Today I got up reasonably early. Where I stayed the night was right in the middle of Cathedral Gorge in eastern Nevada. It's a nice place, but not as nice as I had hoped, especially after having driven here all night. I have a picture that someone took of this place and all I can say is that it must have been a really good day. It didn't look much like that picture here today. Anyways, I did get what I think will be one good picture.

After that, I head off for south-eastern Nevada for the lake Mead area. I had had plans to go to the Valley of Fire and cruise around lake Mead and maybe even go and see Hoover Dam. Well, it took me nearly all day to get to the area and this was while driving 80+ mph. Sights are few and far in between in Nevada. And another thing I learned. If the highway passes through a small town and that small town has any place where someone could buy something then the speed limit will abruptly drop to 25 mph for at least 5 miles. You barely have any warning at all. One 'reduced speed ahead' sign, usually only about 300 ft from where this actually happens. If you're ever driving across Nevada and see this sign, just stomp on the brakes. The highway patrol is waiting right behind the next sign. The funny thing is, when the speed zone ends, it just doesn't jump back up to 70 mph. it goes from 25 to 35 to 45 to 55 to 70. Seems like this should be at the start of the speed zone, not the end.

Well I finally made it to the Valley of Fire around 4pm. Enough time for me to have a look around and try and pick a few things out that might make for some interesting pictures. I was pretty impressed by this area. The colors of the sandstone canyons are a bright orange-red color and really sculpted by the wind. There are little caves and windows all over the rocks. It's a really pretty place. The colors were at their brightest near sunset, but unfortunately most everything was is the shade at that point. Perhaps sunrise is a better time to be here. I did find a place or two to get a good picture though. I think that with more time, I could have done better but I wanted to make it to Utah before it got too late.

There are also several areas of ancient pictographs through the area.

I blew off lake Mead and Hoover dam, they're close enough to Las Vegas that I can easily come back. So I hopped on I-15 where you can safely do 85+ mph and headed for Utah. I crossed about 30 miles of Arizona on they way through and then made it to Snow Valley Utah around 10pm (mountain time). I had some time so I dragged out the cooking gear and made something to eat. It was really hot and I had planned to stay outside but there was a swarm of bugs so I ended up staying in the car yet again.