"Right Back Where They Started From"

Just a little 277 mile jaunt from Pahrump, Nevada, to Bakersfield, CA.  We left Pahrump this morning with a cup of Irene's Off 160 coffee in our hands and headed for Shoshone, CA.  After dancing around the edges of Death Valley, we arrived in Baker, picked up I15 and headed for Barstow.  The rest of the trip was cake on Hwy 58 straight west into Bakersfield. We were going to stop in Tehachapi at a little rv park we've stayed at in the past, but we wanted to get another 40 miles done today.  We're at River Run RV Park, a nice, well kept park, with lots of grass between spaces, and concrete or gravel to park on.  The only drawback is the noise.  The park is very close to Hwy 99, which is one of the two major north-south routes through Cali.

The park has a nice patio with a gas grill available for guests, and we did some 'burgers on it this evening.  There is a nice trail along the (dry) river that can be accessed by guests as well, and some nice lighting.

If you look closely at about mid-pic, you can see tail-lights on cars on the freeway.  I guess $39 a night gets you the opportunity to count cars instead of sheep.  6,277....6,278...6,279....oops.

We're happy to be heading home, even though the weather in Nevada and Arizona is finally warming up...the day we leave, of course.  We'll be home soon.

A Good Day

The weather today was absolutely perfect in Pahrump.  We spent most of the day just relaxing in the sun on the patio and reading.  Of course there were a few snacks and such tossed about.  A really good day.

This afternoon about 3 we went into downtown and completed a few errands.  Then we enjoyed our last meal for awhile at the Pahrump Nugget.  Gonna miss those 2 for 1 dinners!  At 6, the entertainment started at the Off 160 Coffee House, so we stopped by to have a cup and listen to some cool jazz and blues.  The performers were local people with day jobs who love to entertain and do a wonderful job.  "Mellow Mike Hickey", the guy in the hat, had a great voice and did a great job even with a bit of a head cold. He is a local realtor.  We were hoping to see the guy who plays the spoons; "Bones" has a selection of wooden spoons and is said to be fantastic, but he didn't make it to the shop last night. Devan, I have some video for you.

We will miss the conversation and camaraderie we enjoyed at the Off 160.  If you're ever in Pahrump, stop in and say hello to the lady who owns the place, Irene:

Don't despair, she was cleaning the kitchen when I asked for a picture.  She doesn't use those gloves to make the coffee!

That Kind of Day

It was that kind of day:

The wind blew at a pretty good clip all day today, easing up just after dark.  We spent most of the morning with our coffee and books while Pris threw us a look every now and then; when she could be bothered, that is....

We went into town about noon for some groceries and a stop at the gas station.  The price of diesel has been stable for weeks, but we noticed a slight increase today and decided to top off the tanks before we get on the road in a couple of days.  There is a grocery store chain in Arizona and Nevada called Smiths, and like so many grocery stores these days, they sell gas.  Their prices today were about 10 to 15 cents less than the other stations in town, at 3.99 for diesel, so we went for it.  While at the station, I talked to a fellow who had just driven in from Cali, and told me that diesel was 4.50 there.  I hope that's not true, but I suspect it is.  Welcome to California as the sign says.

We spent the afternoon and evening at a neighbors motorhome.  They have recently purchased it and wanted to show it off. The guy was a banker before he retired, so now I know how he can afford such a rig!  Sorry, I should have said "Motor Coach". Nice  coach and nice people from Boise, Idaho.

Cleaning Day

Today dawned absolutely perfect, if just a bit cool.  The wind that we so enjoyed the last two days is gone, the sun is out, and the temps are projected to rise over the next few days.  Almost all of the people in the rv park were out walking around the lake, both with and without canine friends.  The high today in Pahrump was 60 by the local bank sign, but felt like 80 after the cold wind that's been blowing!

