Maddy, YaYa, Baba Birthday Camping

Sly Park Campground, Pollock Pines, CA

Ned asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday.  How about doing all my favorite things? Camping, Ned, Maddy, Wolfgang.  I can’t think of a better way to bring in my 63rd birthday. 

We were able to snag this sweet little spot near Jenkins Lake.  Maddy couldn’t wait to get out of the car and start exploring. 

Maddy helping Baba park Wolfgang.  She’s a natural! 

What a perfect fall day. The temp was in the mid-70’s.  Great weather to check out the lake.  One of the best thing about having grandkids is they keep you feeling young! 

We went on a hike, collected wood, fed the ducks and birds that came to visit our campsite and even managed to get in some book reading time. 

No promises mom on returning a clean child:) 
























Although we tried! 

Camping food is the best. Yum, burgers and corn - and does that girl love her corn!

We finished off the meal with the birthday cupcakes that Maddy made me.

Getting settled in for the night with stories from Baba.  (Although we really aren’t expecting to get that much sleep).  A little someone is a bit too excited to be sleeping in the van with YaYa and Baba.  

Benton Hot Springs, CA

Benton Hot Springs, CA

Last night of the trip and can’t think of a better way to end it than having our own hot tub at the campsite.  We’re in a sweet little grassy area with a stream that runs thru it. Very private and picturesque.  

We spent the first half of the day at Death Valley pool.  For most of the morning we had the pool to ourselves.  Felt so good to get in some laps and then just enjoy the soft spring waters. 

Interesting to see Death Valley change over these last 15 years. Xanterra bought the Furnace Creek Inn and is trying to turn it into a swanky place.  You can’t beat camping here for $6 (Senior Pass) and then get a $5 pool pass.  

Early morning pic of Wolfgang before the sun came up.  We really tested Wolfgang these last 3 weeks. I’m still in love. So easy to drive, comfy to sleep, convenient to have our fridge, stove and sink always ready. Best investment we made was the solar.  We only plugged in one time the whole trip.  (We did have one minor issue with the USB ports, but it’s easily resolved).  You’re officially part of the family Wolfgang.  I’m sure this is the beginning of many, many adventures.  

Biking the Historic Railroad Tunnels at Hoover Dam

Furnace Creek Campground, Death Valley, CA

We packed up camp this morning and headed out of the Valley of Fire and to the far end of Lake Mead near Hoover Dam. There’s a trail that takes you thru several old tunnels. It was a short bike ride, but scenic as we rode high above Lake Mead. 

It was a great expansive view looking out over the Lake Mead area and valley.

This is an old railroad trail that was originally built to bring material to Hoover Dam during its construction.  Supposedly, it was built in 5 months which is amazing considering the amount of rock that had to be moved. This was done in sweltering conditions in 1931. 

I think we rode thru 5 tunnels. 

The tunnels are approximately 300 feet in length and 25 feet in diameter. The tunnels were oversized to fit penstock sections and large equipment being transported to the dam.  I enjoyed the coolness in the tunnels and the brief respite from the heat. 

Thanks Josh and Marlina for a super-fun filled weekend.  Safe travels back to San Diego, we ventured on to Death Valley. 

What do we love best about Death Valley?  The spring fed swimming pool.  It felt great with the temps in the triple digits.  When we finally left at sunset the temp was 96. We about had the place to ourselves too! 

Home for the night.  I’m sure once the sun hits Wolfgang first thing in the morning, the heat will encourage us to get up and get going. 

Lake Mead Picnic Day

Valley of the Fire State Park, NV 

It was hot, we hiked yesterday, so today was about cooling off in the lake.  As luck would have it Lake Mead is only about 20 minutes away.  Sounds like a great opportunity to have a picnic at the lake

We found a spot near Stewart’s Point.  We had the place to ourselves.  The closest thing next to us were a pack of wild donkeys.  Josh was worried that there wasn’t any shade for Ned so he “McGuyvered” a towel/shade structure.  Perfect.  

Where was I?  Doing what I do best, floating.  Lake Mead water temperature was perfect.

On the way to Lake Mead we stopped at a warm spring to check it out. Rogers Spring is a sweet little oasis in the desert.  It’s not really a hot spring, the water temperature is about 85 degrees. The water flows from an underground spring at about 1000 gallons an hour. We were going to go for a dip, but a sign was posted not to put your head in the water due to some pesky little brain eating amoeba.  I decided to take a dip, but careful not to put my head in the water.  (The others declined to partake of the waters). 

Josh thought it was the perfect opportunity to be a “fan boy”.  You funny Josh.

