We took the Lazy Daze in to RV Lifestyles to have an Extend-A-Stay put on, and bought a 30-pound propane tank. The Extend-A-Stay will allow us to use this extra propane tank while we are camp hosting instead of the on-board tank. This way, when the extra tank is empty, we can take it to be filled instead of having to drive the Lazy Daze to the propane station (the propane tank in a motorhome is not detachable like it is in a fifth wheel or travel trailer).
Rich Lechner, the Lazy Daze owner who we'd visited last year in Greybull, Wyoming, came by for a brief visit one day. His wife's parents live just a couple of blocks from us, and he had come down to take them back to Wyoming for the summer.
We busied ourselves with preparations for leaving Quartzsite for the summer: filled out a mail forwarding form at the Post Office (not much to forward, as most of our mail goes to our South Dakota address); contacted both the newspaper and the electric company to cancel service; and, stopped by the police station to fill out a vacation card (they come by to check the house, doing a walk around the house and property). On the day that we leave, we put up solid insulation in all of the windows, fill several large containers with water and set them around the inside of the house, close all the drains -- and for those we can't close, like the shower drain -- we fill a large freezer bag with water and put it over the drain. We also put plastic wrap over the toilet bowl and tank. We then turn off the propane tank, the water to the house, and the electric at the box. After locking up the shed, house, and the big drive-in gate, we're ready to take off.
We left Quartzsite on Monday, April 18, and headed toward Phoenix where we did shopping at both Sam's Club and Costco. We stopped by the Barnes & Nobles in Litchfield to pick up the last two books of Peter F. Hamilton's sci-fi series: The Naked God, Part I: Flight, and The Naked God, Part II: Faith. We then walked over to the El Paso Barbecue for lunch with Mom.
After lunch, we headed north on US-60, picking up US-93 in Wickenburg. We spent the night at the Burro Creek BLM Recreation Site south of Wikieup. This is a very nice campground, one we'll probably come back to in the future. The camp host pointed out Blue Herons across Burro Creek that were nesting in the cliffs, which surprised us, as we would have thought they'd nest on the ground. We saw a total of three Blue Herons...according to the camp host, one was a breeding pair, the other one was a daughter "in training" from a previous hatching.
The next day, we continued north on US-93, stopping in Kingman to fill up the Lazy Daze with gas. Before getting to Hoover Dam, there is an inspection station where all vehicles must stop to be inspected prior to crossing the dam. There is a new bridge being built over the Colorado river just downstream from the dam which, when finished, will alleviate the need for this inspection stop.
Since we were planning on spending the night at the Las Vegas Bay Campground in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, instead of going into Las Vegas, we turned off onto Lakeshore Scenic Drive just shortly after crossing the dam. This road goes north along the western side of Lake Mead, and avoids the traffic in Henderson and Las Vegas.
The next morning, we got up early and headed to the Camping World in Henderson where we had a Steer Safe Stabilizer put on the front axle.
We also had the oil changed -- BIG mistake. We'd misread the sign that had prices for oil changes, and instead of the $30-something we though it was (for a pickup), we ended up paying over $82! Camping World charged us as a motorhome despite the fact that the Lazy Daze E-450 chassis doesn't take any more oil than a Ford pickup...for which we would have paid the lower $30+ figure (the larger Class A motorhomes *do* take more oil) What ripoff...particularly considering the most we'd paid for an oil change previously, was just around $32! Well, we've learned our lesson -- no more oil changes at Camping World!
After getting through at Camping World, we headed back east on Lake Mead Parkway, and then northeast on Northshore Scenic Drive to the place where we were planning on spending a couple of days so that we could tour Valley of Fire State Park: a free BLM area on either side of SR-169 about two miles north of the junction of the road that goes into the state park. This area is on a plateau, and has a great view of the surrounding countryside.
The next day, we toured the Valley of Fire State Park, stopping to see The Cabins, the Seven Sisters, and taking the scenic drive up to the White Domes.
The Valley of Fire derives its name from the red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. The uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape. Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Basket Maker people and, later, the Anasazi from the nearby Moapa Valley. The valley was occupied from about 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D.
On Friday, April 22, we continued north on SR-169, picking up SR-168 at Moapa where we stopped to fill up the Lazy Daze with gas. When we got to the junction of SR-168 and US-93, we headed north on US-93 until we got to SR-375, the Extraterrestrial Highway, where we headed northwest to Rachel. We stayed at the Little A'Le'Inn (get it...A'Le'Inn, as in "alien" on the Extraterrestrial Highway). This is a restaurant, bar, motel, and RV park whose claim to fame is their location near the infamous Area 51...the walls were covered with pictures of UFOs that people from around the country had taken. RV parking is $12 per night -- full hookups, although when we were there (4/22), the septic system was on the fritz so it was just water and electric. You can have an "Alien Burger" in the restaurant with their "special alien sauce" (don't bother...it's just a hamburger on a French roll and the "special" sauce is 1000 Island dressing...it was OK, but Earl's chili size looked better!) The proprietress of the inn was very friendly...she was probably the most interesting part of the place. It was a fun one-time experience, but if you're into aliens, go to Roswell, New Mexico and take a tour of their UFO museum instead.
