My Real Vegas

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Visit Vanabode how to happily camp, travel and live forever on $20 a day

Vanabode camp and live forever on $20 a day

Vanabode – camp, travel and live forever on $20 a day including Vegas! Yes that’s right my new eBook has launched and now I am revelaing all the travel secrets my wife and I have used to travel and live all over the United States without a typical job or steady income. Super fun with hundreds of pictures of facinating places including big cities like San Francisco and Las Veagas as well as the rugged outdoors like Glacier National Park or Yellowstone or the sweet sandy beaches of Florida.

camp travel and live forever on $20 day

Crystal Nevada Scenic Drive

We wanted to explore the mountain ranges between Pahrump Nevada and what I call the top side of Vegas. We took highway 160 which runs from Las Vegas where it is called Blue Diamond, all the way though fantastic mountain ranges, desert prairies, and hilly rock outcrops. There are hundreds of places to pull off the main roads and take either dirt and rock gravel roads up in to the outback or simply hike if from the roadside. There is very little traffic out here and the overall feeling is always that you have it to yourself. Crystal Nevada is about 5 miles off 160. There is absolutely nothing in Crystal except 3 broken down, dirty looking brothels and a hundred or so trailers and houses strewn in the desert. Beautiful property but this is no true city. We finished the drive by going full circle, dead ending into 95 and heading in to Vegas from the top side. I recommmed pretty much anywhere along this 110 minute drive to hike, camp, or sight see. There are concentrations of wild burros in the area. Between Pahrump and Las Vegas on this route there are no services whatsoever and spotty cell phone connectivity.

Mt. Potosi seen from Las Vegas

Instead of the doing the usual for Valentine’s Day my husband and I hiked Potosi Mountain. Potosi Mtn. is about 25 miles west of the Silverton Hotel and Casino. Potosi Mtn. is known best for the 1942 plane crash that was carrying Carol Lombard as well as some other passengers. Some of the wreckage is still laying around too. Because it had just snowed the night before and our van is heavy and we don’t have nobby tires we parked right off of Highway 160 (Blue Diamond) and started walking. The ground, the plants, and the trees were heavy with snow and it was beautiful. The sky was blue and the temperature was perfect for our 3 mile ascent. Mt. Potosi topography is complex and surrounded by limestone cliffs. There are a number of mines and shelter caves. There is a two mile section of the road that is private property which was awkward when we were told that we were walking on private property and there were no trespassing signs on every other tree. However, if you keep a very low profile you shouldn’t get harassed too much but keep your vehicle moving. Eventually you will get to BLM land where there are other parking areas. The views at the peak are excellent. There is a lot to explore on Mt. Potosi and the total hike to the wreckage and back is 9 miles as well as being a category 4 in difficulty. We did not hike the entire 6+ hours but in the spring we are planning to return. I would like to see some big horn sheep next time.

Joshua Tree National Forest from Vegas

When staying in Vegas long term sometimes you want a break from the casino scene. This awesome cheap to camp in park is only 4 hours from Vegas. We traveled west on I-15 in November of 2008 and then exited on Cima Road in California. I love to take back roads every chance I get. This is the boundary for the Mojave National Preserve and the trees here in the preserve were massive and there were thousands of them. Awesome roadside hiking. All free. For more info check out the pictures and travel notes on Joshua Tree National Park. The sites we witnessed were unforgettable.

Huge Joshua Tree pictured is over 400 years old. You have got to see these plants thriving in such a harsh climate out in the middle of the wild deserts!