Lake Mead Water Level Crisis

As anyone who lives in the Southwest knows, there has been a long term drought going on for the past 15 years or so.  The Hoover Dam is located outside of Boulder City and we've been there a number of times over the years.  The first time was in 1967; however, I don't have a picture of the dam from that time.  I do have a number of photos over the past 17 years and it is remarkable to see how the water level at the dam has fallen over this time period.

The following set of pictures shows the water level and it is scary to see how much lower the level is now.  If it gets down to 1,050 ft, then the intake pipes for Las Vegas will not function any longer.  They are building another intake pipe that will work at a much lower level and hopefully get them through this drought.

Lake Mead level - 1212 ft

Lake Mead level - 1178 ft

Lake Mead level - April 2015  1080 ft

 The white rings on the land in the photo below is where the water was a few years ago before the drought began.  There are a number of marinas that used to have boat docks and launch ramps with access to the lake.  They are now hundreds of yards away from the lake and in some cases the water isn't even visible from the marina.  We drove down a boat launch ramp (former part of the lake) and didn't realize it was the ramp because the water was over 600 yards away down a dirt road.  That was an eye opener.

The small island in foreground previously was almost all under water.

All this area was under water.

The pickup in this picture would have been under water in 1999.

Hundreds of years ago the Indians who lived in this area left because of severe drought so this isn't something that hasn't come up before.  We have the technology to help alleviate this problem but the costs would be astronomical.  William Shatner, the actor suggested they build a pipeline from where the water is plentiful and pump it into the lake.  Cost?   Estimated at $36 billion.

We've had to ask for water at meals out here rather them asking if we wanted water.  Today we drove by a new building complex that was huge and all of the people living there will need water.  I wonder when the local government will figure out that they can't continue on like this during the drought?

I guess people a lot smarter than I are working on this and hopefully they will have some answers other than to just wait for the rains to come back.  After all, this is a desert and continues on for hundreds of miles.

That's it for me on this subject.  

Valley Of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire is located in the Mojave Desert approximately 58 miles Northeast of the Las Vegas Strip.  Valley of Fire is the oldest Nevada State Park and was dedicated in 1935.  Valley of Fire State Park covers an area of approximately 35,000 acres.  Valley of Fire was named for the magnificent red sandstone formations that were formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of the dinosaurs more than 150 million years ago (Mesozoic Era).  These brilliant sandstone formations can appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun’s rays.  Other important rock formations include limestone, shale, and conglomerates.

Valley of Fire is marked as Nevada Historical Marker #150 (Nevada’s First State Park).  Valley of Fire Road is the main road through the park.  The 10.5 mile (16.9 km) road connects the east and west entrances of the park and was designated as a Nevada Scenic Byway in 1995.

Prehistoric people of Valley of Fire included the Anasazi, who were farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. Their visits to Valley of Fire probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies.  There are fine examples of rock art (petroglyphs) at several locations throughout Valley of Fire.

 Gerry and I decided to drive 75 miles from Boulder City to the Valley of Fire to check it out.  We've heard about it for years, but never had an opportunity to visit it.  The weather forecast in the area called for much warmer temps and we wanted to avoid the heat out there, so it was a go for Tuesday.

25 minute delay for road work

It doesn't do a lot of good to write about the park and pictures don't do it justice, but I'm showing some of our favorite pictures taken.  All in all we managed to take 250 photos and could have taken more if we had time.  The following part of the blog is going to be mostly pictures.  Enjoy!

Ride up with giant scree in view

Deep cuts in the rocks

The Cabins built and used by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the 1930s

What can I say about this rock?

Very nice park road

Area near the petroglyphs

One of the many petroglyphs

Gerry returning from Petroglyph hike.  Just a little worn out.

 Gerry wanted to see the petroglyphs and decided to make the trek back to see them.  The pathway was in loose sand about 6-8 inches deep and hard to walk in.  As you can see in the photo above, it was a difficult walk and tired Gerry out.  She does have her pretty new hat on and appreciated the shade it gave off.  Not my idea of a good time and we had a car full of cameras, GPS, and other goodies and I didn't want to leave them alone in the car unattended, so I stayed behind.

