guy
and he could get here between 1-3.
We decided to take a bike
ride this morning and be back in time for the repairman. We drove to Acacia Park in Henderson. First, we took the 215 Beltway Trail. The scenery was not much. As the name suggests, the bike trail follows
the highway!
After a couple of miles, we
turned around and from the same park we were able to access the Union Pacific Rail
Trail. It was a great day for a
ride. On the way away from town it was a
slow, gradual, uphill climb, but we had the help of a tailwind.
We stopped and got sandwiches
from Capriotti’s.
On the way back to the car it
was downhill with a mild headwind.
The RV repairman got to us
shortly after 1pm. The squirrel cage had
cracked and needed to be replaced. This is
apparently a common problem. The guy knew
exactly what to look for based on our reported symptoms. He had the new part in his van! Thankfully an easy fix!
I rode my bike in the
campground for awhile and then took my book to the pool. Another little bit of heaven!
After dinner we took a ride on
Las Vegas Boulevard or “The Strip.” We
took the roof off halfway through our ride so we could enjoy the view above!
First thing this morning we made the decision to stay in Las Vegas through April 5th. This will give Tim a break from driving for a little while. We will also be in town next week for the service on the Jeep. I headed to the office to extend our stay.
We packed a picnic lunch and
drove to the Hoover Dam.
Usually we tend to avoid touristy places. They are usually overpriced and crowded. This was both, but it was also well worth it! After working in the construction industry for more than 40 years, Tim could really appreciate the magnitude and complexity of this project.
The first viewing area is at
the O’Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge.
This bridge spans the Black Canyon from Nevada to Arizona, over the Colorado
River, parallel to the dam. The road
used to pass directly over the dam but the traffic was awful. Millions of people visit the area every year
and sometimes the wait to cross the bridge would exceed 2 hours. The bridge was completed in 2010. It is a wonderful tribute to 2 heroes.
Tim has long admired and
respected Pat Tillman. This man could have
had a lucrative NFL career but he elected to serve his country in the US Army. He was killed in 2004, while fighting in Afghanistan.
Mike O’Callaghan was an
acclaimed war hero and a well-respected Nevada governor.
There is a moving inscription
on the Nevada side of the bridge. It
reads:
“May all who cross the canyon on this memorial bridge travel their life journeys with the strength and inspiration fund in the high ideals and heroic deeds of these brave humble men.”[
We drove to the Hoover Dam Visitor Center. The dam was constructed in 5 years and was completed in 1935. The dam tamed the Colorado River. Before the dam, in the spring the river was full and raging and by the end of the summer it ran as a mere trickle. The people trying to survive along the river’s course underwent cycles of flooding and drought. At the lower end of the river, there was an accumulation of rich, silty soil. It was fertile ground for farming but the unpredictability of the weather and the severe summers, made growing things nearly impossible. The dam reallocated the water of the river. Lake Meade is a 110-mile reservoir. It can hold a 2-year supply of water. The water from the river flows through the hydroelectric dam and supplies electric power to most of the southwestern United States. It is impressive that this one project can generate that kind of power and hold that amount of water at the same time. It is truly and engineering marvel and the single most effective and influential man-made improvement in the part of the United States.
There are 2 tremendous spillways,
one on either side of the dam. The
spillways are meant to reroute water, should the reservoir ever overflow. The last time the spillway was necessary was
in 1983.
The spillway on the Arizona
side.
The spillway on the Nevada side. The picture doesn’t do this justice. The spillway is so deep and intense, that looking at it made me woozy…
We started the day by heading
to the laundromat. We met a couple from
Florida. They have been fulltime RVing
for the past 12 years. We told them we
planned to go to Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam and they told us not to take
the RV on the scenic loop or across the dam.
They recommended a campground in Las Vegas. We called and made a reservation for the next
couple of nights. While we were washing
clothes, the Jeep dealer called. We
finished the laundry and went to pick up our Jeep.
We headed south to Vegas. The Oasis RV Resort is the swankiest RV resort we have ever stayed at.
After resting we drove to Red
Rock Canyon. There were lots of cars and
people there today. I realized how
spoiled we have been, driving through canyons without passing any other
people!
