Ely, NV to Lake Mead RV Village in Boulder City, NV

Today we exited the Ely KOA and went north on US93 towards US6.  I would like to note that the Chevron near US93/US50 and US6 was fifty cents a gallon cheaper for diesel than the Love’s just down the street.  The entire parking lot was recently paved.  In the back of the station are pump islands for big trucks that are easily accessible.  It seems that lately Love’s is the highest price vendor for fuel.  We went west on US6 and then south on NV318.  If you’re going to Las Vegas from the north, NV318 is the way to go.  It’s shorter than US93, prettier, less congested and it avoids three passes.  NV318 rejoins US93, which runs into I15 on the edge of Las Vegas.  We took I15 for a few miles and then the GPS took us off the freeway and ran us through city streets in Las Vegas, over by McCarran and Nellis AFB.  We went out through the hinterlands and drove for what seemed like forever.  There was a better route we could have taken.  The GPS has an evil sense of humor.
Anyway, this was this morning and most of the day.  It was cold, wet and just gruesome.



Shortly after turning on to NV318, the left wind shield wiper rolled over and died.  It flopped over to the left and would not move again.  It’s not the motor, it appears to be off the drive shaft, or perhaps the drive shaft is stripped.  Who knows.  After that there were no more good pictures taken through the windshield.



Up the road aways, traffic came to a complete stop.



Look in the field.  Some person was out driving their jeep off road, and managed to roll it.  The hood was all but torn off the vehicle.  The cooler and various belongings were out of the car.  I do not know how people accomplish such massively unnecessary car accidents.



By the time we were in the outskirts of Las Vegas, we were seeing virga as well as rain.  This was an impressive sky.



I totally disapprove of this activity.  The road we were on skirted the desert where there were little hills, covered in ATVs.  They should all get bicycles.



This is Lake Las Vegas.  It’s an artificial lake in the middle of the desert.  The project was begun in 1967 and apparently has only picked up steam recently.  I linked to the wiki on it in the previous sentence.  The recitation of bankruptcies, law suits and general malfeasance is funny.  Also interesting is the Zillow page.  There are several homes that have been on the market for more than 200 days.



This was our first view of Lake Mead.



I took this out of Jim’s side window.  See the white stripe running around the sides of the lake?  That’s called the “bathtub ring” and it indicates how low that lake is.  It’s low.



View from the RV at Lake Mead RV Village.



The blue line would have been faster and more direct.  Actually the way we went was a pretty drive and was worth doing.  I would have enjoyed it more if I’d been convinced that the GPS was taking us where we wanted to go.  Notice the Interstate 11 designation on the map.  I wish the software wouldn’t do that.  It’s actually Interstate 515.  I11 is merely a notion at this point.

Update to post:  I was ill informed!  There is a new section of road that is I11.  It may be time to buy a new atlas so we have accurate maps.  Details about the new road can be found here.  The new stretch is the yellow line south of the blue line on the map.  It bypasses Boulder City, to decrease the time it takes to get to the bridge next to the Hoover Dam.  I still  think google maps should call the highway north of the exit to to the new road segment I515.  That's been its name since 1994.  

 
We’re here for two nights.  It will be good to have a day out of the RV.  Did I ever mention where we’re going?  We’re going to Tucson.