The next morning, we had breakfast at the Inn, and then continued northwest on the Extraterrestrial Highway until it's junction with US-6 (which is where it ends) where we headed west to Miller's Rest Area about 10 miles west of Tonopah. This rest area has a large, flat area where RVs can spend the night...18 hours, I think is the stay limit. It has a dump, fresh water, and a great view of the White Mountains.
On Sunday, we headed back into Tonopah to get gas for the Lazy Daze and do grocery shopping. We then headed north on SR-376 to US-50 and Austin, and continued north on SR-305. We spent the night just south of Battle Mountain at a BLM campground called Mill Creek Recreation Area. This is a nice campground which we'd probably come back to in the future...IF it's not raining. As it was, it HAD been raining, and the roads were muddy, so by the time we came back out the next morning, we were filthy...mud was caked on the Honda several inches thick! We stopped in Battle Mountain to put gas in the Lazy Daze and have breakfast. We were going to wash both vehicles there, but Battle Mountain didn't have any place to wash them, so we drove on to Winnemucca. All we really did at Winnemucca was to wash the worst of the mud off...we didn't take the time, or the money, to do a thorough wash job.
After washing both vehicles, we stopped by Wal-Mart to do shopping, and then went on to Winnemucca RV Park, where we spent the night. We did laundry while there, and had dinner at the Model T Coffee Shop.
The next day, we left Winnemucca, heading north on US-95 until we got to SR-140 where we headed northwest to the Virgin Valley Campground in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge.
Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge protects over 900 square miles of wildlife habitat in the northwestern corner of Nevada. It is home to large herds of Pronghorn, California Bighorn sheep, wild horses, and burros (none of which we saw while there). Although established for the protection of wildlife and habitat, the refuge encompasses the remains of old homesteads and ranches, fire opal mines, and geothermal warm springs...which are piped into a pool at the Virgin Valley Campground. While this area is dry now, ten thousand years ago, lakes, marshes, creeks and large springs were abundant, providing ideal sites for native villages. Forests also grew here, as evidenced by petrified logs found on the refuge. The Kidutokado band from Surprise Valley and the Tsoso'odo Tuviwarai band from Oregon both used the area.
The refuge was established in 1931 when the Audubon Society and the Boone & Crockett Club purchased over 34,000 acres of the Last Chance Ranch and was designated a National Antelope Refuge. In 1936, over 540,000 adjacent acres were set aside and the two areas were combined into one National Wildlife Refuge. Two years later, resident Franklin D. Roosevelt started the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to curb Depression-era unemployment. Over three million young men enrolled during the CCC's nine years in operation. Over one thousand of these men served at Camp Sheldon between 1936 and 1942. These young men graded roads, erected fences and telephone lines, built cabins, dug ponds, and essentially created the infrastructure that still serves the refuge today. In fact, at the Virgin Valley Campground where we stayed, you could still see evidence of the cabins that once existed at the site.
When we first arrived at the campground, the camp host told us about a drive we could take to view the Thousand Creek Gorge. While the road may not technically be a 4-wheel drive road, it would take a vehicle with high ground clearance. The view of the gorge was really fantastic, and well worth the drive!
After spending two days at the refuge, we left on Thursday, April 28, and headed for Alturas where we would spend the night at Sully's RV Park. First, though, we stopped in Lakeview, Oregon to get gas for the Lazy Daze and have lunch at the Happy Horse where we had great soups and sandwiches!
Once we got set up at Sully's RV Park (which was listed in the Escapees Discount Directory as offering 15% off to Escapees members...NOT!), we went to the BLM office and met Claude Singleton, the BLM Recreation Planner, and the person who had hired us. We also met the Ranger, Carman Prisco, who will be our main contact at the campground. We were given some supplies, including the hats and T-shirts we will wear.
The next day, before heading out to the campground where we will camp host for the next three months, we had breakfast at the Black Bear Diner, stopped to get Maxx dry dog food at the farm supply store in Alturas, got gas for the Lazy Daze and did grocery shopping. We arrived at Pit River Campground early in the afternoon and settled in.
On Saturday, we cleaned the bathrooms (which had been opened up earlier), and Carman came by to bring more supplies, including a Honda 3000 generator. Even though we do have an on-board generator, using the Honda will mean that we won't have to use the gas out of the Lazy Daze's gas tank...which would mean that we'd have to occasionally break camp to drive the rig to fill up the gas tank.
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