There are more than 2,000
climbing routes in the park. We watched people
suspended from ropes belaying down the mountainside. We also saw people clambering up the
sandstone rockfaces. We took lots of
pictures…see if you can spot the itty-bitty climbers.
There were a couple of people
painting.
This was a pretty drive.
We couldn’t resist the
opportunity to go off-road for a little while.
More scenery.
Did you know that the Raiders are moving to Vegas? They are working on the stadium. They even their logo on the on-site concrete plant .
Once we were back at the RV, Tim looked online and found a 4 Wheel Parts store nearby. He wanted to go and look. He has been wanting bigger tires and wheels, and a few other things, for weeks. Tim met Carl and they talked Jeep parts.
The parts are ordered and our
installation is scheduled for next Tuesday.
We haven’t decided yet how we will spend the week, but we are going to Hoover
Dam tomorrow!
We were at the Jeep dealer well before 8 am. We walked back and stopped at Starbucks for a coffee treat.
We replenished supplies, and washed the screens and windows. We went for a bike ride. Tim found this ice cream shop. Since I hadn’t had breakfast, I wanted food. I had a hot dog and Tim had a large vanilla cone.
We spent the day waiting. At 1 pm we got an update call. They were still working on the Jeep. The axle was hard to get off because there was a lot of grit and corrosion in there…not sure how that might have happened?!? At 4:30 we got another call. The Jeep was probably not going to be ready today after all. At 5:45 we got the call telling us it would be finished sometime tomorrow morning.
As I was making dinner, Tim was riding his bike in the Walmart parking lot. He saw a guy walking through the lot with a bike tire in his hand. The man was a man of lesser means. The nearest gas station is at least a mile away. Tim offered to help fix the tire, using our air compressor. The bike was this man’s only ride.
We are spending the night at Walmart again.
We heard from a good friend today. It is humbling to us when we learn that someone is reading our blog. You don’t know how much that means to us!
It was chilly last night but we were pretty cozy in our little Jeep. The stars were tremendous. The wind picked up for awhile during the night but quickly died down again. The 3/4 moon cast bright light and long shadows on everything.
I was up early and took a walk in the wash.
We drank some cold brew coffee and packed up our stuff. We set out back across the long expanse of gravel washboard road…bumping along! We made another stop at The Racetrack.
We saw these tiny kangaroo rat prints as we walked back to the Jeep.
We were happy to get to pavement!
Once we got back to the RV, we cleaned up the camping stuff and took showers. We headed to Pahrump. We have an appointment tomorrow at the Jeep dealer. We are staying at the Walmart across the street.
We took our bikes and went for a ride late this afternoon. We ended up at Ohjah Japanese Steakhouse where we ordered sushi.
Now the blog is caught up and it is time for sleeping! Still planning for our next adventure…stayed tuned!
Homestake Dry Camp Death Valley National Park Death Valley, California
We started our day early. We had a long ride planned. We headed north to an area of the national park that we had not yet seen. Because it is a long distance, we planned to make this an overnight excursion…no RV accommodations here! The forecast was for 80 degrees and sunny in the valley. Temperatures in the mountains can be as much as 20 degrees cooler.
Our first stop was at the Ubehebe Crater.
We drove 20 miles on gravel washboard road. It was slow going. If Tim tried to go faster than 10 miles an hour…the Jeep sounded like it was rattling apart. It was a glorious day! We listened to 60’s and 70’s music . We just decided to go easy and enjoy the ride!
At around 3,000 feet of elevation we started seeing Joshua trees.
It was a very pretty ride!
This is Teakettle Junction. I’m not sure why but lots have people have tied their teakettles to the sign.
Our destination today was The Racetrack. This is a large oval dry lake. It is 2.8 miles long and 1.3 miles wide. It is the largest naturally occurring flat and level surface on earth. Any rain that falls here is short lived. The lake bed dries quickly in the hot desert sun and shrinks the mud, creating a “pattern of interlocking polygons.” This feature is in a very remote location and only 4WD vehicles can access this road.
The rock formation in the foreground is known as The Grandstand.
