NEVADA - DAY 23 - 10.13.23

After getting some of our household chores done we took off for today's adventure.

Since we had filled up with gas on base we really hadn't paid attention to gas prices as we've been out and about.  For some reason today we did and we didn't like what we saw.

We paid $4.50 on base and thought that was outrageous.  Walt even said to me, "I thought you said it would be cheaper on base."  Little did we realize.

So today we're going to the Red Rock Canyon, National Conservation Area.

On the way we took notice of these palm trees and mountains.  You can certainly tell where the trees follow the sun.

Oh look!  Another big rock!

Neither one of us had ever seen an Exit 0 before.

It was kind of a cloudy overcast day today so I wasn't sure how the pictures would turn out.  We missed the brilliant blue today, that's for sure.

It didn't take us long to get to our destination as it was only 16 miles from Nellis AFB.  

When we arrived we noticed the signs about timed entry tickets.  Oh no, not this again!  We decided to take our chances and try to get through the gate.  We were admitted with no problem and even got to use our America the Beautiful Card for the entry fee.  This card has saved us over $200.00 in national park entry fees.  It has more than paid for itself since we scored ours for $10.00.  They now sell for $80.00.

The contrast from one section to the next is astounding!

As you ride the 13 mile road through the park everything looks like a painting.

Can you see the people climbing on the rocks?

LOOK at the color here!  Incredible!

I took a picture of a couple and of course got ours taken in return.  I'm not used to being in all these pictures, I'm always behind the camera.

There were several warning signs about the park's animals.

We saw one that warned us that tortoises were in the area.  We didn't see any tortoises.

The next sign we saw warned us not to approach the wild horses.  We didn't see any wild horses.

The last sign warned us not to feed the wild burros.  We didn't see any wild burros to feed.

I did see a butterfly and Walt saw a crow!  That has to count for something doesn't it?

The two colors in the same rock formation just amazes me.

Some parting shots.

One would think we'd be tired of all this scenery stuff.  Nope, never!

Since the Red Rock Canyon Conservatory Area is only 13 miles long it didn't take us very long to go through it even with all the times we pulled over to get out and see the area better.  We had the better part of the day to entertain ourselves.  We're giving some thought to buying a new/newer (bigger) camper and don't have a clue as to what we want.  I had seen an advertisement for Lazy Days which has a HUGE dealership in Tampa, Florida and a good sized one in Tucson and another in Phoenix.  I figured we could go through some and just see what's available in a size we could tow.  What a disappointment that stop was.  It was very small and the units parked so close together that the slides couldn't be out so every rig looked cramped.  All the units were locked due to the surrounding neighborhood as we weren't in the best part of town.  So this was a total bust for us. 

We stopped by the Commissary to pick up a few things before going to pick up dinner.  Do I ever miss shopping there!  The prices are just so good compared to Safeway or Basha's which are our choices at home.

We love coming to Las Vegas for one particular reason.  Capriotti's!  It's a sub shop that originated in Delaware and consistently wins Best Sub Shop or Best Cheese Steak by popular vote.  There are 18 Capriotti's in Las Vegas!  Of course we went to the closest one to the base.  It was so aggravating trying to order our steak sandwiches because the young lady kept talking over us with suggestions for our sandwiches while we were trying to tell her what WE wanted on OUR sandwiches.  Needless to say, when we got back to the base and sat down to eat these long awaited sandwiches, we found out they weren't made with what we wanted anyway!  I called the store as soon as we made the discovery and the shift manager assured us that we would receive two new sandwiches to replace the incorrectly made ones.  We agreed to that and said we would be in before the week was out.  That works.

Thursday is laundry day on this trip.  It nearly killed me to do it the past two weeks because the campgrounds/laundromats we used were $2.50 to wash and $2.50 to dry.  Times that per four loads of laundry and this Queen of Cheap was not a happy camper.  Imagine my delight when I went to the FamCamps laundry and it was 75 cents for a 34 minute wash cycle and 75 cents for 45 minutes of drying time.  Of course, this laundry was spotless which was certainly appreciated.

We just love this base.  For one thing, even though we are in the desert and all the buildings are the same color as the background its fairly easy to get around.  At least it is for Walt.  I'm very thankful for his sense of direction.  He can drive somewhere once and be able to get around the next time he's there, such as on a base or a small to medium sized town.  Always being the passenger I don't pay attention to left turns or landmarks so I don't know if I would be good at remembering how to get around or not.

Evening brought a trip to the dog park with Abby, a walk for us, sitting outside listening to the evening sounds which, by the way, included fighter jets landing.  How many can say that?

I'm a happy camper.