This morning as we were packing up for the picnic some big horn sheep came by our campsite for a visit.  They hung out for awhile, wandered off, then came back again. 

We visited some more interesting rock formations in the park on our way to Lake Mead and also stopped by to see these cabins built by the CCC in the 1930’s.  They were so cool! Each one had a fireplace inside, nice adobe style interior and great views of the valley.  Once again, we are so impressed by the work these young lads did in the 30’s during the Depression.

Rough day, I know.  This afternoon we just hung out at the campsite, chatted it up and played some charades.  Thanks Josh and Marlina for making the 6 hour trek to meet up with us in the desert.  What a fun weekend.  

Exploring Valley of the Fire State Park

Atlatl Campground, Valley of the Fire State Park, NV

Josh and Marlina showed up around midnight last night. Despite their late night arrival, we still managed to get in a full day exploration of the park.  There are so many cool geological features to see here. 

This picture was taken at the last hike of the day, at the Fire Wave.  Don’t know if you can see us, but we are near the top of this rock.  Such a fun hike to get to this point.

My favorite hike of the day was the Fire Wave.  There was no clearly defined trail and we wandered over the rocks. The different colors and swirly patterns were impressively unique. 

This morning we checked at Atlatl rock and got a close up look of some of the many petroglyphs in the park.  

We started the day with a bike ride thru parts of the park. This led us to some hikes thru awesome canyons and rock formations.  And yes, we saw some more big horn sheep. 

Yes, there was a lot of rock climbing and exploring.  

p.s. - where is Ned hiding?? 

 Picnic in-between the many hikes.  

Some of the other hikes we did were to Mouse’s Tank and Rainbow’s End.  It was a challenge at times to hike thru so much sand, but so rewarding to see all the different rock formations and petroglyphs.  

Doesn’t this one rock look like the Starship Enterprise? 

Time for burgers and margaritas at the campsite!  

 

Valley of the Fire State Park, NV

Atlatl Campground, Valley of the Fire State Park, NV

This place is surreal.  Sandstone sculpted red rocks in the middle of the desert about an hour outside of Las Vegas.  This is Nevada’s first and largest State Park.  All the years we’ve camped in Nevada we’ve never stayed at a State Park. We’ve either camped at a National Park or Forest Service Campground.  There are flush toilets, showers and a water spigot at our campsite! Yeah Nevada.  We weren’t expecting that being in the middle of the desert.

Arch rock - a naturally formed arch from the erosion of the sandstone. Love all the different rock formations here. 

We got so lucky! This campground is first come, first serve. Sign at entrance said it was full, we decided to take a lap anyway.  As luck would have it, someone just pulled out and we got the only campsite left.  

I’m hanging out in the hammock under the awning. 

Yeah, a pretty sweet spot.  It’s hot and dry here, but there’s a nice warm breeze.  

We managed to rally and get in a bike ride. 

Good thing too, cuz we came across this guy.  Apparently there are a bunch of big horn sheep in this park. 

Tonight’s agenda; watching the sunset, drinking margaritas and checking out the rocks.  

I love camping.  

Zion National Park - Day 3

Watchman Campground, Zion National Park

Another gorgeous day in Zion, biking, hiking and hanging out at the campsite. 

Sunset in Zion

Biking on the Pa’rus Trail as the sun sets in the valley

View from the other side of the valley.

Wolfgang looking might majestic beneath the mountains.  

Zion National Park - Day 2

Watchman Campground, Zion National Park

Morning sunrise from our campsite.  Just takes my breath away.

Wanting to capture the gorgeous light in this canyon, I took an early morning bike ride along the Pa’rus Trail.   Here’s the Virgin River that runs thru the park.

There’s lots of yellow bushes along the valley floor.  Looks so beautiful against the red sandstone of the mountains.

We decided our big outing of the day was to ride from our campsite up to the Narrows. It was about a 17 mile round trip bike ride with a long slow climb up.  We’ve taken the bus up to the Narrows many, many times before, but never rode.  It was amazing!  You really feel the height and grandeur of these rocks taking this route. 

Compared to the Grand Canyon this was a much easier ride, but equally beautiful! Riding the rim trail of the Grand Canyon you are always looking out and across to the expansive view. Riding in Zion you are at the bottom of the canyon enveloped by these sheer red walls. What an incredible experience. 

After the ride up and then taking the short 2 mile round trip walk to the narrows, it felt great to take a lunch break along the river. 

OMG - the bike ride back!  So worth it flying down the canyon. 

The rest of the day we just tootled around town and the campground on our bikes. I think I did about 25 miles biking today.