Silica Dome

Guess what this is.

White Domes

Neat arch

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Valley of Fire State Park and had a great time.  Nice ride, beautiful views and fantastic rock formations.  What more could you ask for?

We also checked out the campgrounds in the park and one was large RV friendly with some electrical and water hookups.  Others were water only, but there was a dump station at the entrance along with potable water.  I understand the campsites go fast, so be there early if you want one.

We made a loop of the trip leaving from Boulder City and taking Lakeshore Drive along Lake Mead and then Northshore Drive until we got to the park entrance.  After driving through the park, we took the western exit and came out on I-15 after a few miles.  Then it was a quick drive back to Boulder City.  The round trip took 6-7 hours and could be done quicker if we'd taken I-15 both ways, but we would have missed some great scenery.

We did get back in time for Gerry to watch her NCIS  and Person of Interest shows.  It was hard to stay up until 11pm, but we managed and then hit the feather bed ball.

That was our day, how was yours?

Geocaching & Boulder City, NV

We didn't do a thing on Saturday and just wound down and rested.  It's been a busy and tiring last week or so and down time was really needed.  Actually, Gerry didn't rest that much since she had five loads of clothes washing to catch up since we haven't had a full hookup and electricity for the past week.  

Sunday was taken up with phone calls with our daughter, grand daughter and Gerry's niece.  Boy those girls can really carry on phone conversations.  Finally I couldn't stand being cooped up any longer and decided to go geocaching in the immediate area.  I downloaded a number of caches hidden in Boulder City and off we went.  We wound up finding five caches and got a really nice tour of the city.

The first cache was in the "Artist's Park" and had some history of the building of the dam and also obelisks in ancient history from 2400 BC.  There were a number of other statues in the park and Gerry took a number of photos.  

This huge palm tree was across the street from the park and had a very huge base to it.  I don't know the name of the type of tree other than a palm, but it was very striking to say the least.

The next cache was in another really nice park and was a turbine runner (water wheel) and it was huge.  In order to get credit for the cache it was necessary to have a photo of yourself standing nearby with a GPS in hand.  Other than being in an area with limited parking, it was one of the easiest virtual caches we have found.

 The scenery from the next cache was beautiful and it was hard to concentrate on finding it.  After a few minutes I managed to find it's hiding place and wrote it up.  There were some multi-million dollar houses in the area with million dollar views.

 This last cache was in a very small park with only some rocks and benches.  We found this cache in short order and called it a day.

We have been in Boulder City a number of times but haven't really seen the city.  The downtown area has been restored and there are numerous restaurants, pubs, old motels and other touristy places in the old town area.  We are very impressed with the town and if we chose to live in the area it would be high on our list for places to buy.  

To top the day off we stopped at Gerry's most favorite place in the world, the Dairy Queen and enjoyed a couple Blizzards.  We even ate them before dinner and that made them even better.

So far we are glad we have stopped at the Elk's Lodge RV parking and are very satisfied with it's facilities.  Monday is hamburgers night for dinner and if we are back from running around we intend to enjoy some of them.  The people are very friendly and helpful.  Great stopover.

That was our weekend, how was yours?

Finally, arrived in Boulder City, NV

Well, our drive to Boulder City was interesting to say the least.  We woke up early but then took our time waiting for most of the rush hour to settle down.  That worked, but it started raining while we were fueling up the motor home and then had to out wait the downpour.  The parking lot had about 2 inches of water running all over it and we didn't have any wading boots.

All went well after that until we got on I-40 West and the tailwind that assisted us turned into a 30mph side wind and blew us all over the road.  Even the tractor trailer trucks were getting blown around.  I had to slow down to 55 mph to keep the motor home on the road.  While all this was going on Gerry got up to go to the back of the motor home and said the diesel smell was very strong back there.  Since we were close to Kingman, AZ and a FlyingJ, I continued on to the truck stop.  When I went around the back of the motor home to check what was going on there, I saw the rear of the MH, the hood of the car and the passenger side were covered in oil.  Engine oil to be precise.   Evidently, when the oil was changed yesterday the tech didn't put the dipstick all the way back in and lock it in place and oil was being blown out of the pipe.

