May 10 - Valley of Fire, May 11 - A day of rest

We were up extra early this morning and enjoyed a magical sunrise from our car bed. Experiencing things like this is what makes camping appealing and preferred in a lot of locations.

We got up with the sun and made an extra early getaway to our next destination, Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. The drive in was pretty cool as we saw some Joshua trees for the first time. We also crossed the Virgin River valley which had some cool features.

With the early start and time change to Pacific, we arrived at the park just after 8:00 AM despite the 90-minute drive. The visitor's center was still closed so we headed straight to our first hike, Fire Wave and Seven Wonders (actually 2 hikes that intersect to make a loop). We hoped we would be early enough to avoid crowds, but we pulled in right after a tour bus full of older teen girls. They beat us to the trail, so we had to act like we were in the Ironman Triathlon (also in the area today) to get ahead of the crowd. Once we passed them after 1/4 mile we didn't see them again.

The hike was very cool with lots of swirling colors and two slot canyons we got to hike through. Every hike is unique, and we really enjoyed this one despite the 84-degree start and 92-degree finish in a 65-minute hike over two miles. 

The Fire Wave section of the hike was amazing!

Shallow slot canyons were on the Seven Wonders section of the hike.

We were pretty beat after that, so we headed to the visitor's center to learn about less strenuous things to do in the park. On our way there we passed a bighorn sheep then a family of four right beside the road! This was our fourth sighting of bighorn on the trip. These were desert bighorns, so they were quite a bit smaller than the ones we saw in Colorado.

We were directed to two driving highlights, and we checked out arch rock and elephant rock. Both were cool and we headed out. We both really enjoyed this small but unique park.

When we realized we were closer to Hoover Dam than expected, we headed there. We originally planned to do that as a side trip out of Vegas in a day or 2. Our key highlight on the drive were two lines of exotic cars, one with 10 cars and the second with around 35 (Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Porches). We had lunch at the marina on Lake Mead which was a nice setting, and a bunch of the cars ended up there, too. We figured it was a meetup/rally arranged by the Ferrari dealer in Las Vegas. 

From there we headed to the dam, making all the dam jokes we could as we approached. When we saw the car thermometer hit 113, we decided to do a dam drive-by and not visit the center. An extended walk would be required, and we were enjoying the dam AC too much to want to park. We had an OK view of the dam and a good view of the bridge before we headed out towards Vegas. Forty minutes later we arrived at our destination, the Grandview Resort at Las Vegas. 

It was a rather large complex with nine buildings but check-in and travel to our room was quick and efficient. We snagged a cart and hauled our stuff (including 9 days' worth of laundry) to our penthouse suite on the top floor: 12. (OK, it wasn't the penthouse, but it seemed like it on the top floor.) We got unpacked and started doing laundry. The washing machine had issues, but we worked through them.

We loved our place and got a fantastic deal for $90 a night. A one-bedroom suite with a full kitchen and large living area. We toured the resort pool on our way to dinner and found the quiet pool that looked perfect.

Dinner was at The Bootlegger, an old school Italian Place. It was spot on with great service and food. We ordered big and got enough to eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow. After dinner we cruised The Strip. Nothing stood out as it was what we expected - lots of people, traffic, and neon. Parts reminded us of Times Square in NYC. With the time change we were up well past our bedtime of sundown. 

The Bootlegger Italian Bistro was old Las Vegas all the way. This wedge salad was the best one I've ever had. I dove into the bucatini alla carbonara too quickly to have snapped a picture. 

May 11, Mother's Day, was a lazy day by the pool as we slept in, continued laundry, and hung out by the pool most of the day. It was wonderfully relaxing! 

We had leftovers for lunch and a lovely dinner at Primarily Prime Rib next door at South Point. Another dinner with great food and service. We relaxed in our room the rest of the evening.