Our Road Trips

9/4/2016 8/29-9/3/2016

It is interesting being at campgrounds over a weekend. All of a sudden, every space is full and kids are running everywhere, riding bikes, enjoying not being at home, and I guess a new set of friends. We have witnessed this numerous weekends and there was nothing different in LA County. Our next door neighbors had it down, a brand new motor home and 4 cars, 10 people, 5 of them kids, 3 dogs, a bonfire that nobody got within 15 feet of, 2 grills going and lots of jabbering about 20 ' away...it was pretty comical. They went for a walk right after the sun set, so we had about 30 mins of peace. Then it went on some more until they started leaving or going to bed. Next morning, it started all over again. So we went riding...lots to see & do.

Monday, they had left, so we sat and enjoyed the day...I actually took a nap. Then, we went to get a few things, including a shirt to put in the box we are mailing to our grandson for his Birthday next week. He will be 19, boy time gets away while you are busy with your life...seems like yesterday he was in Grade School. Then we got into the traffic jam on CA 57 and drove south, very slowly, and finally made it to our meeting place with my Cousin Don and his wife Debbie. They had been in Oregon for almost 3 weeks while we had been in So Cal, so we had not had a chance to get together. So we sat and chatted for a couple of hours, catching up on the past and sharing our plans for the near future...nice couple of hours. Don had some of our grandmother's china he wanted us to have, so we have another memory of the past too. It was very nice seeing them again...last time was in The Florida Keys in April for about an hour. We made our way back to the camper and started packing up. Tomorrow morning we start our 10 week trek back home. We have thoroughly enjoyed our 36 days in California. We have enjoyed the weather, the sights we have visited, the people we have met, and the places we have stayed. There is a lot to do and lots to see, but it is time to move back east.

So, about 930 the next morning, we started out move. I-10 to I-15 up and over the San Gabriel Mtns. and across the Mohave Desert, the ride from Victorville, CA to Las Vegas is pretty void of anything to look at except hills of sand a a tree every 5 miles or so....pretty bleak. Along the way, near the CA/NV border is a huge solar farm with 3500 acres of solar production. I had researched whether we could get a tour and as far as I could determine, none are available. It is advertised as the largest Solar plant in the world and has both positive & negative reviews. It would have been fun to hear their spin, but it appears that won't happen. You can do the same research I did here: http://www.ivanpahsolar.com/. It seems like an interesting attempt to make cheap clean electricity, I'm just not sure they have succeeded. We have chosen to basically avoid Las Vegas, been there & done that. So we skirt the city on the south and make our way to Boulder City, home of the Hoover Dam. We will make a couple rides into Vegas, but we have scoped out the available shows & other happenings there and found not too much that interests either of us so we will spend our time visiting the landmarks east & north of town. Our campsite is between Boulder City & the dam and gives us a view of Lake Mead and is inside the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The view is pretty but it is 107 every day, so we will be doing most of our activity indoors or at night. We got set up and got our first priority taken care of...laundry. Barb is such a trooper, get it done & over with as soon as possible. So that is done for another few weeks. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the a/c in our camper, reading and/or watching TV.

The next morning was a lazy morning and then a ride to get some parts for maintenance of the RV and then a 45 min trek to North LV and a driving tour of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway complex. Not too much going on, except the same exotic cars driving a course so folks can get their speed fix. Then we drove back and stopped at a Craft Brewery in Boulder City for appetizers and a few of their craft beers. We went back to the camper and spent the rest of the evening just chilling.

After breakfast, we drove to the Hoover Dam, stopped at the Lake Mead Rec Area Visitors Center and talked to the ladies there for advice and ideas. She pointed out a station in Boulder City where we can get fuel for the camper, so we went and checked that out...it will work fine. Then we returned to the Rec Area for a planned Dinner Cruise on Lake Mead. It was OK. It started too late, so the sunset was pretty much nothing, and the visit to the dam was after dark, so pretty much worthless, and the food was OK, nothing special. Won't do that again, live & learn.

The next morning, we called a phone # we have been calling for days and Barb finally got someone to answer the phone, only to be told she was too busy to take her reservation, she would call back. She called back 3 1/2 hours later and Barb made an appointment for us to take a raft trip on the Colorado River below Hoover Dam on Monday. That ought to be worth some cool pictures if nothing else. Then we were off on one of our rides, around the north side of Lake Mead to the road to Valley of Fire State Park, through the park twice and then back to Boulder City for dinner. It was an uncrowded, unhurried, very interesting day. Lots of very cool rock formations, very interesting color combinations and some very nice people we met along the way. From our campsite to the Valley of Fire is about 65 miles, each way. Then there are various roads that lead to Lake Mead along the way and scenic trails that meander through the State Park, so we drove close to 200 miles through some of the most amazing rock formations you will find anywhere. On that route, we kept seeing these little short fences, about 16" tall. There are miles & miles of these fences. It got us wondering what the heck the purpose of them could be, so we stopped and asked a Park Ranger, very nice young man, who told us the purpose. The US Govt put these fences up to keep the endangered, protected Desert Tortoises from getting on the road and out of the way of cars & trucks. We had a nice chat with the Park Ranger too...he too was amazed at the amount of tax dollars were spent on these fences. Then we went to dinner in Boulder City at a place called Dillinger's, a Food & Drinkery Establishment...we learned what a Drinkery was too. It was a very fun & interesting day, and we learned a lot about the life around Lake Mead, talking to the Park Rangers can be very informative. Ask good questions and listen to the answers, we learn a lot that way, sometimes more than we thought we would.

We decided to stay at the camper as much as possible on the long Labor Day weekend, as a lot of folks will be getting their final summer fix before school starts and football season gets revved up. Sure enough, the campground was full Friday night, about 40 campers that weren't there Friday morning. So we just relaxed in the comfort of our camper, watched some TV, took naps and enjoyed the day. About 630, we got in the car and drove to Boulder City, stopped at a wine bar and sat and watched locals enjoy their Sat night...lots of dogs at the sidewalk cafes and people enjoying the first day of a 3 day weekend. Then we drove the 2 blocks to Boulder City Brewery where there was supposed to be live music...turns out the band was a no-show, much to the owner's aggravation. So we had a couple of appetizers and headed back to the camper. We sat outside for a 1/2 hour or so and watched the lights on the lake...lots of boats moving around in the dark.

We haven't done much while here. It has been 105+ most every day, we sort of wore ourselves out during the 11 days in the LA area, and we have been here before and just don't feel like spending too much time doing the casino things in Las Vegas, so we are sort of resting up for our next adventure. We are moving again on Tuesday, a short stay in Lake Havasu and then the Flagstaff area.

Steve & Barb Larson