Valley of Fire

October 24th, 2024

I left Bryce Canyon at 6:30 a.m. with a morning temperature of 26 degrees. I descended to the town of Panguitch, jiggled north to Highway 20 and crested the divide above the Sevier River Valley and hit Interstate 15. By the time I made it to Cedar City, the temperature had risen to 60 degrees. I stopped in St. George for gas, groceries, and coffee and then headed down the Virgin River Gorge into Nevada. By the time I reached a dispersed campsite outside of Valley of Fire State Park, the early afternoon temperature had risen to 83. Of course, this was a desert area. I had basically traversed from early winter to late summer in 4 1/2 hours.

I was on top of Snowbird Mesa, camped with a good number of others, also working their way down toward Quartzite and beyond. The name of the mesa was fitting, as we were all snowbirds.

The next morning, I drove a short distance south to the Valley of Fire State Park. This area of Nevada, looks as though a giant force had dropped large piles of red candle wax across the desert. The sun then melted those piles into odd and distorted shapes. Holes and small arches were scattered throughout the landscape. In some places it appeared as if the tops of the piles had melted and sagged over the lower slopes.

I was surprised to see a number of Bighorn Sheep grazing amongst the rocks. They didn’t seem too disturbed by the few vehicles passing through the area.

After leaving the park, the drive crossed a sloping desert plain on the other side of which I could see Interstate 15 heading towards Las Vegas. It looked like lakes of water spread out along the highway. As I got closer, I could see that they were really huge expanses of solar panels that were tilted towards the morning sun. These solar farms surrounded the city which I could see in the distance. There had to be hundreds of thousands of these panels.

I skirted the edge of Las Vegas before turning to the south on Highway 95. I stopped in the town of Searchlight for fuel and lunch. I should have known better, but I pulled into Terrible’s, a gas and convenience store that has locations throughout the southwest. Immediately I received a terrible surprise. The gas was $4.29 per gallon. I had been used to paying around $3.39. I thought maybe I had passed into the edge of California. A quick check of the map showed I was still in Nevada. That makes 2 states that I will avoid. Next, I entered the store which had a McDonalds inside. I asked for a quarter pound cheeseburger meal. The cashier told me they had no burgers. What? He turned and started reading all the items off the overhead menu. I had not time for that, so I turned and left. As I walked out the door, he was still reading, “Fish, Chicken,…”. I figured there would be another fast food place a little further down the road.

I continued south and was slowly squeezed between the borders with Arizona and California before entering the city of Needles on the Colorado River. There was another McDonalds, so I pulled in. I again asked for a quarter pounder meal. The cashier looked oddly at me and said, “we don’t have any quarter pounders”. There was a young Mexican lady behind me, who I turned to and asked “what is the deal with hamburger around here?” She replied that there was an E. Coli outbreak. I guess when you are travelling you don’t always catch the latest news. I was told that I could order a Big Mac. I guess the Big Mac is no longer made with hamburger. So I said “give me a Big Mac combo”. Again, she looked at me oddly and said “the Big Mac Bundle?” To which I replied “yes, whatever you call it”. I paid with a debit card, and she handed me the receipt. However, she did not give me a cup for my drink. She said I did not get a drink. What? I looked at my receipt and discovered a “Big Mac Bundle”, was a little over $18 and does not come with a drink. It comes with 2 Big Macs, 2 large fries, and 20 Chicken McNuggets. A Bundle is not a Combo. It is a family meal. The line was too long to wait, so I left. I ate one Big Mac. I would have thrown the other one plus the nuggets out the window, but I didn’t want to harm the wildlife.

I crossed the Colorado River and was back in Arizona. It felt good to be back in America. Just a short drive later, I was at my site at Havasu Lake State Park. My site was right on the beach. I could look across the blue waters and see the shore of Terrible’s Crazy Land over there. There is a shuttle boat that goes back and forth, ferrying citizens between Havasu City on the east bank, and that other country on the west bank. Nobody would drive to the east side, as they would have to re-finance their home to afford the gas to drive.

Lake Havasu State Park has electrical hookups. I will top off my batteries, use the microwave, and turn on the air conditioner in the afternoon. Afternoon temperatures will be in the 90s here. Two days of cool air and then I will be heading south another 75 miles to slow roast in the desert until temperatures turn cooler. I will get settled in for the next 5 months and plan for next summer in the high mountains of Colorado.

Thus endeth the tour for 2024.