AstroGypsies

Getting through Phoenix seems to be a hellish endeavor, the traffic, the stop and go for no apparent reason, the very slow drivers, Mike swearing in three different languages;)…therefore all the God billboards and the cremation one, really, a total cremation, makes you wonder what a partial is…ah, add men, sometimes the research maybe was not done;) We were headed North East, out of the Tucson/Phoenix area to Wickenburg. We’d read about a small campground, the Constellation RV Campground, dry camping, $8.00 a night across from a rodeo arena. Sounded nice, in the desert and away from the road and not a sardine like experience of the normal RV parks you encounter. Really not our favourite spots except for laundry breaks.

We hadn’t counted on the endless lazy people roaring about in their 4 wheelers when they could walk to their friends trailer, or the incessant roar of the razors coming from the road the campground was set back on, seems the louder the better. Don’t get me wrong, I love hot rods, and nice sounding V8’s but these noisy little carts people seem to use to rush up and down the roads with their silly little flags belong…OFFROAD…not on the highways, there said my piece, between that and the gunshots from a nearby range had us up early, on a Sunday, ah the sound of freedom someone once said, did he ever get the look…really you asshole? Wake me up at 6am so you can target shoot your toys…there…done…can’t wait some days to get the hell out of this area, on our way! Did I mention Gamora hates traffic noise and could you at least slow down driving past animals and other peoples trailers, if you even notice…guess I wasn’t done;) Ha!

There was a lovely path opposite our site, hoof and foot traffic only, and there in front of us two assholes on 4 wheelers drive around the gate, nearly tipping over, I was hoping, running over all the wildflowers…what is wrong with these entitled a#@holes…wait, must have gone to a bad school and can’t read…these people are not here to enjoy nature, but to trample it under their wheels:( bummer.

…at least Groot tread carefully among the poppies, visions of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz came to mind;)

We left after the first night, enough noise and headed North. We’d read about a free boondocking spot South of Hoover Dam in a large lot, thought that would make a good stop for the 2nd night but as we came around the bend we saw it had been closed off so we kept driving, past the ginormous dam and North into Henderson, Nevada before taking a smaller secoundary road up into the Lake Mead Recreational Area on the 167. We’d called ahead to Valley of Fire and they said their campgrounds were full so we started to look for something along the road. Be warned as you head North on 167 the Lake Mead folks will collect $25 for a week, even if you are just driving through…the brochure the Lake Mead folks gave us listed a few places to camp so getting tired, having driven a lot longer than we had expected we wandered down the Callville Bay Road and into a small primitive (No services, but bathrooms) campground and called it a day. The spots are small but we squeezed into the last and longest one and called it a day.

The cats were quite happy with the quiet and we chatted with a lovely couple walking their wee dog. They had been to most of the campgrounds around Lake Mead and said this was their favourite, lined with oleanders it had good spacing among the sites and shrubbery;)

I hiked up the hill, then the next hill, there is always another hill it seems to get a nice view of Lake Mead along several nicely tread paths. Something magic about quiet and wind…the cactus were just about to burst into bloom.

We’d planned on leaving early to snag a campsite at Atlatl Rock in the Valley of Fire so it was early to bed and early to rise. It was nice to back in the quiet again! Stay tuned my friends and remember…

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive”.

Eleonora Duse