Out West Trip: Day 20 (Oakhurst, CA to Las Vegas, NV)

Today’s Highlights:
Buying choco rocks at Alien Jerky. Making it through the hot desert without overheating. Walking across the Hoover Dam. Eating dinner near a canal in Venice. Spotting the Brooklyn Bridge and the Eiffel Tower.

After making breakfast in the campsite, we packed up and headed out. We stopped first at the yarn store around the corner, but the lady did not have the right color yarn for Camille. She did give a free skein of yarn to Chloe, though! When we stopped the World’s Largest Dancing Raisin, I got a coffee, but it was “We poorly serve Starbucks coffee!” Yuck. We stopped at a fruit stand just east of Bakersfield where we bought nuts, cherries and plums. We then stopped at Alien Fresh Jerky in Baker, where the girls bought “Choco Rocks” and Rob bought a Duff. The ride from there to Nevada along the south end of Death Valley was HOT. We stopped at one point to let Evie cool off a little bit.

largest thermometer - 10 jun 2011

We drove out to Hoover Dam. After passing through a security checkpoint, we were able to drive across the Hoover Dam and park. We walked back done the hill and out onto the dam. The restroom on the dam were really interesting! We walked all the way across (from Arizona into Nevada) and then back to Evie.

hoover dam - 10 jun 2011

In Las Vegas, we made our way to the Circus Circus KOA. We got a spot close to the pool and bathrooms. The girls jumped right in the pool while I organized our stuff. When they were kicked at at pool close (9pm), we headed to The Strip. Chloe loved the roller coaster in Circus Circus, but did not get a chance to try it out. We made it out the door and explored a bit. We managed to get pizza at the food court in The Venetian and watch the volcano explode at The Mirage(?). After that, we got on the Deuce bus and rode to the south end of the strip and then back up to the KOA; Chloe slept for much of the ride.

venetian - 10 jun 2011

Back at the campsite, Rob and I started laundry while the girls went to bed. We were not the only ones doing laundry at 1:30am. By the time I was done (comedy of errors) it was almost 4am, and I was so exhausted that neither the heat nor the lights bothered me one bit.

My reviews:

• Trekaroo review of Alien Fresh Jerky
• Trekaroo review of the Hoover Dam
• TripAdvisor review of the KOA Las Vegas
• Trekaroo review of the KOA Las Vegas

Trip Stats:
Roadside Attractions: World’s Largest Dancing Raisin. Alien Jerky. World’s Largest Thermometer. World’s Largest Coke Bottle. (Total: 20)
States: California. Nevada. Arizona. (Total: 11 – GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, CO, CA, NV)
State Plates Spotted: None. (Total: 47)
Miles: 506 (Total: 5166)
Gallons of gas bought: 15.5 (Total: 294.1)
Poptops Spotted: None. (Total: 23)
National Park Stamps: None. (Total: 7)
Miles walked: 4 (Total: 48)
Dollars saved with NP pass: None. (Total: 105)
Continental Divide Crossings: None. (Total: 3)
Time Zone Changes: 2 (Total: 9 – EDT, CDT, MST, MDT, CDT, MDT, MST, PDT, MST, PDT)
Security checkpoints: 3 (Border. Agriculture. Security.)