After waiting out the high winds, it was time to move on and leave Death Valley behind. Our current plans were to work our way towards Sedona for some boondocking. We routed ourselves through the south side of Las Vegas with the intent of checking out Boulder City and Hoover Dam. We had heard about some nice boondocking opportunities on a dry lake bed near Jean, Nevada so we decided that would make a good first stop.
Jean, NV Dry Lake Bed
On our way into the dry lake bed we saw a sign that indicated there would be limited access in that area on Friday and Saturday and we moved in here on Tuesday. Well, it turns out that one of the largest off-road races was about to take place in the area and we were parked about 20 yards from a section of the course. The Mint 400 is known as “The Great American Off-Road Race” and attracts over 65,000 spectators. We were somewhat torn between the opportunity to experience the event from the inside (not actually sure we would have been allowed to stay put or not) and the desire to get the heck out before it got crazy. We decided the prospect of that many people, not to mention the significant amount of dust that was sure to get kicked up, was more than we wanted to deal with. We cut our stay shorter than we wanted to and left Thursday morning after just 2 nights.
We did make the most of it while we were there. We spent Wednesday morning getting resupplied at Costco, Walmart and Albertsons. Jim and Dan returned to the RVs with the groceries while Amy and Corrine stayed in the southern side of Las Vegas for craft supply shopping. While waiting the women to return, the guys found a historic saloon not too far from Jean that would make for an interesting place to have dinner.
The Pioneer Saloon is famous for being the place where Clark Gable sat and drank after receiving word that his wife, Carole Lombard, had died in a plane crash in the nearby mountains. The food was pretty good, the beer was cold and the nostalgia of the place made it a worthwhile venture.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Our first thoughts were to stay at the Elks Lodge in Boulder City because it had come highly recommended by friends. However, They were completely full so that wasn’t going to work for us. We then decided to camp in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and were successful in finding a couple of sites in the second campground we tried. These sites were quite small and the roads were tight but we managed to get our big rigs parked with only a few sites separating us from our friends.
The big attraction at Lake Mead is, of course, Hoover Dam. The dam’s construction in the 30’s is why Lake Mead exists. There is a trail that goes from the recreation area visitor center to the dam that follows the old railroad bed used in the construction of the dam. The trail was nice and passed through several tunnels along the way. Corrine walked part way up the trail before turning back to drive to the other end of the trail so we didn’t have to walk back. The ranger told us most hikers say it is 3.7 miles to the dam and 6 miles back, especially in the hotter months.
Once we got to the dam, we signed up for the power plant tour and waited our turn to go in. This tour takes you down into the dam to see the turbines and some of the tunnels used in construction of the dam and its power plant. The whole thing was very fascinating and the engineering and project management that went into the dams building was amazing. To think that the project came in two years ahead of schedule is mind boggling. New techniques in dealing with concrete were devised during the building of the dam, allowing them to continuously pour the concrete 24/7.
After our visit to the dam, we spent a few more days in the area. We took a short hike near our campsite but otherwise just hung out and enjoyed the area. Our plans were to continue south and westward for some boondocking in the Sedona area. Looking at the long range forecast, that plan was likely going to have to change.
KOA in Williams, AZ
With a wet forecast for much of Arizona, we decided to find places with at least electric hookups for the next week or so. We settled on heading to Homolovi State Park with a stop over at a KOA in Williams, AZ. The KOA was nice with tall pine trees but the poor weather kept us inside for the most part. We did visit a local brew pub on our first day there. The Grand Canyon Brewing Company facilities were very nice and I suspect the place is quite busy in the summer when folks travel through Williams to get to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
The next leg of our journey would take us through Flagstaff on I-40 as we headed for Winslow, AZ. We checked the forecast on Thursday and determined that traveling on our planned departure date of Friday was going to be iffy with a winter storm in the area. We quickly made a decision to leave early and were lucky enough to get a refund on our final night at the KOA. We pulled out by 3 in the afternoon and made it to our destination around 4:30. This was just in time to check in a day early to the sites we already had reserved for the next few days. Had we arrived 20 minutes later, we would have likely had to settled for a different site and move the following day.
Homolovi State Park
As we moved into Homolovi State Park on Thursday, March 12, things were starting to get very real with the corona virus. We knew it was only a matter of time before the RV Rally we were planning to attend in Tucson on March 26th would get cancelled. We even decided that if it didn’t get cancelled we were not going to attend so we started formulating a plan of where to settle in for a long quarantined stay. More on that decision later.
With the change in plans, we quickly extended our stay until the following Friday, making for 8 nights in Homolovi State Park. We are still camping with our friends, Jim and Corinne and we were joined in the park by John and Tina. We last spent time with John and Tina in Patagonia Lake State Park. We made pizza on the grill to share with them after they arrived and got setup just a couple of sites from our adjoining sites. It was good to see them again.
We all went out to breakfast on Sunday to an old restaurant in downtown Winslow. We knew that opportunities to dine out were going to become scarce as cases of the virus continue to occur throughout the country. At this point in time, however, there were no cases in the general area of Winslow, AZ.
After breakfast, we did what everyone needs to do when visiting Winslow, AZ. That’s right. We went and stood on the corner. It’s amazing that the lyrics of a very popular Eagles song has turned into this town’s biggest tourist attraction. Without this famous corner, complete with a flatbed Ford, the town would not have much to offer.
The rest of the week was spent lying low and checking out the ruins that are the main attraction of the park. The six of us gathered in the late afternoon to share meals, with each couple taking turns providing the main dish. It was nice to be near friends as we watched the news and the spreading concern around the virus.
We did venture out one more time to check out the Petrified Forest National Park that was less than 60 miles east of our location. The petrified logs were fascinating, coming in a variety of sizes and colors. Some looked more like stone in the shape of a log but others somehow maintained the look of wood. This illusion was even further enhanced by the small chips that collected around some of the logs. This gave every appearance that someone had spent time chopping the wood with an axe. Each of the “chips of wood” was made of stone. We were glad we made the trip to the park but we could see the effect of the virus in action. While we were at the visitor center, they put out a sign that limited the number of visitors in the building to no more than ten.
Yup, things were changing rapidly and we knew we needed to get to someplace safe and secluded as soon as possible. The problem with that was another storm coming through Flagstaff with the expectation of 5-10 inches of snow. The last thing we want to do is drive our RVs through the snow. We made plans to leave on Friday the 20th and hoped for the roads to be clear and travel conditions to be acceptable. We lucked out and were able to get through Flagstaff and down to the western side of Phoenix for yet another stay at Leaf Verde RV resort. This would by our 3rd short stay in this park this winter. It is ideally located for provisioning as we head to the Quartzsite area and the vast amount of public land in that area.
I hope you do well and are safe for the duration of this virus.
Well, I think flexibility is definitely being showcased in this post! Glad you were able to hang with friends and as well a see some wonderful sites. Stay safe!