Classes discovered from Nevada’s Valley of Fireplace State Park | Such a Positive Sight to See | Thetribune

There are classes to be discovered at any age, and sure — you may educate an outdated canine new methods! Listed below are just a few classes discovered from a hot-mess sojourn to Valley of Fireplace State Park in southern Nevada.

In October my husband, Ron, and I (and naturally our doggy, Gracie) spent an incredible two weeks tenting, climbing and sightseeing in Utah. Extra about that subsequent month. On the finish of our journey we visited our son and daughter-in-law in Las Vegas. I had heard a few Nevada state park an hour or so from Las Vegas that I made a decision was price a aspect journey. Right here is the story, and oh yeah — don’t go there!

Valley of Fireplace is a state park that doesn’t settle for reservations for its campground, so it’s first-come, first-served solely. I ought to have listened to the warning bell from my inside voice, however – noooo …

We made plans to reach on a Sunday early within the afternoon. Previous to our journey, I talked to a really good park worker who assured me we shouldn’t have any hassle getting a campsite on the scenic boulder-strewn campground.

Listed below are the teachings:

1. All the time make reservations when tenting, so you may be assured of getting a campsite when you arrive at your vacation spot. We left Escalante, Utah with excessive hopes for what lay forward. Alas, the climate turned nasty, and we needed to go over a mountain go to get into Nevada. You guessed it — we ran smack dab right into a blizzard that bought worse as we ascended the two-lane freeway. As we neared the summit, vehicles and vehicles got here to a standstill, spinning helplessly on the ice. Just a few semis had slid off the highway, partially blocking it. We have been pulling a 27-foot trailer, and this was darned scary! We popped the truck into four-wheel drive to maneuver the go, however what had began out as a brief jaunt from Utah into Nevada, ended up being an extended slog over treacherous roadways.

We lastly arrived on the entrance gate of Valley of Fireplace State Park. “Are there any campsites left?” we requested the attendant. He was obscure and noncommittal, which ought to have been an enormous purple flag, however he took our entry price of $15 money. We made a beeline for the campground. You understand the remainder. We weren’t the one ones cruising for a vacant website. There have been none available and the campground host was nowhere to be discovered.

This debacle was unfolding after an extended, harrowing day of driving, and tempers within the truck have been getting hotter than a pepper sprout, if you understand what I imply. Again to the entry gate, the place I urged to the dim attendant that the unused group campground ought to be opened for overflow tenting. No go, however we have been advised that each one we needed to do was fill out an internet kind and we’d get our $15 again.

2. Have a backup plan. OK, we had no place to camp, had paid $15 for nothing, and needed to flip the truck and trailer round on a dime to drive by means of the park and out the opposite aspect. Fortunately I had completed my homework, and we rapidly discovered a campsite an hour away at Echo Bay on the shores of Lake Mead. Did we return to Valley of Fireplace the following day to pay one other $15 to go to the park? No method! I used to be completed with coping with park employees that have been uninformed, fake well mannered and unwilling to make any wise allowances to suppose a bit outdoors the field.

So on to Plan B: We stayed at Echo Bay RV park, and had a beautiful time exploring Lake Mead.

3. Don’t pay with money: You should have no document of your transactions. As soon as we bought dwelling I used to be on a mission to get my $15 entrance price refunded. After innumerable emails, I used to be given contact data for the park superintendent. Lastly, I believed, somebody who would take heed to my story of woe and make it proper. Fallacious! “You could have a receipt on your entry price,” he mentioned. My response: “My non-existent receipt is with my non-existent campsite.” I advised him to take a look at their safety digicam footage from that day to view a really sad couple in a pickup truck hauling a trailer as they went out and in and again by means of the entry gate. Did he suppose I made this story up? Would somebody make that up for a awful 15 bucks?

4. Perseverance doesn’t at all times work. However generally it does. We’ve all been in conditions the place we have now handled a forms (on this case the Nevada state park system) that isn’t intent upon drawback fixing or buyer satisfaction. I believe the park superintendent was simply ready for me to wear down and go away. (Hope he sees this column!). I perceive that Valley of Fireplace goes to a reservation system for the campground beginning in 2023. Properly, I gained’t be returning there which is simply too unhealthy, because the park will get rave critiques for surroundings.

Ron and I’ve vowed that we are going to by no means once more journey with out in a single day reservations. It eliminates spontaneity, however not less than we all know the place we’ll land, and stress will likely be minimized. Be versatile and have a backup plan — simply in case. Use a bank card, which can doc your purchases. Don’t quit, however bear in mind that generally the very best intentions go unrewarded. I’m nonetheless ready for that refund …

Libby Kinder is a contract author and retired scientific psychological well being counselor. She and her husband have lived in southwest Colorado Springs since 2003. Contact Libby with feedback and journey concepts at eakinder62@gmail.com.