The first weekend in April, we decided to take our family to the Valley of Fire. We left a little late on Friday night so by the time we got there it was dark and we were tired. The campsites were all full in Valley of Fire so we decided to keep driving since Overton was only a few miles away. We saw some trailers/RVs parked off the road so we pulled over, threw up the tent trailer, and went to sleep. By this time it was pitch black and close to midnight. When we woke up the Saturday morning, Byron counted 37 trailers/RVs that looked like they had been there for quite some time. Yep, we woke up in Nevada's version of a Tent City (which happened to be on BLM property). So we quickly closed up camp and decided to find an actual campsite before we did anything else that day. Since Valley of Fire was booked through the weekend, we were directed to Echo Bay by Lake Mead, only about 14 miles away from Valley of Fire. So we went, set up camp, had lunch, and went on our merry way. Nikki was determined to see some of the sites in Valley of Fire. 
Our first stop was the Beehives. These are large rocks that have been eroded and wind beaten in a way that they create shapes looking similar to beehives. The family picture above was taken there. Elizabeth had so much fun climbing and hiking through all the nooks and crannies.
From there we went to Atlatl Rock. You have to climb this huge flight of stairs (see below) to go up and see petroglyphs made by Indian tribes long ago. It's called Atlatl Rock because there are petroglyphs of the atlatl, the pre-cursor to the bow and arrow. It was neat to be there when we were because there was an Atlatl convention going on so we actually saw people throwing these spears with a little hook that it rests on and you hold. It was a lot of fun. Behind Elizabeth you can see some petroglyphs.
After Atlatl Rock, we went to Rainbow Vista. It's beautiful to see all the different colors on the rocks. The pictures don't do it justice.
We did one hike after this that we only took one picture of. It was Silica Dome. We didn't get very far on the hike because it was like walking through beach sand. All the walls around and the sand were white. A lot of the rocks had this almost spider-web look to it. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see it on the rock that the girls are sitting on. Also, notice how big Victoria is compared to Elizabeth! :) We learned that quite a few movies were filmed there and that some of the set of the 1970's (?) movie The Professionals is still there along that hike. It got to steep to take the kids so we didn't make it the whole way, but the hike was nice (good exercise to). 
Next we went to a look out point where you can see the difference of where the rust in the rock is showing, and where the white silica is more dominant. It's almost a straight line that cuts the valley in half. It was amazing to see.
Last, we hiked a trail to Mouse's Tank. On the trail, there are all kinds of petroglyphs all over the sides of the hills. You just have to pay attention or you will miss them. At the end of the trail there is a basin where water collects and stores for months at a time. Mouse's tank is named after a renegade Indian who hid out in the are around the basin. The hike was pretty easy, which was good because it was getting toward the end of the day and we were tired. You can see Byron climbing one of the walls that has all these little hiding places behind the flat front of rock. The other picture is of Elizabeth trying to climb and hike on everything she could. Below is a sweet image of Victoria. Don't worry...Byron is behind her holding on tight (you can see his hat and shoulder).
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