Flexibility is key!
The plan was to drive from Phoenix to Nellis Air Force Base
on our way to Los Angeles. Nellis has an
excellent RV park, and it has been along our route several times. So we approached the Hoover Dam for the 4th
time on this year-long trip. We stopped
to tour the first time, and passed by Lake Mead every time. It occurred to me as we were passing again
that Lake Mead is a NATIONAL RECREATION AREA!
How can we just pass up a national park?
So we stopped in and ended up staying a couple of days.
The next day, we took a narrated raft trip down (up?) the
Colorado River from the Dam several miles along. We learned that the pressure from Lake Mead
on the curved shape of the Dam keeps it in place.
By this picture, it’s hard to believe that you
can’t see the dam from the new bridge that allows travelers to bypass it. I assume that is by design! We saw bird nests, caverns, and even some
mountain goats.
We stopped for lunch at
a little beach. The Dam causes the colder
water from deep in the river to come to the surface - Becca went swimming anyway
in the 55 degree water- brrrr!!
I wasn’t convinced that I wanted to STAY in Death Valley
National Park, but I thought it would be cool to visit. 
Cool, but it is a HOT place. Becca wanted to stay, and they had room. We went to a very interesting ranger program
on lizards in the desert- this ranger was INTO lizards! Did you know that some lizards can breathe in the sand? How about that the side blotched lizard is the most common in the park, and that a zebra tailed lizard can run 20 miles per hour? We know now... We drove 15 miles to the sand dunes, where we hiked and Becca rolled around.
I hadn’t realized that the desert is rocks and mountains and scrub- so much
more than sand, and California has a lot of it!
The sun setting over the dunes was unlike any sunset we had seen before.
There was no one on the road on our way back to the campground. It was a little eerie to be traveling in such a wide open space seemingly all alone.
We won't be alone for long. Traveling to Los Angeles next!
Cool, but it is a HOT place. Becca wanted to stay, and they had room. We went to a very interesting ranger program
on lizards in the desert- this ranger was INTO lizards! Did you know that some lizards can breathe in the sand? How about that the side blotched lizard is the most common in the park, and that a zebra tailed lizard can run 20 miles per hour? We know now... We drove 15 miles to the sand dunes, where we hiked and Becca rolled around.
The sun setting over the dunes was unlike any sunset we had seen before.
There was no one on the road on our way back to the campground. It was a little eerie to be traveling in such a wide open space seemingly all alone.We won't be alone for long. Traveling to Los Angeles next!
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