Donna decided that today was cleaning day for the trailer, and went to work with a vengeance. Vacuuming, dusting, windows and mirrors were all fair game.  The bathroom received a great deal of attention as well.  I fit in and around her work as best I could given my limited skills in this area (!). But I'm learning.  We can clean the trailer in an hour, with a deep clean in about 2 hours.  Sure beats cleaning a sticks and bricks house.

As Donna was finishing up, I completed some chores outside.  The lug nuts on the wheels on both the trailer and the truck needed to be torqued and the tire pressure needed to be checked.  I found that several lug nuts needed to be tightened and all but one of the 8 tires needed a bit of air.  I use a Viair 12 volt air compressor that pumps up to 110+ psi to keep the trailer tires at max pressure. Considering the weight we're carrying, we need all the capacity we can get. While I was checking the wheels, I crawled under the trailer and noticed that the Mor-ryde rubber suspension is beginning to fail.  There are large pieces of rubber that act in shear to reduce suspension movement.  Both pieces (one on each side) are cracking across the bottom, indicating eventual failure.  I'll have to replace them soon.  While under the truck, I noticed that one of the rear axle oil seals has failed, spitting oil all over the inside of the wheel and the brake assembly.  I'm sure that the brakes are working at a reduced level, but we're not in an area where repairs can be made easily, so we'll limp on home, hoping for the best.

Late this afternoon we decided to go into town for dinner after a long, hard day of "housework".  We had dinner at Mom's and I must say that while the food was good, it wasn't "like Mom made it".  We did find out that the desserts were very good by talking to some of the other customers, so we ordered a couple of pieces of pie to go.

Donna had a piece of bread pudding with brandy sauce:

While I ordered a piece of peanut butter pie....















Oh, My, Goodness!!!

On the way "home" with our edible treasures, we stopped again at the Off 160 Coffee House for a warm cup of coffee.  The owner, Irene, told us that she usually has live entertainment during the week, but her "Monday" had not shown up.  Instead, like all good business people, she had a backup plan of Ray Charles CDs. The "stereo" system she was using appeared to be a mishmash of salvaged pieces of equipment and speakers, but it had the most mellow tone and fit the lamplit comfortable atmosphere of the shop perfectly.  We felt like we were in a warm living room, talking and listening to Mr Ray do his thing.  What a perfect evening!

Drivers and.......Danica?

Sunday dawned cold and windy.  The gust were clocked at 30+ by the local weather, so we decided to stay in and do something we've never done before: watch an entire Nascar racing event from start to finish.  The hype today was all about Danica Patrick and her number 1 position at the start of the Daytona 500. While Donna and I were rooting for her, the amount of talent and experience in the field did not give us much confidence, and in fact, on the last lap of the race, her inexperience led her to a bad track position and the field drove right past her.  She went from 3rd to 8th in seconds.

With just seconds to go, Danica was in 3rd place as you can see in the pic above where she's driving the green GoDaddy car.  We were hopeful that she would finish "on the podium", but no such luck. Danica ran a good race today, and given her penchant for crashing into things, she ran a conservative and safe race.  I believe she earned some respect today, and will continue to perform well in the sport.

The race was over about 2:30pm Pacific Time, so we took Pris for a brief walk and then drove into town for a cup of coffee at Off 160, our favorite coffee house.  A quick 2 for 1 dinner at the Nugget and back home to watch the incredibly narcissistic Academy Awards.  Good on "Lincoln", but who's "Pi"?

The wind has stopped this evening, and it's crisp and cold outside.  The promise is for good weather tomorrow, and if so, we'll get out and about.  Today's wind made us want to just hunker down and hide inside.

A Tough Assignment Today

With the forecast of increasing winds for this afternoon and into tomorrow, we chose to take on one of the most challenging assignments of our stay in Pahrump:  finding out which restaurant had the best Saturday night dinner for the lowest price.

We started with the local Mom and Pop places, but they didn't offer much of a deal.  One place, Mom's, has the slogan "The food is so good you'll think we stole your Mama", and does indeed provide an extensive menu, but the storefront location was a little tacky.  We checked out the menu for dinner at the Kountry Kitchen, the place we ate lunch the other day, but the prices were too high. So what's left? The casinos, of course.

