Five days at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada…
Getting there…
A week earlier, we broke the trailer’s front stabilizers while setting up at Valley of Fire State Park. The only place that could get us in was on Sahara Street smack in the middle of Las Vegas. Towing our home on the busy four-lane highway with Vegas’ crazy drivers zipping back and forth caused us to sweat more than when we hike! It was freaky pulling our rig into the bowels of Vegas with barbed wire fences and barred doors…at one corner, we craned our necks straight up at the Stratosphere. But they were able to fix us up with new stabilizers in a few hours while we had a quick lunch and ran a few errands. Then we headed north to Nellis Air Force Base. After the day’s rough start, we were thankful to be set up and relaxing as the sun went down.
Las Vegas traffic…YUCK!
Why we came…
The Nellis Air Force Base Fam Camp is well reviewed and we wanted to check it out. While there we were able to restock supplies that are cheaper to buy on base. We looked forward to having a good Thanksgiving meal served at the military dining facility. We planned to do a little geocaching north of Vegas. And we hoped to meet with a few old friends.
The campground…
The Nellis Air Force Base campground is well liked and for good reason. But there are older sites and newer sites and the quality of stay would vary between the two.
We were in the older section. The sites are laid out in a wagon wheel style where the RVs park head to toe around the edge (i.e. the RVs are the hub). It’s awkward getting in and out, especially if someone is parked on either side. And like most older campsites, they are small for today’s gargantuan RVs (at 30 feet, we are smaller than average).
The new sites are HUGE wagon wheels with VERY large back-in sites and pull-through sites oriented like spokes on the wagon wheel. Some of the sites are over a hundred feet long. Amazingly, some of the snowbirds used all 100+ feet! Speaking of snowbirds, they make reservations six months in advance to ensure they have priority that gives them a good shot at those sweet sites.
Most sites have full hook-ups. Satellite would be blocked by trees in a few sites, but is good from most of them. Wi-fi was good, and with multiple antennas, should be good throughout the large park. There were two decent laundry facilities. A nice walking trail circled most of the park with multiple trash cans and dog poop bag stations…it was the nicest trail we have seen in a campground! Noise was abundant…some of it welcomed and some not: revelie every morning, retreat and the national anthem every afternoon, horns from a couple of trains each day, the distant roar of a race track, and the ground-shaking roar of fighter jets. We were comfortable and liked being close to the base facilities, but would only visit again for a short period. We would also make reservations further in advance in an effort to get one of the new sweet sites.
The old wagon wheel sites where the RVs are the hubs
The new wagon wheel sites where the RV sites are the spokes
Thanksgiving…
We enjoy holiday meals served at military dining facilities. Some of the most impressive spreads we have seen were overseas. When you’re far from friends and family and your holiday options are limited, it’s nice that folks pull together and take care of each other. We have fond memories of being served from huge buffets by the base’s leaders. Many overseas folks worked their tails off to provide a feast in a festive atmosphere and it was much appreciated! Though stateside military dining facilities have smaller spreads, it’s still good and it’s still much appreciated…thanks!
Thanksgiving at the Crosswinds Dining Facility at Nellis Air Force Base
Geocaching…
While in Valley of Fire, we had picked up a travel bug from Norway that wanted to get to Area 51 in Nevada. As luck would have it, we had planned to do some geocaching north of Vegas and figured we could get it much closer to its goal. We hopped on highway 93 and headed north towards Alamo. We found three caches in two different stops and hiked 5 or 6 miles in total peace in the desert. We left the alien travel bug from Norway in a cache just 25 miles south of the “Extraterrestrial Highway”. We posted a couple of pictures in our geocache log and shortly after, received an excited “thank you” from our new friend in Norway…it was really cool! Not only did we have a nice day, but we made somebody else's day half way across the world!
The alien travel bug is from Norway and trying to make it to Area 51 / Arleen standing on the rocks near a cache
Signing a geocache log
Meeting an old friend…
We had hoped to catch up with a couple of old friends, but just managed to meet with one.
I was stationed with Brandon in Germany 7 or 8 years ago. He has continued to do good things for the U.S. Air Force…the military is better with him in it and we are all safer because of it!
We met Brandon and his wife, Nathalie, at their favorite Greek restaurant on the northwest side of Las Vegas. They are very excited to welcome their first child anytime. We hung out in the restaurant and talked for about 3 hours…it was great! Hopefully we see them a couple of more times this winter.
Germany, early 2006 / Las Vegas, November 2013
Next…
We send this from Lake Mead RV Village at Boulder Beach. The beautiful shimmering blue water of Lake Mead is visible from most of our windows and life is great! We may spend most of the winter here…stay tuned.
Parting Shots…
The United State Air Force Thunderbirds call Nellis AFB their home…their spectacular show is a “must see”!
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