February 8 - March 12 -- The Year Of Travel, Part I: RV Boondocking At Overton in SE Nevada

"Overton? Where's that?" Try 65 miles northeast of Las Vegas off Interstate 10. I find it amazing that even people living in Lost Wages haven't heard of it, or don't know where it is. Which is a shame as it has a lot to offer, including being the closest town to the fabulous Valley of Fire State Park. It's in the south end of the Moapa Valley, near the meeting of the Muddy and Virgin Rivers where they empty into what is now Lake Mead. Native peoples lived in this fertile area -- the excellent Lost City Museum here is dedicated to their stay here -- and then it was settled by Mormons. It's still a Mormon town and is a reminder that many of the towns in this section of Nevada and California were founded by Mormons; Las Vegas and San Bernardino are two that come to mind. Besides the LDS churches in the valley, there's the Mormon Mountains to the north and Mormon Mesa to the east. The name "Overton" could have come from when residents said they were going "over town" as it had the only store in the lower part of the valley. St. Thomas to the south was the main town until it was done in by Lake Mead, then most of its residents moved to Overton. If folks have heard of the valley towns of Overton, Logandale and Moapa it's more than likely from being where the Clark County Fair and Rodeo is held, along with the Pomegranate Festival in Logandale. So it's here that I've spent the past 3 winters, staying at an RV park in Overton, but I decided to do something a bit different this year. My Lance 1685 travel trailer has 2 120-watt solar panels, and the Moapa Valley area gets 300-plus days of sun a year, so it was time to go "off the grid", i.e., boondock. Why spend at least $20 a day for hookups at an RV park when you can be away from the crowds and have this as your own space? 

Yep, that's Discovery II, my home on wheels, at the mesa south of Overton and only 10 miles at most from the Valley of Fire. Staying there -- and I did for nearly a month -- was easier than I thought; I just had to take the plunge. Sure, there's not the unlimited electricity, water and sewage that you could get staying "cheek by jowl" with other RVers, but with the judicious use of the solar panels and RV batteries for power and 50-gallon fresh water and sewer tanks, you can get along just fine, save money, and have window views like this -- 

And Overton with Lin's Market and Ace Hardware is only 8 miles away in case you need them...

From left to right, Discovery II, Steve W. and Tundra II at the boondocking site. I could play my classical CDs and not have anyone shout at me to turn it down. The closest "neighbor" was about a quarter of a mile away. 

OK, so I didn't stay on the mesa ALL the time.. The thing about flat mesas is there's nothing to block the wind. And shortly after I arrived the wind on one night was quite literally howling. Actually it sounded more like a jet engine roaring right outside. I spent a sleepless night pacing back and forth -- you must remember the trailer has 16 lengthwise feet of living space, so there were hundreds of backs and forths -- and thought it would never end. I even went outside to make sure nothing had blown away and the trailer hadn't moved closer to the mesa's edge. Or wasn't about to get knocked off its leveling blocks. Everything was fine, which is a testament to the sturdiness of the trailer and that I took the right precautions, but when the same kind of wind event was predicted to happen about a week later, I hightailed it to the relative protection of Arch Campground in the Valley of Fire --

I was planning on spending A LOT of time there anyway; this way I'd be in it until the wind died down. I had just bought a $75 year pass -- VOF doesn't have weekly or monthly passes -- that would cover the entrance fee of $10, and I knew I'd spend more than 8 days there so I'd save money with the pass. Besides, it's good until the end of February 2019 so I know where I'm going to be again next February. If you've never been to the Valley of Fire, the name is misleading as the landscape is not created by volanic eruptions but rather by ancient sand dunes which time has turned in to rock. Much of it is red Aztec sandstone which can look "fiery" under the right light conditions, so maybe that's where the name comes from. Softer rock erodes above and below harder rock so there are all these fantastic formations, and some are psychedelically colorful. Here's one of the wildest, which is why it's been unofficially named "Crazy Hill" --

A closeup of the wildly-colorful and striped Crazy Hill.

The best time to be at the Valley of Fire is at sunrise and sunset as the slanting light intensifies the contrasting colors and rock striations --

The wildlife that every visitor wants to see is Desert Bighorn Sheep; I was lucky to encounter quite a few during my stay. 

There are arches everywhere, but most of them are small. Here's one of the smallest, given another unofficial name of Windstone Arch. Most of the park's arches are unmarked; you can be next to this one and not even know it's there --

A bachelor herd of Desert Bighorn Sheep; I encountered them while doing a backcountry hike. They were just as surprised to see me as I was to see them.  Just after this, they all turned their heads at the same time to look at me. 

This is a good example of why you'd want to stick around for the sunset show. But this time it's the sky that's on fire, with the sun lighting up the clouds. Even the sinuous road adds to the landscape, IMHO. 

You can't get a view and solitude like this in an RV park!  

I had an unauthorized entry by rodents a few months back while the trailer was stored under the RV canopy at home. The entry holes had been sealed, but this l'il kangaroo rat still managed to find its way into my laundry hamper. Poor guy. Needless to say, I trashed the hamper after this. It was a cheapie from Amazon anyway. 

A few more Valley of Fire arches. Here's Elephant Rock, probably the most recognizable one as it's right off the east entrance gate. 

Here's a 3-fer -- striped rock, erosion by weathering, and a small "keyhole" arch in the background. They're the three main geological features that can be seen at the VOF. 

And a boondocking sunrise -- 

-- and sunset. 

Next up, The Year of Travel, Part II -- On Safari in Africa.