We started at the Lakeside, because it's close to where we're staying.  The special tonight was Prime Rib for 10.99.  Not too bad, but we'd been in there before for a late dessert one night, and found the restaurant to be too close to the smokey casino area, so we decided to keep looking.

Our next stop was the Gold Town casino.

The dinner was Prime Rib (is this a pattern for Saturday night?), but the price was 13.99 each and the hostess was on her way to taking the customer service is wonderful class, because she had evidently failed the class the first time around.  On we trudged, confident that somewhere in this town a decent meal could be had for a reasonable price.

We happened on the Pahrump Nugget:

Now it's hard to find these casinos in Nevada.  The lights and signs are pretty small and really hard to see.  It may be my old eyes, but I began to think that they had all closed.....Ha.

When we were in the Off 160 coffee house yesterday, we talked to "Jack", a local of some 25 years who told us that if we could make our way to the Nugget we would be thankful, so we determined to find the casino and then the restaurant.

We found the Saturday buffet and started to read the menu.  Donna pointed out that the Saturday special was Prime Rib for 10.99, but for seniors the price was only 7.99.  Now we're talking!  Then we say that if you signed up for casino promotions the meals were two for one (at regular price).  Wow, two prime rib dinners for less than 12 bucks total, including tax and sodas.  Yeah!

So after a long and exhausting afternoon of detective work, we were able to find a great deal on dinner.  The Prime Rib was wonderful, and as you can see above, Donna got the end cut that she prefers and I was able to get the rare piece I prefer.  Of course, the desserts were pretty good too!

Happy Birthday, Hanna!

Today is the 14th birthday of our granddaughter Hanna. Hanna has so grown up in the last year that Donna and I are amazed she is the same crazy little girl that we used to know.

Hanna has been attending a Waldorf school for the last 8 years, and plans to continue her high school education in a Waldorf  high school starting next year.  She works very hard at being a good student, and has made us all so proud of her. The Waldorf style has been extremely good for Hanna and her brother Devan, and we know that Hanna will excel over the next four years. I've got to admit that I was skeptical about the non-traditional education protocol, but these young people have so benefited from it that I have had to change my mind.  Even us old dogs can be taught....eventually...

A few years ago, Hanna scared me.  When she was much younger, she had a look that she would throw at us when she was unhappy that would melt titanium.  We fully expected her to undergo exorcism.  They make movies about what this girl would do. When she would look at an open loaf of bread, it would wrap itself and put the plastic clip on just out of fear. The dogs refused to do their business if she took them for a walk.  Her bicycle tires instantly went flat when she wanted to ride.   But we loved her.

And then....

Hanna is the sweetest, most loveable girl.  She will do anything to help anyone in her life, and is helpful, considerate, and thorough.  She has a large circle of friends and is loved by all.  For Christmas 2011, Hanna (with a little help from her Grammy) worked her fingers to the bone for weeks sewing pajamas for every member of the family.  I don't know who enjoyed the experience the most, but I can tell you that Hanna's Grammy will treasure the memory forever.  Thank you, Hanna.

Happy Birthday, Hanna!

Shootout on the I-15

When we got up this morning the news was all about shootings and car crashes in Las Vegas. Apparently the drivers of a new, black, tricked Range Rover and a Maserati got into a tiff, and shots were fired. As usual, innocent people were killed. Pris and I noticed multiple 'choppers and an increased law enforcement presence in our area, so Donna and I decided to vacate.

As we traveled up the I-15 toward Tropicana Blvd, traffic stopped cold as police scanned all vehicles in the area of the incident.  When we finally got through the mess and out of town, we remarked about what seems to be a typical Vegas syndrome:  a combination of lots of money, possible alcohol or drugs, and a loss of touch with reality in a city that never sleeps leads to irrational behavior.  Ok, enough of the lecture.  I like the bright lights as well as anyone, but the environment still makes me a bit uncomfortable.