I brought out my Simply Green solution and sprayed the area really well and wiped off the bulk of the oil from the MH and the front of the car.  Once I had it clean, I made sure it was dry and decided to continue on to Boulder City.  I kept my eye on the oil pressure gauge. It was well within operating range.   We did buy a gallon of oil in case the leak was someplace else as we weren't that eager to be stranded out in the middle of nowhere.  Smooth sailing from then, not on your life.

The winds really picked up and keeping the MH in our lane got a lot worse.  There wasn't anyplace to stop so I kept driving until we got to the bridge near the Hoover Dam.  There in big red letters on a sign was a message to the effect  high profile vehicles were to be extremely cautious because of the high winds and should stay in the left lane.  Of course there wasn't anyplace to pull off the road or turn around so we didn't have much choice but to continue.  I slowed even more and fought the winds that felt like they were in excess of 40mph for a while.

Thankfully, we were almost to the Elk's Lodge in Boulder City and finally got off the road.  There were 3 campsites left and we pulled into the best of the three.  The sites are a little narrow and not that level, but we finally setup the unit.  I had my usual cold beer to celebrate finishing the 260 mile trip.  I must admit, it was one of the more difficult drives that I've had to make in a long time.  The newscaster was reporting winds were still at 30 mph even at that time.

The bed is going to look and feel really nice tonight.

That was our day, how was yours?

Univ of Phoenix Stadium - Glendale, AZ

We had a scheduled visit to the Cummins dealer today for generator maintenance & also service on our Cummins engine in the motorhome.  Oil change, filter, lube, etc. and it took all day long for the service, so we decided to explore around the area for a while.

The Cummins service center has about eight parking spots for trucks and rvs and provides a 50amp outlet for each spot.  Since we just had work done to correct a problem with our shore power, this was a good test to see if everything was working. I'm happy to say that all is well with the shore power now.  

After a nice breakfast at a local Village Inn we decided to check out the football stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play their home games.  The stadium is a multi-event facility and La Mesa RV was having a RV show inside and outside the stadium.  Good chance to kill two birds with one stone.  Gerry likes to check out RVs and I wanted to get a good look at the stadium.  We were both very impressed with what we saw and spent a couple hours looking the place over.  It costs $9.00 each for a tour and neither of us wanted to take the time and walk all through the facility.  We did get down on the area where the playing field is located and I managed to take some photos.

There are beautiful flowers and trees surrounding the stadium and is unlike any other place I've seen in the past.  They must have a very large landscape crew to maintain all of the foliage near the stadium.  

The stadium and parking areas take up 25 acres and are set apart from the surrounding area.  There are a number of entrance roads and I would imagine they can clear the parking lot fairly quickly.

The Field

• The grass field rolls out of the stadium on a 18.9 million pound tray, residing outside of the stadium except for football and soccer events, is the first of its kind in North America.
• Excavation will take the field down to 26 feet below the present grade. When completed, the field will lie 39 feet below the main concourse level because 13 feet of berming will be added around the stadium.
• The grass field remains outside the stadium in the sun until game day getting the maximum amount of sunshine and nourishment, eliminating humidity problems inside the stadium and providing unrestricted access to the stadium floor for events and staging.
• The site has the stadium situated along a slight northwest to southeast axis for maximum sun exposure for field in the outboard position.
• The roll out field travels at a speed of 11.5 feet/minute (1/8 mph); it takes approx. 75 minutes to travel approximately 741 feet.
• The field is 234 feet wide x 403 feet long and 39 inches tall.
• Field tray rests on 13 rail tracks and moves in and out of the stadium on 546 steel wheel assemblies (42 rows).
• 76 - of the wheel sets are powered by a 1- horsepower motor (total = 76 hp).
• The field will support approximately 94,000 square feet (over 2 acres) of natural grass.
• The grass is Tifway-419, a Bermuda hybrid. It was planted by using stolons, or plugs, that provide the best long-term field conditions.
• The tray has a fairly sophisticated irrigation system that works on timers and can be customized. The water will drain through a 1-inch-deep mat and several pipes that lead to a main drainpipe underneath the field tray.
• A few inches of water will remain in the tray while the field is in play to keep the grass moist.
• Voted #1 natural grass playing field in the most recent NFL Players survey.

