This series of posts are about our Alaska RV trip. This post talks about our time in the state of Nevada. After the Grand Canyon, we spend days 30 to 49 in Nevada.
Nevada
We reserved a campsite in Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area. Our main reason for going to Nevada is to visit with Fran’s aunt in Las Vegas. Before, when I thought of Nevada, I thought only of the Las Vegas strip. I never realized how beautiful this state was, even just a few miles from the strip. We also need some maintenance done on the RV. It’s hard to get in anywhere, but we’ve scheduled it in Las Vegas.
Red Rock Canyon
Our first spot in Nevada is Red Rock Canyon Campground in Las Vegas. We have reserved five nights here. This campground is part of the national conservation center, and we get it at half-price with our senior access pass. There is no electric, power or water here. but that’s okay.
Today is Good Friday—spring break for some, a three-day weekend for others, and the campground is crowded. The next morning we try to go to the Red Rock Canyon visitors center, but there is a long line of cars waiting to get in. We go to a scenic overlook instead, and meet someone who volunteers at the visitors center. She gives us a map, and tells us that we should plan on getting there early. She tells us about a nice restaurant down the road, in Blue Diamond, called Cottonwood Station. We go there for lunch.
We get up early the next two days and explore Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area. There are lots of hiking trails and scenic drives.
It’s Easter Sunday, and after hiking in Red Rock Canyon, we cook a ham in our Instant-Pot. We have no power here, so we use our generator. The ham’s a little too big for the Instant-Pot, so we slice part of it off. Our Easter dinner turns out great, and we have plenty of left-overs.
Las Vegas
We spend a day with Fran’s Aunt Lois and her husband. They live pretty close to the campground in Red Rock Canyon.
The next day, we take the RV to Velocity Truck Center, in North Las Vegas, to have the 60,000 mile maintenance done. We drop it off at 8:00am and go to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We go to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. We have lunch in the Fremont Street area, walk around, and go to the Mob Museum. Fremont street is an interesting area—for about an hour. We go back to Velocity Truck Center, and wait for the RV to be ready.
When we pick up the RV, they tell us the anti-sway bar is broken. They say they may be able to get the part the next day, and will call us when its in. We drive to the Hitchin’ Post RV Park. This is a pretty nice RV park, but we question the neighborhood, because it is gated. They assure us it is safe. They have a nice restaurant right here, so we don’t have to find anywhere for dinner.
The guy at Velocity Truck Center forgets to order the part, and says it will be in the next day. We tell him we’ll come back. The next day, we come back at 10:00 and they fix it a couple of hours later. We go back to the Hitchin’ Post.
Hoover Dam
Next, we drive to Boulder City Elks Lodge. This Elks has a really nice facility for RVs. They even sell propane. We pay for two nights. Our plan is to see Hoover Dam.
The first day, we explore the area. We drive to Hoover Dam, but we are too late for any tours. The next day we go to Hoover Dam and take the full tour. It is amazing.
Lake Mead Recreational Area
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We fill our propane tank at the Elks Lodge in Boulder City and drive to Echo Bay RV Park, in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. We chose this campground because it is close to Valley of Fire, but it is run-down and not close to anything else.
Lake Mead was formed by the Hoover Dam. Entrance into Lake Mead National Recreation Area is free for us, with our senior access pass and there are many scenic overlooks in the park. The first day, we walk the Historic Railroad Trail. This was the site of a railroad that was built to bring supplies for the Hoover Dam construction. The trail used to go to Hoover Dam, but one of the tunnels is closed. We walk to the closed tunnel and back.
Valley of Fire
Valley of Fire State Park is next to Lake Mead Recreation Area, but is not part of it. The entry fee is $10 per vehicle. We go to the visitors center and get information about hiking. We go on some hikes. The hiking trails are very scenic, and some of them have petroglyphs, but we can’t do it all in a day.
We move the RV a few miles to a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) area called Poverty Flats. This is dispersed camping—no power, no water, no dump, but it’s free. We go back to Valley of Fire State Park the next day.
On day 46, we drive to Picketts RV park, in Alamo, NV and pay $10 to dump and fill. Then, to Patterson Pass BLM in Picoche, NV. This campground is like the last one—no power, no water, no dump, but free.
We celebrate Cinco de Mayo by cooking a whole chicken, in our Intant-Pot, for burrito bowls, using the generator. Our meal turns out great.
On day 48, we drive to the Ely Elk viewing area, in Ely, NV. This is also a free place, with no facilities. We don’t see any Elk, but then again, we don’t have binoculars.
The next day, we drive to Spanish Gardens RV Park, in Jackpot, NV. We hadn’t planned to stop this soon, but we have gusting cross-winds, and we feel better stopping early. This campground is run-down and not in good shape. We have 30-amp electric, but the water and sewer hook-ups are locked, or not working.
We’ve been on the road for 49 days, and driven 3,706 miles. We’ve spent roughly $1,600 on gas, $1,100 on campgrounds and it’s time to move on to Idaho, Oregon and Washington.