North Las Vegas to Salome, AZ.......4th & 5th April......

Back on the road, this time heading south from Las Vegas to Laughlin, NV....
We were one of the few RVs heading south, the "snowbirds" were all migrating north and home for the summer.....

After leaving Las Vegas City and the traffic it's a nice easy drive down US95 south.....oh dear more downhill !!!! 

After a night stop at Laughlin we are now on route to our final campsite of this trip at Salome, AZ. ....
This pic doesn't really do the colours justice but all along our route is a mass of yellow, the spring colours in the desert on this trip have really been fantastic....

Nice straight roads across the desert...rather like a Disney ride at times !!!

The railroad bridge over The Colorado River....today we went from Nevada into California  then over the river into Arizona....we are now on Mountain Time but still 8 hours behind England as Arizona do not change for daylight savings...all very confusing !!!

Well there's a thing a water tower for my last post of this trip :)

The sun is shining the spring colours are fabulous and we are singing along to The Gambler  on Willie's Roadhouse.....this brought back great memories of driving into Dawson City on our coach tour of Alaska/Yukon and the whole coach knowing all of the words !!!

Camp Harris at Desert Vista, Salome.....we stayed here last November  and it's a perfect campsite to end our trip and pack up our home on wheels ready for storage at Surprise, Phoenix....we even had time to enjoy the 90 degree temperatures and head to the pool...
Well folks that's it for this trip it's over and out from The Happy Campers, we love sharing our adventures with you all and do thank you for your support and comments......
All being well we shall return to this side of the pond early June for the best part of 4 months on  a Big Road Trip to the Northern States.......

Colourful Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, Nevada...3rd April 2014

No apologies for the amount of photos on this post,  The Valley of Fire State Park is another stunning area of colourful rock formations.......it is at the top of Lake Mead and just 40 miles to the north of our campsite here in Las Vegas.....we didn't have time to visit here last November when we were staying at Lake Mead so pleased to say we have time on this trip......

The scenic road into the valley from the visitor's centre.....the are many pull-out s and viewpoints  along the drive....

Many of the viewpoints, as with this one, have a mile or a two mile hiking trail.....

One of the great things about visiting the desert areas in spring is the lovely colourful spring flowers.....

This little chap is enjoying a little sun bathing !

More beautiful cactus blooming in the desert......

So many flower buds yet to open....

An amazing mix of colours at Rainbow Vista......

Silica Dome....this rock is almost pure silica.....

Stunning view of Fire Canyon......

Our boy enjoying the scenery !!

Another hike through a slot canyon......

The exit from the slot canyon.....

This and next pic part of the scenic drive........

The "bee hive" unusual sandstone rock formations weathered by the eroding forces of wind and water......
We are so pleased that we managed to fit in a visit to this amazing park it was definitely a must see.......we hiked a few trails and absorbed the majesty of the rock formations.......it was also back to normal weather wise nice and sunny and warm :)
Tomorrow we are on the road again to Laughlin for an overnight stop before heading back to Salome, Arizona.....

The Strip Las Vegas.......2nd April...

Our last visit to The Strip in Vegas was 1980 and needless to say it's changed !!
Our campsite is on North Las Vegas Boulevard which runs into South LVB which is The Strip.....easy free parking (as at all Vegas hotels) at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.....

The following pics are some of the famous hotels/casinos......large areas of The Strip are undergoing demolition and rebuilding but still plenty to see and enjoy....the street perfumers and vendors were very entertaining.....

The Mirage.....

A very small area of the huge Caesars Palace.....

The Bellagio....the water fountains were not scheduled to "do their thing" for another hour.....
The clouds that have been building all day are getting greyer and there is a very cold wind......

The Strip is best experienced after dark when the lights and the atmosphere combine to give the real feel of the party town that is Las Vegas.......

Paris.......
We had a good walk around The Venetian an inside taste of Venice and WARM !! It is very clever and  quiet amazing with the canals and gondoliers......

New York New York in background, by now we are frozen and it's raining, we have dropped approx 50 degrees since Death Valley....yes we've done it again the last time we came to Vegas it rained....it doesn't do it very often and the locals love it !!!!!
We've enjoyed our trip down memory lane and enjoyed the vibrance of The Strip....it's time now to go home and have a nice hot cup of tea !!!! 

Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas.....1st April 2014...

Moving on day from Death Valley to North Las Vegas a nice straight forward drive, this is our turn off at the Death Valley Junction and if you look closely there is a water-tower left mid section :)

20 miles from our campsite at The Hitchin'  Post Motel and RV Park is Red Rock Canyon.....
I do have to say that there is not a lot of red rock if comparing it to Sedona but it is a very pretty park.....

There is a scenic 13 mile drive with many viewpoints and hikes of varying length.....

Our first hike starts at a wash and should have been to Calico Tanks but somewhere we took the wrong trail and ended up  half way to Turtle Head Point a much longer and steeper climb !!!

All was not lost as we did see incredible balancing rocks and great rock formations along the way and it was very good exercise... 

Yes folks that is  a slicker/jacket that Yorkieman is modelling, today there is a very cold strong gusting wind. We are now at elevation of 4000ft and it's almost 50 degrees colder than when we left Death Valley....it was certainly a day for fresh air....

Because of the higher elevation the valley is a lot greener and more fertile.....

Part of the very scenic drive, a nice easy pace and an enjoyable day......

Scooter tour group out of Las Vegas....

It's been a really nice day, plenty of exercise, good views, not an easy location to photograph but I have some pics and we have our memories.....

The Harris' have Done It Again !!!!! Sunday 30th March 2014

We've done it again......

                               It's raining in Death Valley........

Moving on today to North Las Vegas......when we were there in the 80's it rained !!!

A Very Long Hike....Golden Canyon Plus.....29th March

Today it's a planned long hike, hence an early start......3 miles down the road from our campsite to Golden Canyon Trailhead....this photo shows a remaining piece of an old asphalt road through the canyon which has mainly been washed away by flash floods....

The trail is an easy uphill hike to Red Cathedral.....from here the trail gets more challenging but what goes up must at some stage come down !!!...

Yes folks that is the trail at the base of the pinnacle, it has been a steep uphill to here.......

One of my favourite pics....

The people you can see at the top of the ridge are a father and daughter that we met up with several times on the hike....

One of our lasting memories we will take away with us from Death Valley is the  sound of silence....no background noise at all...it's hard to imagine as usually there are insect noises or noises of our modern world but here in Death Valley there is a perfect sound of silence. ....

It's now downhill all the way through Gower Gulch..only another 2.5 miles.......

Gower Gulch starts as a very wide wash and then some 2 miles later the canyon narrows dramatically .....  

The dryfalls at the base of the canyon and a bit of mountaineering !!

Back to the valley......

Ummmm...not down to valley level yet and still another mile back to the car park but we have had a  great hike, lots of fabulous views and enough exercise to have worked off a few glasses of wine and snacks :)  6 miles and the temps today are higher than we have experienced so far, we are again singing "Mad Dogs And Englishmen" (yes we carried plenty of water) home for lunch and a rest !!!

This pic taken from Zabriskie Point......the trail we walked this morning is at the back of the high point......
Well folks once again we must hitch up and move on tomorrow.....we have enjoyed our visit to Death Valley and have many memories to take home and share....