Tuesday, October 8 Through Friday, October 11, 2019
The route from Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley National Park to Las Vegas Nevada was chosen to keep scary mountain driving to a minimum. We left the same way we came into Death Valley because it was a known quantity – California’s Daylight Pass Road and NV-374 toward Beatty Nevada and US-95. The road isn’t all that scary compared to other roads in and out of Death Valley National Park. Daylight Pass is only 4,317 feet elevation.
The rest of the way was mainly US-95 south into Las Vegas.
Seeing what looked like a truck stop, we turned right, off the highway, only to discover that the truck stop was closed. Then almost by magic, we turned out heads to the right and discovered a rest stop. Right there in the desert.
There didn’t appear to be any parking for RV’s or other large vehicles. The only solution was to park the camper in a large gravel area to the side of the rest area.
In the picture above, the truck is parked to the left behind a a stand of trees.
The actual restrooms were a different. Each of the above small buildings has a single person men’s and women’s bathroom.
It was nice to be able to walk the dogs at a rest stop with few burs to get caught in their paws.
Following Apple Maps directions we found the Las Vegas KOA at Sam’s Town without incident. Linda went into the office to check in. She came back with the park map in her hand and a placard for the Jeep. I was surprised when she told me we had to go to another location.
There is only one KOA but it has two locations that are within a 15 minute brisk walk of each other. The campground map shows two locations but doesn’t show how people or their RVs go from one to the other. The above map of the Sam’s Town area shows the primary KOA location where we landed and the secondary location where we needed to go. A few turns and a number of stoplights and we arrived. Since we were already checked in, we went straight to our campsite.
The patio campsite was long enough for large class A motorhomes with towed vehicles behind them. Large rigs with slides fit side to side but not as neatly as we do. Some of our curbside neighbors’ slides crowded our patio area.
We setup our campsite by putting out all of our portable dog fences. The propane gas stoves went on the park’s table. After stacking the park’s chairs, I put out our cheap Amazon’s best zero-gravity folding chairs. Next, the portable dog kennel came out. The dogs were in heaven.
Since we were wearing our last set of clean clothes, we headed off to the park’s laundromat with bags of dirty clothes.
The laundromat had more machines than usual and they all seemed to be in working order. We filled up five machines. An hour and a half later, laundry was done.
While waiting for the washing machines to finish, I went around the corner to inspect the bathrooms. The bathrooms were especially nice for a KOA.
The showers were larger than average and clean. It is always nice to have a stable wide place to sit when dressing after a shower.
That evening, we drove over to Sam’s Town to eat dinner at a nice restaurant.
This is Las Vegas. Sam’s Town is built around a casino.
Linda got us reservations at The Angry Butcher Steakhouse. She made sure they didn’t have a dinner dress code.
This upscale restaurant is lovely. While there wasn’t a dress code, we did find ourselves under dressed.
Next time we go, I’ll wear a polo shirt instead of a t-shirt. That should be dressy enough.
We both ordered filet steaks. We also ordered side dishes of creamed corn and creamed spinach. Everything is a la carte.
The meal was superb. I got Chocolate Cake to go for desert to eat the following day. It is pricey but for a special date night out, definitely good value.
On the way back to the parking lot, I saw the Guest Shuttle Stop. The free shuttle is available Sam’s Town KOA campers. It was tempting to go explore some of the more well known casinos in Las Vegas but I never got around to it.
Early the next morning, I took Linda to the airport. She had appointments in San Antonio and would be back late the next day. On the way back to the campground, I caught the sun rising at a stoplight.
That evening, I stopped in at the food court inside Sam’s Town. At McDonald’s, a McFlurry.
Dog Park
The dogs liked being at this campground. There was plenty of good off-leash space for them to run around in. Here are two large dog parks sharing a common fence line.
In addition to the bathrooms in the main building where the laundromat was, another building toward the back of the park had a number of unisex bathroom with shower rooms.
The campground isn’t in the best of neighborhoods. The first night, the dogs and I were caught in a police helicopter’s search light. The last night, Linda heard a police officer using a cruiser’s PA system to order a man to lay face down on the sidewalk. The man wasn’t complying because the officer needed to repeat himself over and over again.
Some of the apartments across the street from the entrance were advertising low prices and weekly rates. Razor wire topped the perimeter fences.
Somehow I had it in my head that the only RV park in Las Vegas was the one at Circus Circus. Obviously this isn’t true as we were staying in a KOA RV park.
The Las Vegas RV Resort is next door to the KOA. It seems like a reasonable alternative to the KOA.
I took the above picture over the fence between the KOA and the neighboring park. Looks like a nice place. As nice as the KOA.
There is a Walmart within walking distance from the campground. The Walmart is on the other side of Sam’s Town.
I would stay in the park again.
Hope to see you on the road ahead!