Hawthorne, NV (Walker Lake)

June 7-8, 2013

Hawthorne, NV is a military base area.  We camped at Walker Lake.  Since it is a developed BLM property the camping fee was $3.00 per night.  The lake was beautiful and the surrounding area was really neat.  Again this area was recommended to us by our desert friend, Shelley. Shelley told us that the area was dirty and there were pack-rats every where.  The campground didn't have rats and it was clean for the most part.  What got to us was the insane number of large (quarter sized) spiders!!!  They were everywhere.  It took us a week and a half to finally get rid of them.  Not one of the places we would recommend to go camping.

We had planned to stay three days.  On the second day we were inundated with spiders.  I don't like spiders at all.

Scenery was great though!!!

Onward and upward.....to the next place.

Barb, Jim & Abby

Tonopah, NV (Lunar Craters & Little Alien Inn)

June 4-6, 2013

On up the road on Route 95 was Tonopah, NV.  Which is about where we started to lose cell service and internet connection.  We camped in the Saulsbury Wash Rest Area, 23 miles east of Tonopah on Route 6.  Nice camp spot. By the way, the camp spot was free.  We traveled to the Lunar Craters, the lava flow area and to Rachel, NV on the extraterrestrial highway.

The scenery was neat and the sun set was quite amusing.
It looked like the other side of the mountain was on fire!



This is the area that the US government used to set off underground Atomic bombs.



Even a lava flow area, I found flowers thriving!



Rachel, NV, home of the little Alien Inn.
The Alien burger was good too.

We went on a dune buggy ride on the trail out behind Saulsbury Wash rest area.  We put 120 miles on the dune buggy that day and never saw a paved road!



Scenery, wild animals and wild wind!





Abandoned cabins and a mine!



And flowers along the way.

 Is this country great or what?

Time to move on down the road.

Barb, Jim & Abby

Beatty, NV (Hot Springs & Death Valley)

June 1-3, 2013

Beatty, NV is the gate way to Death Valley. Since we were there we decided to see what we could see.

First stop in Death Valley was Scotty's Castle. A castle "built on Lies".  The Castle was built in 1920 by Albert and Bessie Johnson, friends of Walter Scott-the infamous "Death Valley Scotty".  The Johnsons were rich and they didn't want the public to know where they built their retreat so they told everyone that the castle belonged to Scotty.



Impressive house in the middle of nowhere!!!

Death Valley:



Check out how much they charge for gas in Death Valley!
It was 114 degrees the day we were there...but it was a dry heat!



It was surprising to see such beauty in such a desolate place.

Rhyolite Ghost Town (Ghost Towns are a big thing out west):

In its hay day, Rhyolite was likened to the Chicago of the west. 
It was a booming mining town.



Right next door to the Ghost Town of Rhyolite was the Goldwell Open Air Museum.   The artist used burlap material soaked in plaster of paris.  He then draped it over a person and made a full size version of the last supper.  People can sit or stand inside of the models and portray the last supper.   Cool, Uh?



Beatty Hot Springs and Campground. 

We camped at the Beatty Hot Springs campground.  With the price of camping you were also allowed to partake in the Hot Springs.  It was AWESOME!!!  The water was so clear.  The people running the campground had a small menagerie out back...two buffalo's and some goats.

 

It really is amazing at the things you can find in this country, even in the smallest place.

More to come.....and we can't wait to share.

Barb, Jim & Abby

Pahrump, NV (Ash Meadows-DV, Red Rock Canyon & Wheeler Pass)

May 28-31, 2013

We decided to travel up the West side of Nevada on Route 95, with a small exception of taking Route 160 up through Pahrump.  Since we are Escapees members I wanted to visit the SKP Park.  We stayed there 4 nights and it only cost us $15.  More evidence of our cheapness.

From here we visited the Red Rock Canyon:



This was a national park...so it was free to get into!
While it was nice, I really liked Valley of Fire better.

We next took a dune buggy ride up though Wheeler Pass & Spring Mountain:



......and flowers along the way!!!

Ash Meadows (part of Death Valley park system):




The bottom right picture is Devil's Hole.  It is hot spring, they do not want
anyone in it.  I barely touched the gate and the alarm went off.  That was
a bit scary.

 On our ride in the area, we found some Desert Art:




Just some fun stuff!!

On to the next adventure......

Barb, Jim & Abby


Lake Mead/Boulder City/ Las Vegas, Nevada

May 22-27, 2013

We made it to the Lake Mead Recreation Area and found a campground.  We stayed in the Boulder Beach campground.  It was recommended to us by our desert friend, Shelly.  Good call Shelly!



There were flowers every where!!!  I love flowers!

 Then we were off to check out Lake Mead....



Since we have "done" Las Vegas before we decided to check out some of the other attractions.  We went to the Neon Museum, Spring Preserves Arboretum, and we went shopping! (No pictures of the shopping trip.....I got a Samsung Table to aide in traveling and securing campsites on the road)

Neon Museum:



The Neon Museum collects the neon signs of old Las Vegas and refurbishes them.

 Spring Preserves Arboretum:


The top picture is Audry (from little shop of horrors)!!
 I found the metal sculptures interesting.

Our next stop was the Valley of Fire State Park.  Awesome place!



The bottom right picture is the rock formation that is named the Elephant!
Do you see it?

On Saturday, 5/25, we went on a train ride on the Boulder City Scenic Train.  It was a three mile train ride to the Railroad Pass, which happened to be a Casino.  There are casinos everywhere in Nevada.
Trains are a big deal in Nevada.  The trains helped move all of the Gold, silver, and ore that were mined in the 1800's.



The plaque in the lower right commemorates a little dog, Owney, that rode
the rails with the mail bags from 1888 to 1897.

 Of course a trip to Las Vegas is not complete without seeing the Hoover Dam.




BIG  structure!

And for the signature sign for Las Vegas:



The lady that designed the Las Vegas sign did not Patent the design.
It was her way of giving back to the city.

 That was fun!!!  Now on to more adventures!!!

Life is a Journey..Enjoy it!

Barb, Jim & Abby


Nevada here we come!!!!

May 22, 2013

We finally left Arizonia (cousin Bob's), and headed out to discover Nevada!

So far so good....and there is more to discover.

Since it has taken me so long to get caught up on this blog (having fun or no internet access), we decided it would be best to consolidate the places we visited by the cities that we stayed near.  We have visited quite a few attractions and have had several dune buggy adventures.

I hope you will bear with us and come back to see what we have been up to.

Having a great time......wish you were here!!!!

Barb, Jim & Abby

Trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

May 14, 2013

This was awesome!!!!! 

In Peach Springs, AZ (along Route 66) there is access to the canyon floor.  This was not a cheap trip though.  Since the access and the river landing is on an Indian reservation a permit had to be purchased to go down to the Colorado river.  The permit cost us $53.00 for us, the car and the dog to use their road.  This was so worth it to me though.

On the way down.....



Top right photo is of a couple of mountain goats.


At the bottom....



Abby is one lucky Puppy....she gets to go into all of the rivers we visit!


On the way up......

I took so may pictures of this trip...I wish I could post all of them.

To some it may be just a pile of rocks, but to know that it took millions of years to create, it really was awe inspiring.  I really hope to make this trip again!!!

Highly recommend this trip to everyone!!!!

Life is a Journey....Enjoy it!!!

Barb, Jim & Abby