After a short hop to Pahrump, NV, 86 miles or so, we settled into the RV park at the Lakeside Casino.  I know, I know, it seems like we're always at the casino, but this is another of the "scores" that we made in Quartzsite a month ago, with a substantial discount at a nice park.  There is a lake, with walking trails, nice grassy areas, and trees, with concrete at the rv spaces.

We've decided to stay here for several days.  There are several things that need to be checked, tightened, or repaired on the truck and trailer, so this is a perfect place to do those minor items. Also, we've been anticipating a few days to read, relax and decompress before returning home, so we'll get to do that also.

This afternoon, we got a little hungry (noooo, that can't be possible, can it?), so we drove into downtown metropolitan Pahrump to find the Kountry Kitchen restaurant.  Finally found it and ordered a couple of hamburgers.  Donna ordered a Cowboy, (that's a hamburger, dummy), which had bacon without cheese, and I ordered a Chicago, which was like a Chicago hot dog: sliced tomato, chopped fresh onions, and such.  Wow, makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

On the way home, we stopped at a local coffee hangout, the Off 160, because it's just "off" Nevada Hwy 160.

Donna ordered just a plain cup of coffee (bottom pic), but then juiced it up with hot milk and caramel. She pronounced it the best caramel latte she had ever had!  My Mocha came drizzled with chocolate and was absolutely wonderful!  I suspect that we'll return again.  The owner (nice lady) works from 6 am to 9 pm 6 days a week, and 9 to 5 on Sunday.  What a schedule!

The interior of the coffee shop is a collection of random furniture and chairs, but has a great homey feel.  5 nights a week there is live music.  A great place.

We returned to the trailer to get a pic of the sunset over the lake.

An Awesome Sight

After a night of wind and rain, the day dawned warm and with only "Microsoft" clouds, so we hopped into the truck and headed for Hoover Dam and the Memorial Bridge.  I was not entirely correct when I named the bridge the Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge yesterday, as I was reading the sign as I passed at 60 per, but today we got a closer look and here's the official name:

My apologies to the family of the former Governor of the state of Nevada.  Mr. O'Callaghan was a boxer in his younger days, and so I don't want any trouble with him.....

We climbed a trail/path to the bridge from a parking lot,

and marveled at the engineering and construction work that went into the project.

The longest columns are 290 feet tall, poured in place with slip forms and continuous rebar.  Each section of column was poured and when cured the form was lifted up into position to pour the next section.  There was 10,000,000 pounds of reinforcing steel (rebar) used in the bridge, and the concrete was specified to be a 10,000 psi formula.  For reference, our typical residential sidewalks around our houses are about 1,500 psi.  And the bridge still rocks and rumbles when a truck passes over it!

In the above pic, you can see the pedestrian walkway on the east side of the bridge.  Here is what you see from mid-span:

Hoover Dam looks like a toy from this height!  Tours of the dam are once again being offered, and so we drove down to check it out.  Unfortunately, it was a bit pricey, and we had done the tour some years ago, so we decided to skip it.  We did get a couple of good pics, though.

This is a view of the Memorial Bridge from just in front of the Visitors Center at Hoover Dam.

This is Lake Mead behind the dam.  We've been over the dam in years past when the water level was at the lowest ring visible on the intake towers.  The water level is significantly lower now, I would guess about 40 feet lower.  That's a lot of water when you consider the surface area of the lake.








It's getting colder this afternoon as the predicted cold front moves through.  We noticed snow on the hilltops over Hoover Dam, but couldn't get a pic because of the clouds.  It's supposed to warm up over the next few days. Let's hope so!

Oh Boy, Here it Comes...

After great weather yesterday, today was back to back to the crummy stuff.  This morning was clear and warm when we got up, but by mid morning the clouds had started to come in and the wind picked up.  The prediction is for rain later this evening and into tomorrow morning, so we packed up and took a "scenic" drive along the west shore of Lake Mead.

