Most of March 2023 – Adventures in RVing

The Chronicle has been remiss, but the editors do not apologize.  They can do whatever they want, when they want, and this includes keeping everyone in the dark about the activities in their world. 

To catch you up, they did make it to central CA, squeezing the travel day in between storms.  They camped overnight in a Cracker Barrel parking lot on the way, which worked in a pinch. Once ensconced at the destination campground, they witnessed the sick humor of the weather gods. Rain and snow, and then some sun, wind, followed by rain and wind.   Flynn even got to circle around the flooded town of Gilroy a few times while trying to get south during the worst of it.   Flynn loves a challenge.  Neither Flynn nor Ollie like bad weather, so they cut the Sierras trip short and headed back to NV where drowning was less of a risk, even for a bird and an otter.

The first stop was a visit to the Calico Ghost Town, which they had been to years previously.   The town had not changed in the interim; it was far less crowded as it was chilly and a Monday.  Bebop did get to stay in the ‘new’ campground which had plenty of long spaces and full hookups.   It was at capacity on our Sunday arrival with ORV-ers of all sorts: motorbikes, side-by-sides, etc.   The place was a-hoppin’ with them – a fun environment, even though it was loud and dusty.    On Monday they were gone and peace ensued. Good balance.

Moving on to Boulder Campground at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, F&O were thrilled with their campsite.  There is dry camping only there, but they were set up for that with a monster generator, the best lithium batteries, and a full tank of H2O.   The campground used to be lakefront, now it is lake-view.   If you don’t know why, then you are way out of the loop.   It is a mile to the shore, then the mile uphill back.  Much like moving from casino to casino on the strip, the distance is deceiving.  

Ignoring the faint alarm bells in their tiny brains, a day or two later they picked the popular Railroad Tunnel walk/hike.   This is a 4-mile walk, 2 out & 2 back, very easy, that takes one along the lake and through the old RR tunnels.  One can add on another 4+ miles by continuing to Hoover Dam itself.   The path is flat dirt, with very little elevation change.  By the time they reached the turn-around point of the tunnel section (2 miles), Flynn decided he wanted to gut it out and make it to the dam.   On they went.   After all, it was flat, right?  They had all day, and no agenda.   Turns out the 4-mile mark, at the dam, has lots of stairs and elevation changes.  Not more than ½ a mile of it, but still… ugh.   Tired already, they stopped at the visitors center and ate their meager snacks.

A mention of Uber-ing back was made, however neither Ollie’s nor Flynn’s egos would let that happen.  They hauled their fuzzy butts out of the chairs, and headed back to the campground, a mere 4+ miles away.   By the time they got home they were sore, tired, and hungry.  They were also very, very proud of themselves.   9-miles. Boom.

It was now the fourth morning at the campground, and the alarm bells in the critters’ heads were so loud they were deafening.  They were having to run the generator an awful lot to keep the batteries at current charge, but the batteries weren’t getting charged up and it was a vicious circle.  Now, don’t get the seasoned campers wrong ~ they have tent-camped without power for years.   But, due to the fancy-ass equipment on the Bebop – such a high maintenance beast – there needs to be some power.   Not a lot, but some.   Even putting up the solar panels didn’t help.  Hoover Dam-it-all.  After hosting a BBQ dinner with our dear friends (sorry it was so windy and cold), F&O pulled up stakes from the beautiful lakeview site and headed for town where they could get full-hookups and diagnose the power problem.   Here they remain, awaiting a part.  Glamourous RV living, right?

Next up in the adventures was visiting Valley of Fire State Park.   This was a repeat trip for F&O, who had been there years earlier in the middle of summer in hundo-degree heat and therefore nearly died on a 1-mile hike.   This time it was a revenge hike.   No easy 1 miler either.  This time, it was a 2.5-mile hike, in better weather.   It was stunning and mostly not miserable.   Flynn wants to live there.  The colors. The formations.  The slot canyons.  Flynn was challenged by a huge lizard, who was not pleased with the photo-op location choice. F&O also spotted a teeny-tiny-baby rattler (think the size of a 6-inch phone charging cord).  He was a brave-little boy, tried to rattle (not developed) and strike a pose (he couldn’t).    If you zoom in close enough on the photo you can see his raised head.    The bird and otter stayed their distance and kept close eye out for mom, but she was nowhere obvious, which is somewhat frightening in itself.  Here are lots of photos:

Who goes there?

The end of the 2.5 mile hike ended up adding another 30 minutes to the hike, as an unnamed otter misread the All-Trails map, and led us slightly astray.   Okay, this was not a bad thing after all was said and done, a few hours later when F&O were rested.  It did add what seemed to be a mile of hellacious STEEP climb to what should have been the end of the hike. Flynn would have had the other ½ of his apple during snack time if he had known.  He needs his energy.

This dear reader, catches us up for the travel portion of March.  There are stories and pictures to share about poker as well, so stay tuned.  Don’t hold your breath though because the editor can be slow.  Sometimes we would rather watch GBBS on Netflix than write articles.

Fin

Flynn