Goodbye to Clare and Valley of Fire State Park. On to Pahrump!

What a windy night!  I don't ever remember sleeping in an RV with such strong gusts of wind.  They had to be at least 40 mph.  Around 4 AM the winds started to deminish and sleeping was a lot easier!  I thought a lot about Clare and sleeping in her one man tent.  It would have been rather difficult!

Clare came to Waldo around 8:15 and she said her tent certainly had a large amount of sand inside!  What a trooper!  I had a nice conversation with her again while Ken prepared Waldo for leaving!

After a tearful goodbye, Ernie, Noela, Ken and I were on our way to Pahrump where we plan to go Death Valley National Park!  We stopped only one time for gas and the drive went well.  There was a lot of traffic when we went around Las Vegas.

Our 1st view of the strip in Las Vegas!

A bit more of Las Vegas! (Trump Tower in the Background!)

After driving 118 miles we arrived at Nevada Treasure RV Resort and it truly deserves the name Resort!  It is beautiful.  Level cement pads and paved pads for your car/truck and gorgeous landscaping throughout the park.  The office building and the lobby are like that of an upscale hotel - impressive.  We have sites beside each other and near the 2 pools and hot tub.  They also have a bowling alley and fitness center!

This is the office for the Nevada Treasure RV Resort!
How about that large sequaro cactus?? 

The landscaping beside of entrance to the office!

This is the "hotel" like lobby!

After an easy set-up we went separately to get some groceries.  I spent the rest of the afternoon working on our blog, adding photos to our posts from our time at Valley of Fire.  I could do the verbiage but not the photos while we were there!  It was a several hour project during which time Ken packed our lunches for tomorrow and made salads for dinner!  What a guy!

At 6:30 we went over to Ernie and Noela's to eat our dinner together!  Then we played one game of Skip-Bo and the guys won again!  Back to Waldo by 8:45 to do more work on the blog.  It is so hard when I get behind and not being able to put the photos on it for the last 3 days was frustrating for me.  Glad to be up to date!

So, please take the time to go back to the last 3 posts to view all the amazing sights at Valley of Fire State Park!

A Fun Day at Valley of Fire SP! Loved Having Clare LeFevre Join Us!

Ken and I got up fairly early and decided to take an early morning walk to see the sunrise - didn't happen.  The sun decided to stay hidden for quite awhile.  So, we made breakfast and packed our lunches.

We were sitting outside eating our breakfast when Clare LeFevre arrived.  She moved to Las Vegas from our home area several years ago and drove 1 hour to join us for hiking and visiting.  She actually brought her tent and decided to stay overnight on the sight behind us.  It was wonderful to see her and spend time together.

After chatting for quite a while, we introduced her to Ernie and Noela and then we all got in Ernie's truck and went to the Mouse's Tank Trailhead, not very far from the CG.   On the way, we saw Mountain Sheep climbing some of the rocks! It was exciting! 

It was a 3/4 mile hike and there were rock formations with many well-preserved prehistoric petroglyphs.  I never saw so many in such a small area. 

 We did go a bit further on the trail climbing a rock to see into the canyon.  It was beautiful.  On the way down the rock I did some extra bending and my back decided to go into a spasm!  Not good!

From there we went to the Rainbow Vista Trail but I realized I needed to sit and rest my back while they did the 1 mile hike.  While there I had phone reception so I was able to call my mother who is feeling much better - hallelujah!  Noela came back before the rest of the group for the trail was poorly marked and they were concerned that if I tried to meet up with them I would take a wrong turn. I appreciated her concern! Claire came back before Ernie and Ken too!

Hey guys!  I am going back.  I hope you don't get lost since
there are no women leading you!

Apparently they took a wrong turn and ended up climbing up and down several large rocks and through some narrow canyon areas before coming out on the road about a 1/4 mile from the parking lot.  All the ladies were glad we hadn't followed them. Goes to show what happens when ladies are leading the hikes! 

Wow, Ken and Ernie really did get off the trail!

Where are we going????

Where is the path?????

This can't be right!!!

Which way do you think we go????

The 5 of us then went back to the trail to see if we could find the "real" trail. We did see the area with many different colored rocks, hence Rainbow Vista, and enjoyed following the designated trail.

This is Rainbow Rock

Even had a stripe of purple!

What a gorgeous sight!

Another arch!

We drove to 7 Sisters again to eat our lunches and sat at a table all by itself at the end of the rock formations.  What a great setting!  Then we decided to drive on the scenic 2 mile road near the CG to check out the rock formations when coming the opposite direction.

