The road to Mesquite Nevada

As I write this it is Tuesday morning, May 8th at 4:00 am local time. I have been up since 2:30 am local time which equates to 5:30 am back home. That is a normal time for me to wake up after years of going to work five days a week. The time change is one of the disadvantages of a long trip out west and your internal clock never seems to get adjusted. I try to stay up until about 10 pm local time but never make it that far. We record almost everything we watch on television and fast forward thru the advertisements. I will find myself dozed off holding the remote while the recording is zooming on thru the program we are watching. As we traveled west we had to frequently change our clocks so we would know what the local time would be at the next campground. That can sometimes be confusing when you encounter areas like Arizona where they do not change to daylight savings time. Texas is on Central Time, New Mexico is on Mountain Time and so is Arizona. But New Mexico is on daylight savings where as Arizona is on standard time.

Sunday we left Camp Verde, AZ and headed north to Flagstaff where we picked up I-40 and moved on west to Kingman, AZ. We were at a very nice campground in Camp Verde and there was grass that was watered daily. The campground in Kingman did not have even one blade of grass and the entire facility was asphalt and pea gravel. Our dog Bo was in shock and preferred to stay inside. He only went out for bathroom breaks. Monday morning we traveled on to Mesquite, NV just south of Utah. Starting out the temperatures were mild but as the day progressed it became very hot. By the time we reached our campground, about 1 pm local time, the thermometer was reading 102 degrees. Now Bo had two problems to contend with, the lack of grass and scorching temps. His preferred temperature is below 50 degrees and he loves cold weather. I think his current dreams consist of green pastures in Tennessee. Thankfully we are headed north to slightly milder temps in Salt Lake City.

The road to Las Vegas was lonely and had few signs of human habitation. My GPS showed a creek next to the highway but when we looked over it was a dry creek bed. We saw a few cows among the sage but surely if they had their way they would move elsewhere.

A lonely road to Las Vegas

Soon we were approaching Boulder Dam and the Nevada line. Pam manged to get a shot of the dam thru the side window as we passed over the bridge. We had visited the dam many years ago so did not stop.

Boulder Dam as seen from the highway bridge

Hello Nevada

Pam and I took a trip to Las Vegas many years ago and that one is checked off the list. We are not attracted to the activities in that venue and therefore drove straight thru. I stopped smoking cigarettes about 35 years ago and soon after realized that I was allergic to cigarette smoke. Last Saturday while, still in Camp Verde, we saw a sign advertising an $8 buffet at the local casino. Once inside the casino we were naturally required to walk all the way thru the gaming area to get to the restaurant. Many of the customers were holding lit cigarettes and before we reached the restaurant my sinuses were starting to swell and my lips were becoming numb. Another good reason not to gamble; not that I need one.

Las Vegas ahead and the road is no longer lonely

Our campsite in Mesquite - notice the reflective insulation in the windshield. The sun was shinning directly on the windshield.