Spring has Sprung..........in the Desert

                                       Sunrise at 6:44 am today                                        
                                    (Sunset will occur at 6:53 pm)                                    


Today is the 'Vernal Equinox', when the days get longer and warmer and a time of rebirth unfolds.  (Officially at 9:57 am PDT)  Here in southern Nevada, Spring most definately has arrived and is apparent everywhere you go.  We have happy, singing birds, and hungry hummingbirds.  Gambel's quail still scurrying around, baby rabbits, and little Bighorn sheep timidly feeding by their Mother's side.  Desert tortoises poking out of their burrows, catapillars doing their thing and rattlesnakes a stirring.  Life is alive in the desert.  Not to  mention the wildflowers and blooming cactus exploding with color.  So WELCOME SPRING, with all your sights, sounds, scents, warmth, and wonderous glory!     Sometimes, pictures speak louder than words.

It is always a pleasure having company, and what a treat to share a short and sweet afternoon with our friends, Fred and Judy Witt from Melbourne, Florida/Buffalo, New York.  They were visiting     family in Scottsdale, Arizona, so we met halfway between us in Wikieup, Arizona, which is out in the middle of nowhere, off US93.                                                                                                                   
We are also looking forward to meeting up with Joan and Steve who we have virtually met so far via RVillage, (a very cool new website), who also happen to be here in Boulder City.                               
This weekend our friends, Beth  and Grady will stop by for a few days on their way to a Workamping job in Utah.  We met Beth and Grady at a RV DREAMS Rally we attended last March in Elephant Butte, New Mexico.  We look forward to seeing them again  and showing them around this area.

                                                     Visiting with Judy and Fred Witt                                                   

Cheers!

P.S.   To all our friends, family and readers in the north..........may you thaw out and experience  some Spring weather soon!                                                                                                                         

Boulder City, Nevada ROCKS!

What a pleasant, delightful surprise we have found the state of Nevada to be, and even more so, the small, quaint, historical, friendly all-American town of Boulder City, which lies 25 miles SE of Las Vegas, off  US93.       TravelNevada.com                 bouldercitychamber.com

This little gem of an oasis in the desert is where we are spending our winter months.  Does that make us 'snowbirds'?  Why and How did we ever end up here?  When our Oregon BLM summer workamping job would end September 30th, we KNEW we didn't want to spend the winter in cold, wet Oregon, (especially Chris, the Floridian), so we found another workamping gig for the winter in the Las Vegas, Nevada area.  It seemed like the Mojave Desert would be a nice warm place to stay and a new area for us to explore, so we meandered, boondocked and explored our way from NW Oregon to southern Nevada, and 3 National Parks and 4 weeks later on November 1st we arrived for our new workamping job.  We stumbled upon Boulder City, aka "the city that built Hoover Dam", while visiting 2 RV parks in town as part of our workamping job.

We found BC, (Boulder City), to be extremely charming, friendly and FUN!   So we moved here.   (Luckily we can easily do this since our house is on wheels.)   Everything you want, need and more is in BC.  To name just a few; the distinctive, historic Boulder Dam Hotel with the Hoover Dam Museum and The Fine Arts Gallery on the premises. 

2 municipal golf courses, 19 parks, Bootleg Canyon for premier biking/hiking trails and zipline, a beautiful new library, a swimming pool, Boulder Bowling Alley, Nevada State Railroad Museum, an airport, Veterans' Home and cemetery, churches of all faiths, a very active Senior Center, numerous restaurants and a Boulder Dam Brewery with some dam delicious craft beers on tap.

                                                         Chris is one happy camper

The Dam Theater, public tennis, racquetball, shuffleboard and basketball courts,.  You can stroll the historic district and visit the many antique shops and restaurants and businesses while enjoying the various public art sculptures on display.

BC has something for everyone, history,culture, recreation and more.

                                          IT:  " Pick a card, any card ."

                                         ME: "Okay, if you take me to your leader."   

                                 

We especially love beautiful sapphire blue Lake Mead as it glistens in the perpetual desert sun, and we can't wait to kayak on it.  Lake Mead NRA, (National Recreation Area), only a short 5 miles from town, comprises 1.5 million acres, and offers  endless and varied choices for hiking, and so many other aspects of recreation.   A newly remodeled, free Visitor Center is a fun way to get an overview of the NRA, and all it has to offer.      www.nps.gov/lake

The magnificent and monumental Hoover Dam is just 8 miles away, waiting to be discovered.

www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam

We thoroughly enjoy volunteering for the NPS, ( National Park Service), in their 'Trail Watch' Program.  What a great way to learn the area and about new hiking trails and meet new people, and give a little back.  It is a genuine pleasure delivering Meals On Wheels to home bound Seniors one afternoon a week for the Senior Center, and again meet some extraordinary people and learn more about the local area.  The  upcoming 2nd annual BeerFest on March 29th, at one of the 19 local parks, will have 20+ craft beer tents, a brewing demonstration, food trucks and live music by 3 local bands.   We enjoy hummingbirds galore, gambel's quail scurrying around and bighorn sheep, (the state animal), in abundance around town and the foothills.

It is such a sharp contrast here, compared to Oregon or Florida, so it's new and exciting to us and we are 'falling in love' with the unique, diverse desert.  It will be somewhat sad to leave here come mid April when we will head north to Oregon again for another fun summer at Mt. Hood BLM.  It truly was such a blast last summer, that we signed up again, plus the added bonus of being near family.  But who knows.............we just might end up right back here next winter?!

So, as you can see, we are completely enamored with this super friendly, small and interesting town and area.  Actually, what's not to like?  This place ROCKS!

                                        

Please feel free to give us a shout if you are ever in the area.

Cheers!