Pretty but crowded!
I left Ash Fork early and headed west on Interstate 40. Already the wind was blowing strong from the south, broadsiding Minnie with gusts after gust, causing me to hang furiously to the wheel with white knuckles. I don’t like wind. If I could wait it out, I would gladly stay put, but the forecast was for high winds all week, so I gritted my teeth and vowed not to go very far today.
I checked out a spot near Chloride, AZ, and another by Boulder City, NV, but they were both too hard to get into. I thought I would be staying overnight at a Walmart in Vegas and then I remembered RV Sue telling about a campground near Alamo, NV. I looked it up and Google told me it was only 1.5 hours away, so I headed north on Highway 93 to Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. Don’t ask me how to pronounce it!
The campground is free and the sites are scattered along a picturesque lake. Those two things make it very popular. So popular in fact that I thought every site was filled when I drove in. At the very end of the road I saw two motorhomes parked in what I thought were two spots. On closer inspection, I noticed there were three signs designating sites, so I asked a lady if it was indeed an open spot between? Yes!
I was going to look around at Hoover Dam for a bit but the crowds were wild. I was subjected to a search of my RV, then had to drive across the dam and a mile up the hill to find RV parking. It is something to see if you are turned-on by concrete in large volumes, but I had had enough of the dam traffic by then and turned around and left. The whole place has become so commercial and expensive. Parking is $10 and gift shops are all over the place. I fled with my wallet intact.
I probably will move on tomorrow. It is a pretty campgrounds, but I’m too close to another RV and trees block my solar and dtv. I know of a site near Great Basin NP where I stayed last year so i will move there tomorrow.
Glad you found a spot, even if it’s not ideal. At the end of a day of windy driving, I’m sure almost anything looked good. Maybe you can find a better one tomorrow.
I hate wind too. Had to drive to Flagstaff and back today and the wind blew the pickup all over the road. Glad I was not driving a big sail like you were.
You can take the new bridge across the canyon instead of going down onto the dam now. Been there, done that. You’re right. It’s a zoo there.
The dam is interesting to see once but after that you’re right about it being a big hunk of concrete.
You didn’t mention the new bridge, though I assume you had to drive over it. I think it’s a beautiful structure.
It is quite a structure. I didn’t enjoy driving over it because there were bad crosswinds and it is hundreds of feet in the air. There were signs if you are a high-profile vehicle to drive in the left lane, so that is what I did.
So, is the name of that place relating to the pharynx? Maybe the wildlife there have pharyngeal issues. That’s what it sounds like to me, lol. Oh, well, I know, not funny, but at least I can pronounce pharyngeal, don’t know about Pahranagat.
Be careful driving in bad winds like that – that’s how I end up with a trigger thumb in a splint for about seven months, in fact most of my fingers were injured from holding the wheel so hard for so long. I’ll never drive in heavy winds like that again.
All’s well here. Diana and I went to Jerome today and then had lunch in Old Town Cottonwood. Yum! She’s turning me into a sight-seer! Drive safe. 🙂