Going On The Road with Monte & Rose

April 24, 2013

Boulder Beach Campground

Lake Mead Recreation Area

Boulder City, NV

Monte has driven motorcycles since he was a teenager and up until recently had a bike he spent 10 years and $$$ customizing so it would have been fun to stay in Laughlin for the River Run Bike Rally. But the Riverside Resort wanted more money for the 4 days of the rally than we would have spent if we stayed 3 weeks. So it was time to move on.

In my research I came across an RV Park less than 10 miles from Las Vegas that was reasonably priced with our Passport America membership. We have never been to Las Vegas and planned on spending at least 2 days.

I did some further research and discovered that Lake Mead Recreation Area has several campgrounds and the one at Boulder Beach offered pull-though sites that could accommodate our size rig and it was located only 30 miles from Las Vegas. With Monte’s senior pass it would only cost us $5/day. There are no hook-ups but there is a dump station and water spigots scattered throughout the park as well as flush toilets.

If we would have stayed at the park closer to Las Vegas I would have felt we had to go into the city two days in a row and then move on because I didn’t want to spend the $20.50/day for more than two nights.

We leisurely began packing up and were ready to leave the Riverside Resort at 10:30. It was going to be a short travel day as Boulder Beach Campground was only 80 miles away.

Our route took us on 163 for 20 miles,

then on US 93 for 50 miles

and finally through Boulder City.

We turned off at the sign for Lake Mead Recreation Area and parked just past the Visitor Center.

Monte got in my car and we drove down into the valley. We showed Monte’s senior pass and ID at the entrance booth and continued on to the turn for the campground.

Boulder Beach Campground has 146 sites (12 pull-though sites). Over half the sites are closed down for maintenance. When we arrived there were two pull-though sites available. We parked in one and walked over to the other site and after taking different factors into consideration (the direction our door would be facing, the proximity of the restrooms, the location of a water spigot, etc.) we decided on site 143. I asked a woman passing by where I could get the self-check in envelopes. We walked the short distance to the Iron Ranger, got a couple of envelopes and walked back to the car. I filled out the registration and attached the slip to the post so our site was secured.

I only had a 20 dollar bill so I could only reserve the site for 4 days. If we like the area (and I am fairly sure we will) we will extend the stay. (For up to 30 days) I like the idea of being at this location better than staying closer to Las Vegas because we now have the option of going into the city one day, resting up the next-maybe doing a hike another day, taking the kayak out on the lake and touring Hoover Dam located only 5 miles away.

After securing our site by placing the slip on the post, I drove Monte back up to the parking lot where he parked the rig.

He followed me down to our site and we set up quickly.

On our way into town we stopped at the Alan Bible Visitor Center where I stamped my passport and we caught the tail end of a film about Lake Mead.

We also stopped at the Nevada info center where we loaded up on brochures, discount coupons for Las Vegas attractions and dinner deals, as well as info for Hoover Dam tours.

Because Monte wants to order something he needed to find someplace to have it delivered. We found a place directly across from Albertson’s so while I picked up a few grocery items he went into the ship center and found out the details of receiving packages. It will only cost $3.55 for delivery.