(On my last blog post, I talked about my first morning photographing the desert in the sunrise, the tour of the abandoned gold mine, and explosion of color during sunset.)
Another night of tossing and turning. I have to admit was a bit spooked being all alone out in that empty lot in Nelson near the old gold mine. I woke up in the middle of the night and looked for stars but didn’t see any. Probably clouded over again. Figures. As I lay there, I thought of what the day would bring. Will I be able to drive this RV through more mountainous terrain? Will I run out of gas, propane, water, food? Will my grey or black water tanks get full too fast? Irrational fears, I know, but until I knew what was ahead of me, I worried about it. I finally fell asleep. There would be no sunrise shooting today, well, maybe with my phone. I opened my tiny window and stuck my phone out to snap a few shots. That would do for now.
First light, from my cab-over bed window.
Getting lighter! You can see the old mining ghost town.
Ahhh, there’s the sun. Time to get up!
Slept in till 7am! Yay! Got up and had some breakfast; what a beautiful morning. Packed everything up for the long, long trip, to Valley of Fire (a whole 90 miles lol), and made myself one more coffee for the road. Before leaving I went outside to take a quick video of my campsite. I decided it was something I should do, record my surroundings, give everyone the layout of the land. For the cool campsites anyway. 😊
My first BLM campsite near Nelson, Nevada.
Then I thought maybe I should take a quick video of the inside of the RV. So I did that too! Then when I was able to get a signal, I could upload it to IG or Facebook. Not even sure if I did that or not. But here it is.
My Cruise America mini RV rental, Jezebel, the Rolling Billboard.
I wanted to visit Nelson’s Landing (the area at the end of the road at the Colorado River) one more time before leaving. Shortly after 8am I was on my way. As I passed the mine store, my tour guide from yesterday was outside and waved. It did make me feel a bit more secure last night knowing there were people living across the street. Anyway, the drive down to the river was better than I remembered. Perhaps the light was better, perhaps a bit more relaxed this time out than I was 2 days prior. But it was gorgeous! I pulled over at a few pull-outs where the shoulders were paved. Took some reconnaissance shots, nothing earth shattering more snapshots, just for me to remember what I saw.
Looking down at Old Nelson’s Landing Road, which runs back up into Eagle Wash Road.
Looking east from NV-165 towards the Colorado River and the Black Mountains of Arizona.
An interesting card I saw hanging from one of the bushes where I pulled over.
For the sake of connection,
Let us always aim
to choose
Love over Fear.
d.s.weave #15 (Dead Spiders Weave) (She’s on Facebook & Instagram if anyone wants to check her out.)
Looking down Eagle Wash Road at the Colorado River and Black Mountains of Arizona.
On my way back up the canyon, as I scanned the mountains to the left and right, I fantasized about my next trip to Nevada. I wondered if my tour guide Joe, from the day before, went 4-wheeling (of course he had to, right?) and if I asked nicely, if he’d be a tour guide for my next trip? Maybe take me out on some of those remote mountain roads to see things most others never get to see? Maybe he’d let me use his shower too. lol. Hmmm… I’m sure I’ll never do it, but it WAS fun to think about. Then out of the blue, a bighorn sheep, a big bull ram ran across the road in front of me! WOW. I looked in the rear-view mirrors and no one was coming so I grabbed my phone and fired off a few shots, then went for my camera which was still on the floorboard next to me, and fired off a few more shots of it running up the mountain. That was amazingly cool. So close. Good thing he didn’t hit me, or I him. Phew…
See him now?
Tried “zooming” in with my phone. Quality is awful. But still pretty incredible.
Finally, with my Nikon. By the time I got my camera up to my eye and able to fire a shot, it had climbed all the way up there. What an amazing animal.
I stopped a few times in the middle of the road to grab a few quick phone shots. It was just beautiful.
Looking back west from Nelson’s Landing Road (finally grabbed my Nikon, again).
As I drove back past the mine on my way out, tour-guide Joe was taking another group on a tour. He waved again, I beeped goodbye. Gotta love a small town and small-town folks. I know, I used to be one. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everyone’s business. Sometimes I miss the familiarity of small town, but then the days when you want to be anonymous, there’s no better place to be than in a big city. But, I guess inside I still am that small town girl. Wait… didn’t Journey sing a song about that? haahaa
About half way back to US 95 on NV 165, I heard one of my phones dinging like crazy. My Boost Mobile phone had service! Yay! I quick texted Mom, let her know all was well and I was heading into civilization, for a little while anyway. I pulled over before turning onto the highway to look up “grocery store near me” in Google maps. Yeah, I needed to restock supplies, and I needed directions. Found an Albertsons (score!) in Henderson only a block or so off my route; perfect. Onward!
Here’s a photo of an historical marker in the pull off lot at the intersection of Hwy. 95 and NV-165.
1864 – 1964
Eldorado Canyon Head of Steamboat Navigation in Nevada
Eldorado Canyon, the site of a mining boom, runs east from here to the Colorado River. Prospectors began digging for gold and silver here about 1859, forming the Colorado Mining District. The three largest mines, the Techatticup, Wall Street, and El Dorado Rand Group yielded over $6,000,000.
