Today started out pretty good. Damsel got to do some shopping in Kingman for gifts, souvenirs and such. We fueled up the truck and pressed forward toward our intended route of via Hoover Dam and Las Vegas to Pahrump, NV where we are camped this evening.
We picked the route through Vegas because we wanted to go across the new Hoover Dam bypass. As we approached the Lake Mead area, the weather took a turn toward gusty winds, making it a bit more difficult to keep the trailer between the lines. At the bypass, we were disappointed to find no scenic turnouts near the dam. Moreover, the concrete sidewalls along the bypass bridge were too high for us to see the dam – a total bummer. Plus the gusty winds and generally miserable weather with intermittent rainfall made the experience less than optimum, to say the least.
But wait! There’s more! Transiting Las Vegas on a mid-Tuesday had it’s challenges; drivers there are every bit as crazy as any in a large metro area. We struggled along the route using extra caution to cope with the situation and finally got out of the area along Nevada State Route 160 towards Pahrump. Then, the steady rain came. The rainy weather was exacerbated by winding roads through mountain passes and fog. We passed an incident on the other side of the road where emergency crews were extracting a victim from an overturned vehicle (did I mention crazy drivers?).
The rest of the drive was without incident. We got to Pahrump, stopped for more fuel and headed to the RV park for the night. This park is very nice, featuring a bunch of stuff we don’t need, but the campground RV spots are level and paved. The main facility just south of us features a grill, a gift shop, showers and a workout gym, a pool and a bowling alley. Wow!
Tomorrow, we’re going to have a longer drive, with brief stops for grocery shopping, a short visit in a Death Valley gift shop and then on to Hawthorne, Nevada. The weather is forecast to be favorable tomorrow, so we should be able to pull the trailer in better, rural roadways.