The lake is huge, of course, with many square miles of surface area and large expanses of shoreline. This is one of the smaller of the boat launch areas at Boulder Beach.  The water level is down quite a bit as you can see along the hills in the pic, which has left the concrete boat launch ramp about 1/2 mile long now, and a 100 yards wide.  It can easily handle many summer boat launches, but I'm sure it's still a zoo once the weather warms up.

We drove into Henderson, NV, to get a cup of coffee and check out the "Henderson Strip", a mini-version of the Vegas Strip.  Not much to recommend it unless you're into casinos.  Most of the joints in this area are a couple notches below their famous cousins farther to the north.

As it began to get dark, we completed our loop drive by driving over the Pat Tillman memorial bridge at Hoover Dam.  Unfortunately it was too late for us to stop and take pics, so we'll try for that tomorrow.  We did get a cool pic just as the sun set over Lake Mead:

Movin' On

The wind was blowing in Bullhead City this morning at 25 mph+, and so we rode it right out of town. The young lady at the desk as I checked out of the Silver View RV Resort asked me when we would be back and I told her we would return when the wind stopped.  She (sorta) laughed.

We took highway 163 across the Colorado River from Bullhead City through Laughlin, and on to an intersection with US95, which goes north through Searchlight, NV, and intersects with US93 about 15 miles west of Hoover dam.  From there it was a short jaunt to our current location, the Lake Mead RV Village, total mileage 85 today. This RV park is awesome.  It's located on the west side of Lake Mead about 5 miles from Hoover Dam.  We opted for a lakeside space that has a great view of the lake.

as well as a fire pit, a table, and full hookups.

There is a row of mobile homes in the next row back from the lake, most of which are unoccupied. We took a walk through the area and saw this beautiful cactus in front of one of the homes.

It was such a nice afternoon that we sat outside and watched the rays of the sun slowly disappear from the surface of the lake.

We made one error, however, and left the screen door open.  This little guy greeted us when we went inside:

We gathered him up in a soft sweater and shook him out outside.  I know that hummingbirds fly fast, but this guy took off like a shot!

We sat outside around the fire for a few hours this evening, and counted the planes coming into Las Vegas.  There was never less than 1 in the air and several times there were 5 or 6 in the air at the same time.  This was just from the East.  If the traffic was the same from the other directions, then there is a huge number of people coming into Vegas every day!

As usual, I'm fascinated by sunsets:

Bright Lights and a Good Dinner

The weather was absolutely wonderful today, so we elected to stay close to the trailer, take care of a few maintenance items, and chat with the neighbors.  it was a shorts and tee shirt kind of day, and people all over the park were out and about.  The neighbor to the west, from a little town near Lansing, Michigan, was so happy to be warm and comfortable that he wore his spandex shorts for a few hours (no pictures, I'm sorry). Fortunately, he changed as the afternoon wore on, and our heartbeats returned to normal.....

Later this evening we took a short drive over the Colorado River into Laughlin, NV, for dinner and a look at the bright lights.

These pics are of the Riverside Casino and the Aquarius Casino early in the evening.

And here are the same two casinos after dark.

The main street in Laughlin, appropriately named Casino Ave, is a mini version of Las Vegas, with all the glitz and glamour we've seen before.  However, in Laughlin, the casinos cater to rv'rs in a large way.  For example, on the hill above the River Palms Casino is a little used parking lot that has been opened to use by rv'rs for $5 per night.  The lot is lit very well and security patrols the lot on a regular basis.  Not bad.  We talked to one gentleman who had been staying there since November.  Oh, and the 5 bucks allows dumping and water filling at a location just up the street. 

This is a pic of the nightime view from the rv parking lot, looking east.  The sunrise must be incredible!

We had heard that the buffet at the Riverside was a good value, so we decided to check it out.  The Sunday night pricing was very attractive, and the food turned out to be much better than we had expected.  The salad bar was very extensive, and the variety of foods was remarkable, with Chinese, Mexican, and American selections.  And of course, the dessert bar....

