Valley of Fire State Park is a very unique combination of desert and jagged rock formations rising to spectacular heights. There is plenty to see and study in the Visitor Information Centre situated in the park and in the museum in the neighbouring town of Overton.
We spent Sunday exploring the park by first visiting the Visitor Centre and then driving to see Mouse’s Tank which is the spot where a famous Paiute Indian outlaw hid out for six months from the law. He had killed two people in a conflict and ran into the desert. Six months later he was noticed in a local woman’s garden, reported to the authorities, chased down and killed. Then we drove to White Dome witnessing the awesome landscape along the way. Pictures may be worth a thousand words but cannot accurately capture the majestic splendour! We then drove into Overton to have a look at the museum and the guide told us about a wireless location at a very friendly café.
Monday Paul went into Overton to get the new tires (purchased in Calgary) installed and a slightly overdue oil change. Rear studded tires are rare here so created a little stir.
Our park is located adjacent to the top end of Lake Mead, the huge body of water backed up by the Hoover Dam. There are many side roads leading down into the lake with marinas and beaches. A side road into Callville revealed a huge marina with many house boats. On the way in Faye spotted a small herd of big horn sheep.
We then drove to Hoover Dam to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening, taking in the power plant tour. This mega project, completed in 1935, controls the flood plain of the upper Colorado River draining a land mass 1/12th the size of continental United States (Fred C. would love to be the watershed coordinator for that baby!) In addition to the Hoover there are five dams above and another five below, all controlling and distributing water into the fertile plains and valleys below. At present Lake Mead is only half full due to an extended drought. The lake was full in 1983 which is evident by the bleached water mark all around the lake.
We drove back to our RV site at Valley of Fire State Park via north Las Vegas through horrendous fast moving traffic and were pleased that the GPS unit was able to guide us safely back through some missed turnoffs!

Later….