Do you see an animal face on the far right???

What a beautiful arch!

Another tarantula decided to cross the road again!
could it be the same one?????

Do you see the duck????

We did stop at Atlatl Rock and climb the metal stairs to see more Indian petroglyphs.  An atlatl, a notched stick used to throw primitive spears, was a predecessor to the bow and arrow.  

This formation is called the snoring Indian!

This rock actually looked honeycombed!

We decided to go to the Visitors Center to buy some firewood so we could have another campfire tonight and toast some marshmallows.  It was a beautiful sunny, mild day, but sooooo windy!  We hoped the wind would "die down" towards evening so we could enjoy a campfire.

When we returned to the CG, Claire went to set-up her tent and the 4 of us took showers and got organized for dinner.  I walked to Claire's site and thoroughly enjoyed spending an hour chatting with her about our families, travels, and just life in general!  She is one amazing lady!

Ken and I sauteed pepper, onion, chicken and barbeque sauce to put on everyone's salads for dinner or to have wraps.  The 5 of us ate together outside but it was very windy.  After cleaning up we all got together outside again to have tea and do more visiting.  Instead of getting less windy, the winds got even stronger so a campfire was not a possibility - a bit disappointing.  By 8:30 we were all tired and the wind was crazy so we called it a night.  

Tomorrow morning we will leave for about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Pahrump, NV to visit Death Valley NP and Red Rock Canyon.  

Thanks, Claire, for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us at the Valley of Fire State Park.  You made this day extra special!

Enjoyable Day at Valley of Fire State Park!

Ken left the CG a little before sunrise in the CRV to get the sun coming over the rock formations in the park.  I did some reading, cleaning, and then started breakfast.

He returned with some gorgeous photos of the sun coming up and lighting the red rocks on "fire".  We packed our lunches for today's hiking and then enjoyed eating our breakfast outside.

This is the rock formation called 7 Sisters!  There are
picnic tables between each of the rocks!

The views from each of the campsites is spectacular!

By 9:45 the 4 of us were on our way in the CRV to White Domes trailhead here in the State Park.  What a nice 1 1/4 mile hike mostly through sand.  The rock formations here are really amazing. 

This tarantula decided to cross the road!

The start of the White Domes Trail!

Aren't  the rock colors gorgeous!

It's a tight squeeze!

So many unique rock formations!

From there we drove to the Fire Wave Trail to the 1.5 mile roundtrip hike to a rock formation that had breathtaking colors.  By then it was extremely sunny and very warm with temperatures in the 80's - really felt like summer.  Not as bad as their normal high temperatures in July which is 105 degrees!

Don't know the name for this cactus but it is very different!

Climbing over the rocks to the Fire Wave!

Very different rock shapes!

We have arrived at the Fire Wave!

It was breathtaking!

The coloring was positively amazing!

No, Ernie!  Don't sit on the barrel cactus!

We headed to Seven Sisters rocks where they have a very nice picnic area to eat our lunches.  Then we drove towards the East Entrance stopping to see the Petrified Logs (there was really only 1 - false advertising!),

Looks like a rock, but no!  It is a tree trunk!

to the stone cabins built by the CCC in 1935 for campers and travelers to use, 

These stone cabins were so cute and still well preserved!

Each one had a fireplace!

The view from one of the cabin windows!!  Looks
like a framed picture!

Petroglyphs  behind the cabins!

and to Elephant Rock.  

I think this elephant shape is a bit hard to see.  It looks
more like an elephant skeleton!

We also drove by the beehive rock formations -

Then we drove on the Scenic Loop Road which goes by our CG and through the other Park CG and then meets with the main road in the Park.  Again, so many interesting rock colors and formations.

They call this the Grand Piano.  Again, you have to use
your imagination!

Looks like cliff dwellings!

Hey, we left  Arches!  How did this one get here????

After showers, we spent some time sitting outside chatting and then each of us made dinner and ate together outside.  Ernie chopped some wood they had bought and we enjoyed sitting by the fire talking about life, family, and camping adventures.  It was a beautiful very mild evening.  Perfect for sitting around a campfire.

Tomorrow Clare LeFevre, a friend who moved from Lancaster County to the Las Vegas area, is driving to Valley of Fire State Park in the morning to do some hiking with us.  She may bring her tent and spend the night.  Claire was Jamie and Lanie's Sunday School teacher during their teen years and she was a great influence on them.  We are excited to see her!