Return To Middle California, 2021; And Pinnacles National Park

On April 8 we drove back to Menlo Park for a brief stay, the highlights of which were a) a week-long camping trip with grand-daughter Penelope to old friend Pinnacles National Park, and b) Penelope's 10th birthday celebrations. 

Our campsite at Pinnacles

Back side

Right on the creek

Campsite visitor

Out on a hike, with new back pack, pointing out the Pinnacles

Poppies all over the valley floor

New-fangled Park Service trail signage

Below some of the pinnacles

With Grandpa, before boldly entering one of the trail's tunnels

Later, back home, Birthday Girl

Can't believe it's been 10 years!

Sierra Primavera

And so it came to pass that we left Pahrump (we'll always have Pahrump) and drove back across the Mojave into California and the greener land of the Central Valley--land of fruits and nuts--and eventually up into the western foothills of the Sierra, about 30 miles south of Yosemite National Park. Our destination was the Park of the Sierras Escapees' RV park, near Coarsegold, CA. We were there almost two weeks, including an initial stay at the nearby Chukchansi Casino. We were quite enamored of Park of the Sierras, the terrain and natural landscaping, mostly, but also the situation, not too far from Coarsegold and Yosemite and only half an hour's drive to Fresno. It was early spring when we arrived, everything green and budding and blooming, adding to the interest. The Park was still on a mostly buttoned-down basis due to COVID, so we didn't fraternize with the residents much, but we very much liked what we saw. 

Google view of the Park of the Sierras; all the 
previous Escapee RV parks we've visited have
been laid out on right angle grids...flatlanders...
not this park, in the foothills of the Sierras, it's
very hilly, but very scenic; getting our daily steps
proved to be quite a chore

Our campsite, #314

The enormous clubhouse

Outcrops like this everywhere, in practically every site

More or less typical site

Despite some uniformity in out-buildings, there was plenty of
room for expression in the landscaping; here, the gong show

Californiana

Sunset in one of the park areas

Only half the park is developed; the other half has been left
more or less wild, with a mile or so long hiking path; excellent
signage...

Coarsegold (or some other) Creek runs through the property;
you have to ford it to get to the trail

Vicki braving the raging torrent

The Creek

Interesting erosion, creating many pots and tubs

But the main attraction was all the wildflowers and new green
leaves everywhere

We were hoping it might be a California condor, but it was only 
a (very common) turkey vulture; still, the third largest North
American bird, after the condor and the osprey

Parting shot/practical advice department: under the car you'll see
a rope of LED lights, something we've seen in any number of RV
parks recently; evidently, the thinking is, the lights scare off any
rodents that might want to chew on your electrical cables and wires
in the engine compartment (a serious problem); we were all set to
order a 40 foot length, but then we happened on to the Monday
Mousetrap YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EVN9JXUJXdY&ab_channel=ShawnWoods) and were
disabused, and much amused, by this and similar episodes...truly, 
one of the treasures of the Internet...

Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon, Pahrump; Harrumph

Having had enough of Las Vegas and growing concerned about the coming weekend crowds, we retreated to a popular casino-docking site overlooking Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam Lodge, and stayed there four nights. The desert is a windy place in the spring, we are learning, and on this bluff overlooking the lake we had four days and nights of nearly gale force winds, temps in the 60s, but sunny. We did most of our walking in the casino (masking enforced), and made the usual token offerings there. It was, in my estimation, an unusually fine casino: $.05 machines aplenty, free drinks if you're playing, including something they said was scotch. Ask for it on the rocks and you get a scotch-flavored snow cone. Only a 94% pay-out, however, which is not all that great. The parking lot overlooking the lake and trails was gratuite et illimite, as we say in France, so that made it all worthwhile. Even stronger winds were forecast for mid-week, so we decided to head back to Vegas for some provisioning, and then, via the scenic Red Rock Canyon and a formidable pass, on to the fair town of Pahrump, Nevada, where we are holed up now at the Escapees' Pair-A-Dice (get it?!) RV Park. We'll stay here a few more days before heading back to California. Pahrump is noted for many things, not least of which is the presence of some famous brothels, including the BBC-featured Sheri's Ranch, two-time winner of the Brothel of the Year Award. Look it up. 

Hoover Dam Lodge; last casino before you enter Arizona; or
first you encounter coming from Arizona...

View from our site; what Mars looked like when it had lakes

Our encampment; every night there would be half a dozen or
more campers parked there

Alpenglow, sort of

Radio-controlled desert big horn sheep (note collar)

The old railroad line that supplied the building of Hoover Dam,
1931-35, has been converted into a hiking/biking trail; we hiked
past the 4th or 5th tunnel, then lost interest

Pinnacles on the mountainside; volcanic rock, sharp, not fun to
walk on

So I have decided to stop doing "today's wedding pix" photos,
my interest in weddings having waned since 2010 and 2011; from
now on I am going to feature "today's influencers" since they are
far more in evidence, especially in places like this

Someone else's photo of Hoover Dam; 90 years later, it's not such
a big deal, having been eclipsed by many others; we saw the Three
Gorges Dam in 2008, and it's hard to beat; we skipped Hoover

Now in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, half an 

hour's drive west of Vegas; a trail only partly explored...it was 

cold and windy and poor footing...

Red rocks indeed; but mostly they were the usual fifty shades of
brown one sees in this part of the world; nonetheless, the canyon
drive was "wonderful," Vicki asserts

Up closer, including Calico Tanks

Ditto; nota bene: this area is the best on the one-way 13-mile 
scenic route...stop here, it doesn't get any better

Non-red rocks

Ditto

Petroglyphs at the terminus of the 0.15 mile Petroglyph Wall Trail

Bonus pictograph

Us, there

We got out just before the rain/snow fell

Hitting one of these would really screw up your alignment

This nice couple had just passed us, at a high rate of speed, but
were stopped now, the Lamborghini over-heating, he said;
probably not influencers, Vicki observed, but how often do you
see a Lamborghini broken down in the boonies?

The area has many wild horses and burros, and there's a $500 
fine for feeding them; sign to be added to our "wild animals on
the road" collection from Africa...

Google view of Pahrump; the name derives from the native
southern Paiute; not French

I was tempted to buy it just to see whether Sheri's Ranch was listed;
and for how much