This portion of the Colorado River was navigable before the construction of the Hoover Dam, allowing steamboats and barges to freight goods 350 miles from the Gulf of California to the mouth of Eldorado Canyon and upriver. The steamboat era peaked in the 1880s, but continued to the turn of the twentieth century.
In 1867, the US Army established an outpost at Eldorado Canyon to secure the riverboat freight and to protect miners in the canyon from Native Americans. The military abandoned the camp in 1869. In the 1870s the mines flourished again, producing ore until World War II.
Centennial Marker # 6.
State Historic Preservation Office
Albertsons was easy to find. Picked up a few more groceries, grill lighter, ice and other essentials. Bought a birthday card for Mom. I always seem to be on vacation on her birthday. Lucky there’s a post office on my way. I’m sure the card will get there late, which means it’s right on time, from me. Haha - always late. Then I stopped to fill up with gas. I remembered to turn off the propane, very important. We don’t want any explosions so early in our trip. We’ll save that bit of excitement for the end.
Time, today, was not on my side. I wanted to get to Valley of Fire early to get a campsite in the park. It was a little after 11 now and I wasn’t even close. Oh well. Good thing I have a great backup plan. I headed out from the gas station on Boulder Highway and turned onto East Lake Mead Parkway. As that road headed out of town, the scenery became more and more stunning. I thought to myself, wow, I could totally make a trip never going further than a couple hours outside Vegas! Then I made a left onto Northshore Road which soon became Hwy. 167. The most stunning scenery was near Callville Bay. (If you’re ever in the Vegas area, get out of town, look for Northshore Drive on a map and just drive it, make a left at Valley of Fire Highway, drive through the park, and then round trip it back to Vegas. You won’t regret it.)
Soon I came upon Valley of Fire Highway. Traffic was building behind me. Yep, I was the slow, old-ass lady on the highway, so I pulled over. Some twitty girls passed me in a convertible as I pulled over, and then skidded to get in front of me. I just shook my head, all that drama to get in front of me at the VOF sign. Bitches… Anyway… haahaa, I pulled out again, spun my wheels a bit for effect, and went on my merry way. Up on the other side of big hill was a herd of bighorn sheep, desert bighorn to be exact (I had to look it up). (Little known fact, there are less than 70,000 bighorn sheep in North America. Herds of bighorns live with up to 15 ewes (ewes are females – males are rams), lambs, yearlings and two-year old’s. Remember that for the next episode of Jeopardy.) Snagged a great photo of the herd through my semi-clean windshield. Two more shots of bighorn sheep today. YAY!
More bighorn sheep! This herd was having some lunch in the Valley of Fire State Park, near Overton, Nevada
Say cheese!
I passed the road to the visitor’s center, wanted to get to Atlatl campground first to see if there were any open sites left. It was a little after noon now. My chances were pretty slim, but I had to check. As I turned down the road to Atlatl I hit a pretty big pothole and heard something bang in the back. Uh-oh. As I continued on I could hear things continuing to crash to the floor. It was in the bathroom. Oh boy… Whatever it was would have to wait till I stop. Every few minutes and more bumps in the road, something new dropped. It was pretty funny actually. The joys of RVing.
Driving through the Atlatl campground I found nothing. Some empty lots, but only to find tags, reminders that they’ll be back. Disappointed. I tried the Arch Rock campground. Again, nothing. More crashing in the bathroom. I giggled and shook my head. Can’t wait to see the mess in there. So I headed out to the Visitor’s center, maybe they had an ‘in’ to what was going on in the campground. When I got there, the park ranger was at lunch. Of course. So, I looked around and stopped in the gift shop, bought a T-Shirt. “Valley of Fire - adventure awaits”. (Reminded me of this video tutorial I bought last year; they called it edu-tainment. The video series followed a motley quartet of photographers on a roadtrip in a vintage travel trailer stopping at some of the most beautiful areas in the west, teaching valuable photography techniques and theory – and hilarity ensued. They called themselves the F4 group (a spin on a camera setting - aperture). One of the guys in the beginning emphatically repeats a supposed text from another saying “adventure awaits”!) I had to have this shirt. Adventure indeed awaited!
Getting nowhere in the visitor’s center with respects to the campground situation, I headed back out to the RV. It was hot and I needed to check out the mess in the bathroom. Oh yes, the contents of the medicine cabinet, which I so carefully packed with my toiletries and unmentionables, were emptied out on the floor of this phone-booth sized bathroom. I shook my head and laughed. Put everything back in the medicine cabinet, and discovered my nearly empty travel size perfume roll-on, broken on the floor. Glass was everywhere, teeny tiny shards. But let me tell you, the bathroom smelled fabulous the whole trip! (Who needs Febreeze when you have Pure Grace!!?) I picked up the big pieces and went on my way.
