Monday 13th February – Into Arizona

I had to re-watch the end of Insurgent as I dozed off last night… (it wasn't actually that bad either!). Then we hit the road for midday. 

The area of Vegas we were in was 

quite industrial so we decided to sample one of the local car garages to try and get Harvey the oil change and service that he was overdue.  Discovering that ‘Service King’ don’t do servicing (misleading name) we tried the next suggestion from the Satnav – Johnny D’s workshop.  We hit the jackpot yet again.  For only $62 we got oil and filters changed and all fluid levels and tyres checked while we waited.  Plus, the owner was impressed by our rig (of course) and offered to show us some of the amazing classic muscle cars they were working on ‘in the back’!

We may not be passing that way again but if you know anyone who needs a mechanic near Vegas we would thoroughly recommend these guys, they were so friendly and efficient.

 

Feeling contented with our lovely RV and topped up with gas, we hit the road again.  It was only just over half an hour to the Hoover dam.  We were searched by security.  It was brilliant!  Just like in ‘From dusk till Dawn’ the security guy asked to climb on board and searched the bathroom.  No contraband or illegals were discovered, so we were free to go.  We also got away without having to pay for parking at the Dam as the spaces for RVs were right up on the opposite hill top from the entrance.  The weather was much improved today so we enjoyed a walk down to the dam where we watched some crazy people doing some abseiling and did some time travelling again by jumping back and forth across the Nevada/Arizona border which is also the timeline between Pacific Time and our return to Mountain time.  

Spot the RV....

Abseiling... doesn't look too high....

You want to climb down there?!

Due to losing an hour, by the time we left the Dam it was past 5pm.  We really hadn’t travelled far today! Having looked ahead at the price of Grand Canyon campsites where we were heading, we really needed a free night tonight.  We took a right from Highway 93 down to Willow Beach which had access to the river and beautiful scenery.  At a price of $35 a night for an RV!  We decided to do the right thing and drive on until we found something cheaper.  Enter ‘Chloride Western RV park’ another 30 miles or so down the road where they let you ‘dry camp’ (ie no hook-ups at all) for $15 a night.  It was dark when we arrived and there was no one in the office so we just followed the instructions on a map provided to find the dry camping area.  We were the sole occupants of the area so we put the generator on to assist us with power for half an hour before quiet time.