Playing field on rollers outside the stadium

Gerry waiting to get in and see the RVs

La Mesa RV is a very large dealer and has two stores in the Phoenix area and they put on shows (sales) at the stadium a number of times a year during lulls in sports events.  It seemed there were more salesmen on the floor than customers.  They weren't pushy, but if you hesitated too long or looked interested they were there to help.  There were at least 120 units on the main floor and a large number outside on the concourse area.  Entrance was free but the show was limited to La Mesa RV stock.

The Roof

• The translucent "Bird-Air" fabric roof allows the stadium to have an open, airy feel even when the roof is closed. The roof has two large retractable panels that will uncover the entire playing field while providing maximum shading for fans. The roof can be closed and the facility air conditioned in the hot months, while the roof can be opened to take advantage of the Valley's world-famous climate in cooler months.
• The roof is supported by two 700-foot long trusses.
• Each truss is 87 feet high at its tallest point and weighs about 1,800 tons.
• The top of the roof is 206 feet above grade.
• Each roof panel weighs 550 tons.
• The roof takes approx. 15 minutes to open.

 

 It was getting late and we were hungry so we drove back over nearer the Cummins place to have lunch since they estimated all the work would be finished by 2pm.  We picked a Paradise Bakery for lunch and it turned out to be the worst one we've tried.  They were changing over to Panera Bread and remodeling, plus they didn't have their act together.  The food was ok, but the service was less than stellar.

While we were there the Cummins dealer called and found a few additional items that needed to be taken care of and we agreed to them.  Of course, this took another couple $$ hours and we finally got the coach back around 5pm.  The final bill was less than I expected for all the work and I was pleased about that.  I sure do miss my $35 oil changes that the gas powered Southwind required.

We drove back to our spot at Cummins that we used the night before and had a couple adult drinks and settled in for the evening. Hopefully, we are better prepared for the long trip back east and the motorhome will treat us well.

So there you have it, football and oil changes.  Who says there isn't anything to blog about?  

On The Road to Las Vegas, oops Phoenix

Yes, the title is correct.  We were on the way to Las Vegas but Saturday we lost shore power to the motor home.  The generator worked fine and the solar panels generated enough power to run the necessary things in the motor home,  i.e.,  refrigerator, pumps, toilet, lights, coffee pot etc.  No a/c since it draws too many amps and would drain the batteries really fast.

I suspected it was the transfer switch and called La Mesa RV in Phoenix to see if they could repair it.  We scheduled an appointment for Wednesday and drove up close to the shop on Monday.  Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort was our destination and we booked two nights at the beautiful resort.  I told them about our electrical problem and said we would need to run the generator during the heat of the day so we could keep cool.  We were located away from others so the generator noise would not be an issue.  The resort was really nice, but we were too close to Luke Airforce base and the F-35s were flying all day and into the night.  They sure are loud airplanes.

We got in contact with a fellow blogger and met Jim & Sandie of the Where Are The Dixons Today  for lunch at the Naked BBQ right off I-17.  It was a 23 mile drive for us and a 50 mile drive for them. As you have surmised, we are at opposite sides of Phoenix and the Phoenix metro area is huge.

BBQ and chatting were on the menu of the day and we enjoyed both.  I've followed their blog for a while now and they are followers of our blog.  It seemed like we have known them forever and had a very enjoyable meal with them.  We stayed so long that the manager of the place offered us a job.  They weren't busy after lunch and we didn't take up a much needed table so it worked out fine.  Finally, they had to make the long trek back to Apache Junction and we had some errands to run so we said our goodbyes until next time.  Maybe Helena, MT this summer if it works out.

