After a day spent at the Barstow / Calico KOA in the Mojave Desert, I was officially sick of the heat and decided it was time to take a break from Wolfie. I made the logical decision to head to the hottest place on Earth, Las Vegas, and they were warmer than usual and enjoying 120 degree heat. Knowing that myself and the few remaining electronics that hadn’t already melted would never survive, I found covered storage for Wolfie and went in search of a place with A/C to stay.
After spending most of my time exploring the wilderness, it was an adjustment to be back in a city. My wardrobe of t-shirts and hiking pants didn’t fit the surroundings so I went shopping for something to wear to enjoy exploring the casinos and attending shows. I was finally able to see O by Cirque du Soleil.
I was almost three weeks ahead of schedule and did not want to sit around a hotel in Vegas for that long, I was extremely grateful that my friend Nina offered to take me in during that time. With Wolfie safely secured for the month, I was off to Phoenix to relax and enjoy being in a home that wasn’t on wheels. The rest and relaxation began with ear acupuncture as soon as I arrived (yes, needles in your ears is relaxing).
It was a fantastic visit spent trying to accomplish my objective of binge watching as much TV as I could. Was able to get all caught up on Love Island and other high quality and thought provoking programing. Nina also took me on a couple of day trips. Enjoyed lunch and a scenic drive out to Tortilla Flats in the Superstition Mountain Range. It is a booming town with a population of six people. The restaurant there is worth checking out. We also drove up to Sedona to shop, eat, and explore (I’ll cover Sedona and Montezuma Castle in a separate post). I was also lucky enough to get a reservation to see Upper Antelope Canyon, and drove all the way up to Page for an overnight trip (also covered in a separate post).
I returned to Vegas and was to spend a couple of days preparing for an REI trip and exploring the local sites. Unfortunately my body had other plans. After all of that rest, I was completely sidelined with a bad sinus infection and spent three days locked away in my hotel room. With a group trip quickly approaching I found a place to get a rapid COVID test, just to make sure I didn’t have it. Finally out of the hotel and with a negative test result, I decided to keep on driving and ended up at Hoover Dam. A short walkaround was enough to wipe me out, so it was back to the hotel to continue my hibernation.
I joined up with a group of women and we departed Vegas for an amazing REI Adventures trip to Zion and Bryce Canyon trip (you guessed it, I’m covering it in a separate post). I returned to Vegas after the trip and it was finally time to get Wolfie out of storage and hit the road again. But before I departed I had one free day and had to pick between Valley of Fire or Red Rock Canyon. I picked Valley of Fire as I wanted to hike out to see the fire wave rock formation. Unfortunately the extreme heat resulted in strong warnings to not hike after 10:00 am and most of the trails closed including the fire wave trail. With three gallons of drinking water in my truck, I took on a couple of short hikes and took plenty of breaks in the visitor’s center and my air conditioned truck to rest and rehydrate between hikes. Enjoyed the scenery, especially hiking through the cooler slot canyons. I hiked White Domes Loop, Rainbow Vista Trail, and saw the Beehive formations and the petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock. If you are curious, petroglyphs are carved in the rock and pictographs are painted on the rock.