After leaving the visitors center, I decided to try the west entrance gate to see if they had any info. I knew it wasn’t far. When I got there I asked the attendant about camping and she said campground was full (I knew that…). I asked if they took reservations or put people on waiting lists if they’re already in the park or anything similar, and she said no. So I tried to buy a 3-day pass, something that would allow me to be there for three days and she said “we don’t sell three day passes here, you have to go the visitors center for that”. Shaking my damn head now, that made no sense, but then everything about this park made no sense. Including the scenery. As I pulled away, I was frustrated, I was hot, and said F… it, I’m just going to find my plan B campsite and cool off and relax. Tomorrow would be another day.
So, heading back east toward the eastern entrance of the park, I didn’t even stop to pay. Not like I saw anything anyway. Just a lot of runaround due to incompetence. When I got to the end of Valley of Fire Highway, I turned north toward Overton and the Moapa Valley. On the way to Overton is what’s called Poverty Flats and then Snowbird Mesa. Its basically one HUGE parking lot of BLM land, on a mesa. Best thing, it was free and relatively flat. Poverty Flats, haahaa, yep, that name suits it to a T! Lots of old dilapidated RVs. Some new, but most are really ‘vintage’, Breaking Bad-esque. A place where old RVs go to live out their ‘twilight’ years. Can’t say I’d hate it, to be honest. Weather here is unbelievable, at least it is in mid April. Nice and warm during the day, cool breezes at night. I could definitely get used to this!
I grabbed a wet paper towel and tried to get the last of the glass shards in my bathroom. Tidied up a bit and relaxed. Then I saw this older woman and her dog walking toward my RV. She knocked and asked if she could see the inside as she was considering buying one herself. I took one look at her and her well-past-its-prime dog and knew she was no harm. I let her in. We sat and chatted for a bit. Very nice lady, KP was her name, and her dog Zippy. She told me about all the campers that were out there. Gossip, even in the desert. Haahaa I gave Zippy a bowl of cold water. Sweet thing, blind, deaf and probably had some sort of stroke as she held her head cocked to one side; tongue hanging out. But she didn’t seem to be too bothered. After a while, my new friends left.
I was getting hungry so I went to cook up some tasty burgers for dinner. Got out my new lighter, turned on the stove, clicked the lighter, and… and… nothing. No flame, no fire, no burgers. Grrr… what the hell is wrong with this freekin RV?! So I called renters assistance – yeah, had a bit of Verizon signal. They said I could go back to Las Vegas to get it fixed or get it fixed in St. George or Kanab Utah. I told them to schedule Kanab. I’d be there on Thursday. So now what to eat till then? It was only Monday?! So I sliced up a few pieces of summer sausage and some cheese. Mmmm, mmmm. Grabbed my lawnchair and sat outside to eat my gourmet dinner. Haahaa, my meal may not have been gourmet, but the view was 1st class. KP saw me sitting outside and invited me over. I told her I’d be over after I finished eating. Afterward, I went over and sat with her for a bit. We talked and I regaled her with my story of my trip so far. How I planned it, etc. She thought I was testing out RVs to retire in. Haahaa! No, I told her I was just on vacation. I told her about my difficulty finding a level site and she gave me an old 2 x 4 she had in her RV, about 2 feet long, in case I need to elevate one side or the other. Very nice lady. Been everywhere and done everything, even lived in Wisconsin for a bit, not far from where I grew up. Small world.
After a while, I could see the light was getting warmer and lower in the sky, the sun would be setting soon. I told her I had to go and photograph the sunset. She wished me luck and gave me her business card, a piece of paper with her email on it. (I need to send her a message with some of my photos. Thank her for her kindness. She was very nice, maybe a bit lonely out there by herself, her and Zippy. Sweet thing.)
Camera in hand I went out and explored the area near a gulley or ridgeline, I guess? Not sure of the terminology, but the area of mesas and foothills just east of Valley of Fire, near the Overton Ridge. Just as beautiful as VOF, maybe not as dramatic; who needs all that drama anyway? The photos were soft and pastel-y. I had trouble with my long lens again. God I hope it lasts the rest of my trip! Kept giving me error messages. This was frustrating. I put the 24-70 back on. I’ll just have to crop after the fact.
Sunset view from Poverty Flats, near Overton, Nevada.
I couldn’t get enough of these creosote bushes.
Blue hour view of the mountains from Poverty Flats, near Overton, Nevada
Another of the same view, showing several RVs off in the distance.
Ok, I got a little Hollywood on the editing of this shot, but isn’t it cool!? This was facing west toward the setting sun right after sunset.
After the sun set it was time for wee bit of a snack. Made a cup of tea and indulged in a few chocolates. 😊 I found some more sugar free Hershey’s minis at the store today. Yum! Settled down with more Edward Abbey and wrote the day’s antics in my travel journal. Before going to bed I checked my work phone and found I was getting a bit of spotty internet. YouTube was working! Tell me why YouTube worked but Instagram didn’t? Crazy, anyway, I saw that I missed a post-processing video from Adam Gibbs the day I flew out. Sweet! I scaled the heights of my cab-over bed, settled in, and pressed play. Ahhh, tethered back to civilization, if only for a few minutes. I think I fell asleep before it was over. (But I did wake again long enough to finish the video and leave a comment. 😉Haaha) I slept like a log that night.