The rally wrapped up and it was time to move on. There were lots of hugs and “see ya soon’s!” exchanged. Some people we know we will be seeing later this year, but others we really don’t have a plan for future visiting. In spite of the moment of sadness, there was also excitement in the air – we were heading to new territory – Valley of Fire!

We had made plans to spend some time with our friends, Red & Pam. Bridget & Pat decided to tag along! The more the merrier! We didn’t have far to go, only about 120 miles, so we were not in a hurry to leave before the 11am check-out time. We weren’t 100% sure where we were staying, but we had a couple of options.

Aside from the slow-down going through Las Vegas, it was a fairly easy ride. We had a small caravan, with Pat & Bridget leading, Bill behind them, followed by me; Red & Pam were our tailgunners.

A a side note, it can be really nice traveling this way, but also can be difficult. Each driver likes to drive their way, a certain speed, keeping a certain distance between. When driving on single lane roads, this is easy, but when driving through a city, on a multi-lane highway, like I 15 in Las Vegas, it can be almost impossible to stay together. This is further complicated by the traffic getting on/off, cutting in between us, etc. To be fair, they have no way of knowing we are traveling together.

We eventually all joined back up after a period of being separated, as we got nearer to Valley of Fire State Park. The loose plan was to enter the park (paying a $10 fee) and filling up with water. While the rigs were doing that, us ladies would hop in my car and check available spots at the State Park campground. We needed to do it this way because most of the sites were first come/first serve and we needed to see if there were 3 spots for our 3 large 5th wheels. The park is amazing, and the campground was very nice, with huge red rock formations all around. Sadly, our reconnaissance mission was unsuccessful, and we moved on to plan B, which was boondocking at Stewarts Point, which is part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 15 minutes away. While the men finished at the fill station, we scooted ahead to see what Stewarts Point was like. We had heard about it from friends that had stayed there before the rally, so we knew it would be okay, we just wanted to find a good spot for the 3 of us so we could lead them when they arrived.

Having the car in this situation is very nice, and does mostly make up for driving separate. We (Pam, Bridget and I) actually talked about how if we didn’t have the car, we could have always dropped one of the trailers and drove in with a truck on its own to scout out a spot. That may sound drastic, but it is better to do that verses getting stuck somewhere in sand, mud or just a place that you can’t go forward and/or turn around.

We decided on a site and when the guys arrived with the rigs, we decided how we would park, not too close, but not far. The whole area had amazing views, so there really wasn’t a bad spot, but we each had our own ideas on how we wanted to be situated to see the views from inside our rig. Also, where the sun rises/sets can be important to some.

First order of business after we were all settled in, was Bill and Red getting a plan for installing the solar. Once that was complete, we would have plenty of time for exploring Valley of Fire!

The ladies also came up with a general plan for meals, who would cook what and when, and we all checked to see what ingredients we had so if needed we could write a list for the grocery store, the closest one being in Overton, about 15 miles up the road. Thankfully, the list wasn’t very long as we had done some shopping in Pahrump before we left.

It was very peaceful out at Stewart’s Point. We enjoyed that so much. Pam and I took Cody (their black lab mix) down to the water so he could swim and chase rocks. We had meals together, the guys helped each other with “stuff”.

I’d be lying though if I didn’t say that visiting Valley of Fire State Park was the highlight. What a magical place to explore!

The day came when it was time for hugs and “see ya soon’s”. Red & Pam and Bill & I headed into Boulder City to stay at the Elks Lodge there. Pat & Bridget stayed another day at Stewart’s Point before making their way to the Grand Canyon.

Boulder City Elks has a campground of sorts that surrounds the parking lot behind their building. It is actually quite nice, and the lodge is a very active one. This was Red & Pam’s first Elks experience (they stayed as our guests) and I think they are convinced it is a good idea to join. We took advantage of their drink specials and Taco Tuesday. We drove into Henderson to shop at Costco, Walmart and Sally’s. We also made a couple of trips into nearby Las Vegas.

After a few days we decided to change scenery again and stay our last couple of days together at Boulder Beach Campground, which is part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It was a very nice campground. There are actually two, and we were in the boondocking one, which was $10 per night with an America the Beautiful pass. The other one, Lake Mead RV Village, was more than double that, but did offer FHU’s.

We had a really great time with our friends, seeing awesome sights in Valley of Fire and then Las Vegas. Equally as nice was just the quite relaxing time spending time chatting and getting to know each other better.

Last thoughts:

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Next up: Back in Pahrump!