We got back to the trailer in time to watch a special program on the NatGeo channel about the events surrounding Lincoln's shooting.  A very interesting program narrated by Tom Hanks.  Highly recommended.

Donkeys and Route 66

The wind was a bit less this morning, but still blowing, so we decided to jump in the truck and see what this area had to see.  Our first stop was the town of Oatman, AZ.

This was originally a mining town, but has been converted into a tourist destination. And the tourists (including ourselves) were out in force today!

Oatman is about 30 miles southeast of Bullhead City, and has been maintained in the state that it was in in the early 1900's when the mines began to play out and people left.  The stores are still made of weathered wood or adobe, and the "sidewalks" are made of wood.

When the miners left, they left some donkeys behind.  The "burros" have multiplied and now "live" in and around Oatman.  They wander main street begging for handouts, and of course there is no lack of food for sale in the stores.  You can see that Donna made a friend early in our visit!

One of our traveling rules is that we don't backtrack if at all possible, so since there is only one road through Oatman, we had to continue on through town and see where the road took us.  We had not noticed any signs along the road that we took into Oatman, but evidently the road follows the original Route 66.  As we left Oatman, and began to climb into the hills, we saw a number of signs that let us know what we were actually driving on:

The road is still original in places, and is being maintained as a memorial to the people who traveled the road in the depression years. The section of road from Oatman to Kingman (where we eventually ended up) is about 28 miles long.  It was really exciting to travel on the same road as our parents and grandparents.  As we crested Sitgreaves Summit at 3558 feet, I had to think about the tough drive it must have been for those people in their rattletrap cars. We noticed that Kingman has transformed its downtown/old town into a Route 66 memorial also, and has restored most of the old buildings that lined the road back in the day. What a nostalgia trip!

Of course, it was getting late in the afternoon by the time we made it to Kingman, so we cruised around old town looking for a place to eat.

Along with a fine meal, we noticed a display of Redneck tools.....the chainsaw is my favorite...

The ribs were delicious!

After eating, we found our way out of Kingman and headed back to Bullhead City through Golden Valley on a road that leads to Laughlin, NV.  Those of you familiar with this road will recall that it is a nice divided highway, straight for the most part, but with a 12 mile 7% downgrade at the end leading into Laughlin, with a stoplight at the end of the grade.  I'm sure glad that I wasn't pulling the trailer!

I leave you with a picture of the perfect 1930's service station.  We saw this about 15 miles south of Kingman.  It is still in operation, pumping gas and selling souvenirs.

Closer to Home

We've moved from Buckeye, AZ, to Bullhead City, AZ, a distance of about 214 miles.  The route took us along I10 to Quartzsite (again), then north to Parker, AZ, and on into California to Needles. Then north to Bullhead City.  When we were in Q in January for the RV excitement, we scored a couple of discounts at RV parks, one of which is at Silver View RV Park, where we are tonight in space 44.

The park is completely full, in fact we got the last available space.  It seems that a lot of people from  points north have set up shop here for the winter. To the east are a couple from Michigan that got here November 1. To the west are people from somewhere in Canada.  To the south is an elderly lady and her son who are from Arizona, and live full time in a 1995 Winnebago.

The wind has been blowing all afternoon and evening so bad that the patio mat keeps blowing away.  We've been somewhat less than excited about this park, as it is very old and the spaces are small.  However I think that the wind has as much as anything to do with our moods.  The forecast is for a better day tomorrow.  Let's hope so.  We are in the very back of the park near the long term storage, but we walked to the "premium plus" sites near the front this afternoon and looked across the Colorado River to Laughlin, NV.

Then this evening, we took a pic from the same area:

The buildings are a bit more impressive with lights on!

Back at the trailer, we set up the Barbie and cooked a couple of steaks.  Donna fixed potatoes and veggies, and we consoled ourselves with massive amounts of calories!  Yeah!

It appears that there are several things to do and see in this area, so we'll check it out and report back.