04/26 We made a productive stop at the Albertsons just outside the campground. I bought enough to last us for several days. I restocked the wine cellar with some nice wines! The nearby gas station was not easily accessible due to a big gasoline tanker. But I was able to make some “seasoned” maneuvers (maneuvers that I would have not been able to make a few months ago) and we were off to the Valley of Fire in Nevada which is not far from Las Vegas.
It is incredible! The lady at the entry kiosk said to get right to the campsite if we wanted hookups–they may be in short supply. The Atlatl Rock campground is surrounded by unbelievable red rock formations. We got the last hookup site–hurray! The temps soared after noon until about 3:30 so we were grateful to have the electricity hookup to use the air conditioning. I took a shower at the campgrounds–it was $0.25 for 5 minutes of scalding hot water! I guess the solar water heater has no cold water to mix with the HOT water.
The kids in the campsite are having a great time climbing to the top of the rock formations. I got a little bit of exercise on my bike when I rode to the self-pay check-in. About 4pm we were able to sit outside and there is a wonderful breeze. It’s nice to drink in the beautiful red rocks and watch the kids having fun. Someone has a neat, colorful kite flying in the nice breeze and Toby is disturbed by it.
I’m happy to say that I am getting more at ease (and more accurate) at parking Diana. It is easy to back into campsites because she is relatively short in length. I can always find a place to park at the grocery stores, visitor centers, etc. And the mountain roads are a piece of cake.
04/27 We wake up at 6am to a full moon over the beautiful red rocks. H goes out to take sunrise photos. It’s very peaceful except for someone’s damned dogs barking at anyone who might be moving about. Oh, those are OUR damned dogs! I do hope that Toby becomes more accustomed to seeing other people and dogs as the trip goes on.
We are really happy to spend 2 nights in Valley of Fire–what an incredible place! The drive in and through the park is unbelievable. But it is HOT. We are nestled in our nice, comfortable sitting area with the A/C on. We are enjoying the cool air, reading and sipping nice wine. Wait…what just happened? OMG! the A/C just conked out! We hope that this is just a temporary outage due to overwork. Fortunately there is a really nice breeze and, with the shade, we are OK outside. I should not complain about the breeze/wind again.
Toby continues to be a barking dog problem. The lady at the next campsite comes over to say “Hi.” But we soon realize that her mission is to rehabilitate Toby. She certainly means well. She cured her dog of barking with an ultra-sound collar. But she admits that, from my perspective, the unit has broken the dog’s spirit. I look on the internet for solutions to the Toby barking problem. I think we’ll not consider the extreme measures she, in good faith, is suggesting. (She even offers to loan us the unit while we’re here.) But there is no question that we need to do something about Toby’s barking.