The cool thing about this racetrack is the “sailing stones.” For many years scientists couldn’t figure out how the stones moved across the dry lake leaving tracks in the hard dry mud surface. We set out to search for the stones!
Not this rock.
We went from one rock to another walking for about a mile before we started to see the special rocks!
In 2014, scientists finally figured out the mystery of the moving rocks. Winter rains come. When 1-2 inches of water accumulates on the lake bed, it freezes and forms ice sheets. When the ice begins to break apart, the wind blows the ice sheets along, carrying the rocks along the surface of the dry lake, leaving a trail behind.
We had hoped that we might travel through Lippincott Pass. This sign was a little intimidating as was the beginning of the very rough trail! A ranger had warned us that once you get down the trail, you might not be able to get back up…even with 4WD.
We made our camp at Homestake Dry Camp. This was the site of an old mine and is an old mining camp. You can imagine old miners camping out here. We were in such a remote location and excited to stay here! We had been wanting to do an overnight like this earlier in our trip and found several places that would also have been very neat camping spots. Until now, the weather has just been too chilly!
We saw lots of dark little lizards moving like shadows among the vegetation and rock…this guy posed for a picture!
Home for the night.
Dinner was a berry spinach salad with goat cheese, grilled asparagus, and grilled shrimp.
The sun went down behind our hillside fairly early but it cast this amazing glow on the opposite mountains.
We sat by a fire, drinking hot chocolate with amaretto and watching the stars pop out! It was a terrific day!
Mileage: 59,969 Sunset Campground Death Valley
National Park Death Valley, California
We left Pahrump early this morning.
We were back at Death Valley in Sunset Campground and had packed our picnic for today’s off-road adventure by 11 am. We took West Side Road into Death Valley along the salt flats.
It rained 1.12 inches here yesterday. There is water in the basin. There is hardly ever water here at this time
of the year. New salt crystals are
forming.
We took a detour onto Trail
Canyon Road but the recent rain really washed this rough gravel road out. The gullies were deep and the travel was slow.
The scenery was pretty and we
found a nice lunch spot.
We drove 40 miles in the
valley. The Panamint Mountain Range on
our right and the Amargosa Range on our left.
Death Valley is in the Basin and Range Province. This is characterized by abrupt changes in
elevation, deep gullies or valleys and steep mountains. In very simple terms, Death Valley formed because
2 parallel fault lines pulled apart, creating a rip or rift in the middle. This occurred 3 million years ago. The land on each side formed tilt block
mountains, that is the land mass on each side tipped over, forming the mountain
peaks. The deep valley in the middle
continues to sink even as the mountains continue to grow. We think of rock as solid and unchanging but
it very much depends on what is beneath it.
The actual geological history is much more complicated than that. The most ancient rocks in Death Valley were
formed at least 1.7 billion years ago!
Riding in the valley gave us
a different perspective of the expansiveness and vastness of the space. It made me feel very small.
We got back to the RV and started preparation for tomorrow’s overnight Jeep camping trip. We are packing lunch and dinner stuff and then breakfast for Sunday morning. We are going to the Racetrack!
I got up early to be at the Jeep dealer by 8 am. They had no loaner cars but they did have a shuttle to get me back to the campground. I asked Mike, the shuttle driver, what we should do while we are in Pahrump. He suggested Las Vegas, Death Valley, or Tecopa. He said “There is nothing to do in Pahrump unless you want to gamble!” We don’t gamble. We worked too hard for what we have. We might as well throw dollar bills out the window as we ride down the highway!
It rained from noon yesterday until noon today. It was chilly and raw. We decided to clean the inside of the RV. We even took down the vents on the ceiling and cleaned them.
We didn’t get the Jeep back until after 3 pm. The dealer needs to order parts, so we set up another service appointment for Monday morning.
Tim was able to get the replacement bulb for the RV headlight.
We went out to dinner again…just to get out for awhile. Mexican food and margaritas.
Finally after dinner…the sun!
It’s a shame the weather wasn’t better. This is really a nice RV park.
We cannot stay in Pahrump because of the big marathon this weekend. We are going to go back to Death Valley for the weekend and then we will not be too far away to come back to Pahrump on Monday.
