12 Aug 2023 - Lake Mead Area and Boulder City

 

Today we headed east out of North Las Vegas on a sight seeing trip to Lake Mead.  Our route was on Hwy 147 which is Lake Mead Blvd, through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and along the west side of Lake Mead down to Boulder City for lunch.  The drive was interesting but very non-descript.  Lots of rocks.  Lots of sand.  Not much vegetation.  

We entered the National Recreation Area using our National Park Pass and continued along the route, stopping at a few overlooks.  This is from the Three Island Overlook.  It is amazing that Lake Mead has dried up so much that there 'islands' are now literally desert islands.  

We continued down the road past the closed fish hatchery and turned into the Boulder Beach area.  The water has receded so much that the beach is a long ways from the water and the buildings are a long ways from the beach.  It looks abandoned.  

The defunct fish hatchery

Lake Mead in the distance

These pictures really tell the tale.  The same whitish discoloration we saw near the Hoover Dam we are seeing here.  That used to be the water level, according to our guide.  

Leaving the Boulder 'beach', we headed into the town of Boulder City and found Coffee Cup Cafe, which came highly recommended!  They feature home cooking and an awesome Bloody Mary drink using their own homemade mix!  This restaurant was featured on the Food Network show 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives',   There was a waiting list when we arrived but we were seated quickly and served quickly also,

An old style diner!

Doreen had a BLT and I had a Southwest Chicken Sandwich.  The food was awesome and so was the Bloody!

After lunch we headed back to the campground and took care of a few tasks including greasing the suspension and repairing a faulty tank sensor.  Not so exciting, but necessary..

Tomorrow is our last day here before we move on to Bryce Zion Campground.  That stop is in between Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.  We also plan to visit the north rim of the Grand Canyon from there.