Together Again

I picked Julia up at the Las Vegas airport on Sunday afternoon, and we drove back to Valley of the Gods to spend a couple of days enjoying the state park, along with some together time.

  On Sunday, we hiked the Mouse’s Tank and Fire Wave Trails.

I spoiled Julia on Sunday night with my leftover Thai Curry Chicken with Coconut Milk over rice.

Sunday night,  Valley of Fire enjoyed a second night of severe thunderstorms and downpours.  On our early morning walk, we stopped and talked to a ranger who told us that the higher elevations in Utah were experiencing significant snowfall.  After a breakfast of apple and banana pancakes (Julia’s favorite), we hiked the White Domes Trail.  I had hiked this trail several times in the past and really enjoyed the slot canyon, although it was a dry and dusty hike.  Not that day after the heavy rains.

We then hiked the Elephant Rock Trail.  In the afternoon, we hung out, read books, and cleaned up at the Atlatl Campground’s showers.  Then we went out for Mexican food in Overton.

Early Tuesday morning, we checked the weather forecast for Bryce Canyon and decided to risk the trip.  The predicted highs were in the 60’s, and the predicted lows were in the 40’s. Seemed like a window of opportunity.

Solo Traveler becoming Two Travelers

You would think I would be bored of Valley of Fire State Park after nine days here, but I am not. Every day exposes new things to look, paths to wander, and new people to meet. Every day is different, although the sunshine, blue skies, and temps in the 70’s and 80’s have been consistently wonderful.

 

Julia arrives Sunday at the Las Vegas airport. I suppose the cleaning and organizing needs to commence now. The good thing about traveling in a small travel trailer like the Brew Hut is that it doesn’t take very long to work on a small space. I do still need to restock groceries and do laundry in anticipation of my wife’s arrival.

I met a retired pediatrician (age 71) and his wife who have been full-timing for ten years. They are spending two weeks at Valley of Fire and then driving down into Baja Mexico to spend the winter there. He’s gone through several trailers and trucks to find “the one.” Their trailer is a Lance with a slide-out, 400 watts of solar power, two golf cart batteries, and a Ford F-150 to pull it all. They went through several smaller versions of travel trailer in first buying a Tab teardrop, then buying a 15’ Escape fiberglass trailer from Canada, before deciding that they needed more room for full-timing and went with the Lance.

I’d like to think that the Brew Hut will be big enough Julia, Elvis and I for part-time travel. We will start finding out during the next couple of weeks.
Today, Elvis and I hiked Mouse’s Spring and the Fire Wave. It’s a bit warmer today, so Elvis got hot and tired and is sleeping it off in the Brew Hut as I write this blog post. Below are some photos of our hike, including a couple of Elvis in response to a request by my daughter.

I’ve hiked all of the trails that I want to at Valley of Fire but looking forward to sharing the fun with someone else besides Elvis.  No offense Elvis.

Gone and Back Again

 

I stayed two days at a nondescript rv park in Henderson Nevada, which is just south of Las Vegas on the Boulder Highway. My site was supposed to be empty and ready for me, but it wasn’t. It was noon when I arrived, and I’m pretty sure the occupants weren’t awake yet. By 1 pm, water and electric was unhooked, and they were rolling away without apology.

I used this time to do laundry, shower several times,, resupply, and, of course, roast coffee. There was nothing very remarkable about the rv park, so I won’t name it. Most of the residents were year round and long-term. Lots of the Rv’s were older and in need of repair, even though the park supposedly had a ten-year rule in order to stay there. By that, if your rv was older than ten years from the date of manufacturer, keep looking. I fibbed about the date on my rv (since Scamp hasn’t changed it’s design since about 1978, mine looks as new as the ones coming from the factory now), but I didn’t feel too bad after seeing the motley assortment of ancient trailers that somehow found their way into their spots. Maybe they were grandfathered?

Anyway, I am back to Valley of Fire. I arrived late morning, which seems like a good time because there were only a few rigs present when I arrived. By evening it was nearly full.  The Brew Hut didn’t move far—merely across the gravel road where solar is more ample, and the views more generous behind the campsite.

The days are getting shorter. I’m sleeping in until nearly 7 a.m., and it’s pretty much dark by 7 p.m. Since Julia arrives on Sunday, I’ve been brushing up on my pancake operations in the morning. It makes for a nice sweet treat to start the day with my fresh roasted Papua New Guinea coffee.

T-mobile doesn’t live here in the campground, but I’ve found a few places where one or two bars of signal can be had, so I’ve been able to pick up my daily local newspaper to read with breakfast. Elvis and I usually have our 12k-15k steps by noon. During the afternoon, I’ve been reading John Muir’s “My First Summer in the Sierra.” I was worried it might not be accessible, but he’s an excellent writer and communicator, probably due to his Wisconsin roots.

I’ve been scavenging firewood from campsites that people have departed from—with some success. I hope to have a few fires this week to lengthen the short days. I also found the Overton library (Moappa Valley Public Library), and it’s free wifi connection, so I downloaded some more Netflix to watch during the evenings. I’m pretty settled into my routine, but I’m sure that Julia will shake me out of that shortly.

Valley of Fire

I’ve been traveling for over a month, but I finally find my happy space: Valley of Fire State Park, which is about an hour northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. There are two campgrounds here. One is for the big rv’s and has electric hookups. The other is called Arch Rock and is for small Rvs and tents with no electric hookups. There’s nothing luxurious about my campsite, except for the million dollar views. I do have close water, garbage cans, and vault toilets. Ample solar tops off the batteries in two or three hours of late morning/early afternoon sun. And, drum roll, dogs are allowed on the trails.

Valley of Fire is Nevada’s largest and most popular state park. You do have to be a bit lucky to get one of the first come, first serve campsites here. Campsites rarely stay open long (usually filling in minutes even mid-week), and the campground has always been full by mid-afternoon with a sign out front indicating “campground full”. I’m always amazed at the optimistic people who circle through from mid-afternoon until after dark, hoping that the sign lies. It does lie in the morning when early risers break camp, but the sign tells no lies after 3 p.m.

People who know me well understand that I’m easily entertained, sipping my early evening IPA while watching the procession of hopeful campers pass through. This is indeed a case of the early bird gets the worm.

Elvis and I have been hiking in the mornings before it gets warm. In the full sun on the red rock, it does get hot. I carry water for us both. By noonish, we are settled under our shade structure at the campsite. By 3 p.m., the natural shadows from the huge towers of rock behind our campsite project natural shade for the late afternoon and early evening.

Spoiled by our water spigot for doing dishes, I’ve been making apple (from the Pipe Spring orchard) and banana pancakes in the morning, and branching out in the evening with steaks, beans and rice, and pasta dishes with sausage. Evenings are cold IPA’s and perhaps a nightcap of ginger ale on the rocks (sometimes with a splash of bourbon).

There is no reason to move from here, except a 14 day camping limit within a 28 day period. In order for Julia to enjoy the area on the 21^st, I’m going to have to vacate my campsite for a few days and hope to be a lucky early bird to get another campsite secured for the both of us. I feel like I understand the rhythm of how people leave and go from this place, but we will see how that works out. Until then, I’m just going to enjoy the moment, the quiet, the unbelievable night skies, and the rocks.