May1, 2013

Boulder Beach Campground

 Lake Mead Recreation Area

 Boulder City, NV

When we went to bed last night it was stifling- we had the windows open but there wasn’t the slightest breeze.  Sometime around 3am I woke up shivering and rushed to close the windows.  That is the crazy kind of weather we are experiencing here at Boulder Beach.

            I had set the alarm for 6am because we planned on driving up along Lakeshore Drive all the way to Valley of Fire State Park. 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We detoured at Callville Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 to take a look at their campground. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

It is nice but I still like where we are now better. 

           

 

 

 

  

We came across this highway memorial to a guy name Chuck. 

           

 

 

 

 

  

I drove for a while so Monte could take pictures.

           

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

When we saw a sign for Redstone Dune we stopped because Monte said the rocks were calling to him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He couldn’t resist climbing.

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the road again, our next destination was Echo Bay.  But when we arrived there was road construction with a 20 minute delay.  We spoke to one of the road workers who told us the water level at Echo Bay was down by 25feet so it was kind of a waste of time going there.  We made a u-turn and continued on our way.

           

 Someone suggested we check out Stewarts Point as a possible boon docking site.

 

 

 

  

 

We followed the sign leading us down a long dirt road with big ruts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After about a mile I told Monte even if the boon docking site turns out to be beautiful I didn't want to bring our rig down the road leading to it. 

 

 

 

 

But we continued on anyway because Monte was curious to see the area. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very nice but I just didn’t think it was nice enough to travel down the long bumpy road to get to it.

           

 

 

 

 

When we arrived at Valley of Fire State Park I filled out the form and placed the $10 entrance fee inside the envelope. 

 

 

 

 

But the fiercely blowing wind would have made taking a hike more of a chore than a source of enjoyment

 

 

 

 

 

so we didn’t end up entering the park.

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Instead we continued on and explored roads in the Overton Wildlife Management Area.

            We started looking for a place to eat our picnic lunch.  When I entered “parks” in the GPS it directed us to a school.  That is not the first time that has happened to us. 

 

 

 

 

 On our way back to the highway we spotted a picnic bench outside of a restaurant.

            Rather than return to Boulder Beach the same way we had traveled, we decided to take the 15 through Las Vegas and tour the Ethel M Chocolate Factory. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethel M Chocolates is owned by Mars, Inc.

           

 

 

 

 

 

 In 1911 in Tacoma, WA, Frank and Ethel Mars started making and selling chocolates out of their kitchen. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Their son, Forrest Mars Sr., created Ethel M Chocolates in 1981 to honor his mother.

           

 

 

 

 

We took a self-guided tour of the factory. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It ends up in the gift shop where we were given a choice of a piece of milk, dark or white chocolates.  The chocolate was delicious but very expensive so we just settled for the sample. 

 

 

After exiting the gift shop, we strolled through the three acre cactus garden on the premises.  There are over 350 rare and exotic plant species.