Cerbat Foothills Rec. Area, Kingman AZ

Nov. 24, 2018

Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area is another one of those BLM Boondocking spots just west of Kingman, AZ.  We’re in Kingman to pickup a package we'd pre-arranged to have sent here.  The area is pretty nice with great views, lots of hiking/mountain biking trails and great cell and over the air TV service.  The only negative is the road noise from US 93, THE major artery leading southeast out of Las Vegas. We got a short hike in at sunset the day we arrived.

Sunset hike.

The next two days were sunny but there was a stiff wind out of the north with day time temps in the mid to high 50’s.  Other than our trips to town, we spent most of our time in the camper catching up on some book work, researching our next few moves and  looking at the scenery through the windows.

On the third day the wind finally calmed down and we got a nice hike in.  There's a great trail system here.  This might become a destination next I'm we head this way.

With the forecast calling for night time temps in the 30's, it was time to move on.

Coming next, Bouse, AZ?, yes Bouse, AZ!

Hoover Dam

Nov. 23, 2018

Spending most of our time out in the boonies like we have recently, you kind of loose touch with the rest of the world.  This is important for the rest of the story.

After spending Thanksgiving at Poverty Flats, we headed south through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The North Shore road is a destination unto itself. Terrific scenery with lots of pull outs, most with hiking opportunities.

The RedStone (RedStone.pdf) pull out is like a mini Valley of Fire State Park with lots of large red Rocks to climb on and hike through.

Our destination, Bolder Beach campground.

After lunch we headed toward Hoover Dam.  About 1½ miles out the traffic slowed to a crawl, it took us an hour to get to the dam! Apparently everyone in Las Vegas had the same idea. The first obstacle was the security checkpoint. You can still drive over the dam so every vehicle has to be scrutinized.  Of course our truck with all the bins in the back warranted extra scrutiny. The security check was relatively quick and didn’t hold us up long.  Then there was the parking. There’s a multi level parking garage that cost $10. We started to pull in (thinking all parking cost $10) then thought we probably wouldn’t fit, good thing we didn’t.  There’s RV parking on the other side of the dam so we headed for that. As we crossed the dam we saw the “Maddening Hordes” lined up for the tours and realized it wasn’t worth it. We still had to go with the flow till we could find a place to turn around.  

On the way out we tried for a Lake Mead overlook but again, no parking.  Cutting our losses we headed back to the campground. I’d already dreamed up a title for the Blog post, “Hoover Dam, almost!”.

That evening Joan did some research and discovered that the Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest of the year.  After sleeping on it we came up with a plan B. There’s a large parking area across from the Hoover Dam Casino just west of the road to the dam.  We’d break camp early, park the camper across from the Casino, get to the dam, park and be in line before the first tour started at 9:00 am. This time all went according to plan.  We saw and did everything we wanted and were on our way out as the “Maddening Hordes” were arriving for another day of chaos. After a relaxing lunch in our camper, across from the Casino, we were off to our next destination.

Pictures from our visit to Hoover Dam...

Lake Mead is 55 ft. below normal..

Cylindrical building is visitors center and observation deck, stepped building in background is the parking garage, both were completed in 1995.

Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge opened in 2010. Prior to then ALL traffic heading south east toward Phoenix passed over the dam causing multi hour delays.


Nevada side generator building.

Love the original Art Deco Architecture.

Art Deco Now and Then-Hoover Dam.pdf.

The below pictures have some interesting info. about the dam.

The canyon before the dam.

Good explanation if Volts and amps (current).

The 

Part of the room size diorama showing the entire Colorado river system. It was constructed soon after the dams completion.

Arizona spillway during the 1983 flood.

Coming next, Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area, Kingman, AZ.

Poverty Flats, Overton NV

Nov. 17, 2018

Poverty flats is a large BLM Boondocking (Free dry camping) area about 10 minutes north of the east entrance to Valley of Fire SP.  Many people visiting the park stay here and commute to the park. We could have done that but for an extra $10 a day, it was worth it for us to stay in the park for the gorgeous sites and the showers with virtually unlimited hot water, a major consideration in the equation.

That’s not so say Poverty Flats doesn’t offer some great views.  We arrived on a Saturday afternoon, usually the kiss of death when looking for a good campsite.  While most of the choice spots were occupied, the views at the site we choose weren't to shabby. Oh did I mention the 4 bars of Verizon LTE!

Eastern sky at sunset, with the rising moon.

Another 10 minutes to the north is the town of Overton, NV. with a grocery store, hardware store and library with free WiFi for your heavier duty data needs,  what more could you want.

Also in Overton is the Lost City Museum, built by the CCC on the actual prehistoric site of the Ancestral Puebloans.  A very interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Nov. 22, 2018

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching and since we weren't near friends and family, we decided to spend it right here and stay out of all the hubbub.  Joan fixed a great dinner and in the afternoon we contacted everyone to wish a Happy Thanksgiving. We had a good day. Tomorrow we continue on our journey south for the winter. sorta like snowbirds eh.

Coming next, don't know, we haven't done it yet!