DAY 16 Overton, NV to Las Vegas
We woke up in the beautiful Valley of Fire State Park, Atlatl Campground, site 8, and decided we should definitely come back here some day. We hiked a bit this morning, and we were able to let the dogs off leash for a bit. It’s VERY hot. I can’t believe a few days ago we were worried about the kids being warm enough, and today we were slathering on the sunscreen and worrying about them getting hot. We had a good morning and stopped to drive a scenic road near the visitor center. I became disoriented and told David to turn the wrong way. So our driving didn’t start out so great, but we got turned back around. We don’t really want to leave the park, but we have a reservation in Vegas, Nora keeps talking about swimming, and I need a cell phone signal and WiFi to finish my freelance project by month’s end so I can stop thinking about it.
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We pulled into the Circus Circus KOA campground, right on the strip in Las Vegas. It was a short driving day today - just one hour. It is very bizarre camping here, but it’s a HUGE park. Park isn’t really the right word for it, but oh well. They have a pool, so Nora will be happy. We are probably going to walk the kids down to the Bellagio to see the water fountain show later today. Fortunately we have full hookups here, so we can leave the central air running for the dogs. Nothing like sitting in the middle of a giant parking lot in Vegas in a tin box with the sun beating down.
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Nora went to the pool TWICE! Once with David and once with me. We got back and planned to walk to see the fountains at Bellagio, but David stepped out of the camper holding Nora and sprained his ankle badly. Thanks to his quick thinking, Nora was unhurt. The same could not be said for David. We limped down the Strip and had dinner, then took a cab back to the camper. Hopefully it will only be really awful for a day or so and then it will start to heal, because the Grand Canyon is kind of boring if you can’t go for hikes.