“The heat was hot and the ground was dry . . . “* - Las
Vegas, July 9-11, 2021
We had known of the killer heat wave in the Pacific
Northwest and moving south, but we had hoped to escape it. Alas, we were smack in the middle of it
during our time in Las Vegas.
Before driving for the day, we ate breakfast out, part of a
strategy to be in cooler places for as long as possible. Our server informed us we were just in time –
that their AC had been out for three days!
On Friday evening, we checked in fairly early in the evening,
but it was just too hot to stay in the trailer.
We were scheduled to see family the following day, so we headed out just
to be in the air-conditioned car for a while longer. We drove to Hoover Dam, which is within half
an hour of Boulder City, where we were staying.
(Boulder City is like a mini-Las Vegas, kind of a pretty town, nicely
kept and with many amenities. Their
claim to fame is that they built the Hoover Dam.)
On the way we debated whether we had been to the dam. LCR said yes; I said no, we have seen some
other large dam out West, perhaps the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington
state. As we got closer, it became clear
we had not been there. I would have
remembered the rugged, reddish-brown mountains and the enormous installation of
the dam and the bridge. We drove over
the dam, then back and parked at a pull-out as it was too late for tours or
parking in the ramp (though not too late for a security check, which was
sobering – we were asked if we had any firearms and required to open all car
windows, but the security guards barely looked and we could have had anything
in the truck).
There are several spots involving short hikes to various
vantage points. LCR took some of these
and took photos. I stayed in the
coolness of the car.
It was difficult sleeping without AC, but not impossible. What is tough is that every surface, every substance in the trailer gets superheated, from walls to water in the pipes. The temperatures were 115 F and above during the day and only got to about 95 at night. Sometimes a breeze came up late at night and the temperatures would drop a bit more, which really helped. We kept well hydrated throughout. There are some strategies that can be used to help beat the heat. One trick I use is to rinse off with just plain water, any temperature, quite frequently, hands, face, behind neck, ears and nose. Not only does it help cool you off, but you will feel quite clean even in high temperatures. Another thing we discovered is that even in our small trailer fridge there is room for several small jars I saved from the garbage. We filled these with water and herb tea bags. Not as good as a real refrigerator, and I do so miss my ice maker, but much better than hot water to drink.
On Saturday, once again we decided to eat breakfast out, to
relax in air conditioning. We chose a
small, quaint local place called the Little Grille, which was full of old
photos and memorabilia of times past.
While we waited for our food we speculated about the playlist – old
R&B favorites, not exactly what we were expecting to hear. Turned out the young man who was our server
was a fan of old R&B (because his mother used to play it at home) and he
said whenever he worked, he chose a local station with a playlist including Fats
Domino, the Temptations, the Chiffons, and other artists we thought he would have
been way too young to know. He said he
knew the words, too. And the eggs and
potatoes with grilled peppers and onions were perfect.
After lingering over breakfast, we left for Valley of Fire
State Park. This park had been
recommended to us by several people, but they had not been there. I think it is something everybody in Las
Vegas knows about but most never take the time to see. It is about an hour north of Las Vegas so
there was a bit of driving to do. At the
park entrance, along with the map, they distributed a flyer on the danger of
heat exhaustion and how to prevent it.
Valley of Fire is one of those parks you can see mostly from
your car, which was good for me as I really did not want to spend much time
outside. Ideally, we found, the park
should be viewed at sunset, when the red rocks appear to be on fire, but we saw
it during the daytime and it was still spectacular, with peaks and piles of
reddish rock in fantastic shapes, looking like animals, buildings, monsters. Most of the park was red sandstone, but some
formations were white rock as well.
In the evening we had most enjoyable visits with a variety
of family members and friends, and ate takeout shrimp enchiladas from a local
Mexican restaurant. We struck out for
points south and east the next morning.
On to Arizona.
*From “Horse With No Name” by Neil Young.
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