Gerry, Larry, Sandie & Jim

We wound up driving by the Arizona Cardinals NFL football stadium a number of times and got this picture of the place.  It is huge and is an interesting place.  The football field is grass and is on rollers that they slide out of the stadium when it's not in use so it gets the needed sunlight to keep the grass alive.

There were still a number of things on our to do list and we wound up stopping by La Mesa RV to see where they were, Camping World, Rocky Mountain Cummins shop and Costco.  We have an appointment on Thursday to have the generator serviced and also a complete lube job done.  $$$$$ flying out the window.

Today was our day at La Mesa RV and we got some good news.  The transfer switch was fine but another connection was burnt out.  Much cheaper fix so that was good.  Also, a heater hose broke on the way to the shop and when I pulled into the service bay, antifreeze sprayed all over the floor.  Thank God it happened there and not out in the middle of nowhere in Nevada.  Both repairs were made, even if it did take all day, and we were out of there by 4pm.

We spent the day chatting with fellow rvers in the client lounge and that made the day go by quickly.  Most rvers are interesting people and enjoy discussing different places they have been and quizzing us on what we have seen.  One couple, Fred & Dee, recently purchase a Tiffin Open Road unit and had it in for servicing.  They are planning a trip East this summer and hopefully our paths will cross again.

We are sitting in the lot at the Cummins dealer with a 50amp hookup and have an 8am appointment on Thursday.  It surely is nice to have electric power again and to run our air conditioner.  Hopefully, we can get a good nights sleep and after the work is finished we can hit the road for Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon.  If not, then we will stay another night here and leave on Friday.  The hookup is free and that is always nice.  Wish us luck.

Not all is peaches and cream everyday when full timing, but you learn to roll with the punches and make the best of it.

  

Frog Rock & Yarnell, AZ

Gerry and I decided to take a ride around Congress, AZ to check out the sights.  We've been here a couple of times and have seen most of what is here, so it was just a short ride.  

We stopped at Nichol's West restaurant for an early dinner.  We wound up being seated in a small area like a hallway.  Gerry got her shrimp tacos and I had the beef ones.  We enjoyed them and our beer.  It was nice and quiet there until the regular dinner crowd began pouring in about 45 minutes after we got there.  Great timing on our part and we beat a hasty exit.

Next stop was to check out Frog Rock on the outskirts of town.  There are a couple stories out there about why the rock was painted and by whom.  One was that an old prospector painted the rock and the other more likely story was an early woman settler noticed the rock formation looked like a frog and painted it first in 1928.  It's been kept up ever since then by the local townfolks of Congress.  It really does look like a frog, even though it weighs around 60 tons.  In any case it is a neat idea and really stands out as you drive north on RT 89 out of Congress.

 Now Texans have tall tales, but I don't think they can beat the size of the spurs at an intersection on Rt 93 on the way to Wickenburg, AZ.  They are definitely the largest set of spurs I have ever seen and would take some big boots to straps them on to.

We also drove up to Yarnell, AZ which is a small town on the way to Prescott, AZ.  It is a touristy town that seems to be hanging on by a thread, but is a pretty place to live.

Yarnell's other claim to fame is the Yarnell Hill Fire, a wildfire near Yarnell, ignited by lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 City of Prescott firefighters, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. The wildfire was fully contained by July 10, 2013.

This event resulted in the highest wild land firefighter death toll in the United States since the 1933 Griffith Park Fire killed 29 firefighters, and the highest death toll from any U.S. wildfire since the 1991 East Bay Hills fire killed 25 people. It is the 6th deadliest American firefighter disaster overall and the deadliest wildfire ever in Arizona. 

California Poppy

It was very quiet there on a Sunday afternoon with only a few cars on the road and even fewer people in view.  There were a number of restaurants and touristy places alongside of the road but we didn't stop at any of them.  Maybe next time.

That was our exciting Sunday, how was yours?