Bo's Journal #11-Hoover Dam, Riolite, Las Vegas

I was excited that we were going to see Jane and Max. He has been a buddy of mine for a very long time and even though he is a black lab and not blessed to be a ‘cinnamon’ lab like me he is still about the most fun guy I know. Jane has a new home outside of Las Vegas and we all wanted to go sniff and smell it. First we had to stop and establish a site in a campground in the Lake Mead Recreation area so we would have a little quiet away from all the bright lights.

Next day we traveled over to see one of the modern marvels of the world – Hoover Dam. Again, I couldn’t get out and wander around, but hey that was okay because it’s really just a lot of concrete to me. The Ladies really seemed to enjoy the tour and the views and I enjoyed the lunch when they got back.






We called Jane and arranged to drive to her house and do a few things over the next few days. The Ladies would take off and Max and I would stay in that nice new house and rest and play. It was great. Cokie and Kae didn’t get to see as much of The Strip as they said they wanted so I know we will be coming back this way in the future. After a good visit we started heading for California and Nevada City to spend some time doing business, doctoring, hair cuts and some minor vet stuff for me; nothing serious, just a tumor/wart thing on an eyelid that is sort of annoying.

Bellagio, Las Vegas



Ever westward. We ended the day in the area of Pahrump, (weird, weird name), at a neat campground with a western theme, a little casino, a lake, green lawns, wagons and the funniest horses I had ever seen. They were big – like regular size - but shiny all over and they never, ever moved, even if you came up real close and barked or growled!

Now we were all anxious to get back ‘home’ but we also wanted to visit the old ghost town of Ryolite near Beatty. The old town just sits out there returning to nature inch by inch. It was abandoned in 1907 but there are still interesting structures to see and smell, like the little old house made of hundreds of bottles. I had a good run there and the history of the place seemed to just rise up and fill the air. For you history buffs, it was the area, along with the town of Bullfrog, in which the Great Silver Baron – William Morris Stewart – spent his final years. He was a power to be reckoned with in the early politics of Nevada and gold and silver mining era.





Jane had shown us an article about some sculptures out in the desert near Ryolite that were actually being painted and restored by a group of hardy women volunteers. It is known as the Goldwell Open Air Museum and was started by Belgian artist Albert Szukalski in 1984. Other Belgian artists later added their creations to the desert landscape. It all seemed so strange and peculiar and so needing to be photographed.





We made a mad dash up hwy. 95 to take advantage of a weather break over the mountains into Yosemite National Park so we really didn’t stop anywhere else in Nevada. Our next stop will be California.