Indescribable....

Las Vegas is truly the 24 hour city. It is happening all the time. And in a big way. It is indescribable.
Our first full day in Vegas got a late start. We had reservations for the variety show "V" at Planet Hollywood at 8:30 pm. Fortunately that gave us time to stop at Gordon Ramsay's Burger for a quick....burger. Delicious, and unusual. He seems to be able to get away with unusual combinations and make them taste exquisite. The menu offers choices that include the Farmhouse Burger with bacon and an egg, a Crispy Cherry Pepper Chicken sandwich with fried chicken skins and avocado, as well as Turducken Burger with a turkey patty, a fried chicken egg, and duck confit. Sounds awful...

Bill and Diane turned us on to this restaurant, and it's always "interesting"!

The variety show included some extraordinary strength performances, masters of illusion, and a host that described himself as a "redneck Mexican" since his mother was mexican and his father was from Georgia...it was hilarious and amazing.

Public transportation was not user friendly from the Sams Town KOA, so we elected to drive into the various venues. After leaving the show on Friday night, we checked out a bit of Las Vegas Blvd,

and then drove about a mile to the Mandalay Bay. It took 25 minutes to drive that distance. Add on trying to find the entrance to the self-park facility, and you have about an hour until we got to Ri Ra Irish Pub for a cup of Irish Coffee.

Donna was cute with whipped cream as a fashion accessory!

One of the most eye-catching features of the Vegas landscape is the High Roller. It makes a revolution every 80 minutes, allowing guests to enjoy a view and a beverage in encapsulated comfort.

Saturday afternoon found us at Harrah's at 4:00 pm for a performance of "Menopause, the Musical". While Bill and I were a bit skeptical about this, we found it hilarious. Four ladies carried the show for 90 minutes, commenting on the various things that are involved in "the Change". A broad spectrum of 60's songs with new lyrics sent our wives into hysterics! I can't begin to relate the jokes, but without a doubt the performance of these women was flawless. Good show!

Later in the evening, we rose to the 107 lounge at the top of The Strat for a view of the city from the 107th floor of the tower.

Sunday was our last day in the city, so we changed directions and visited Zak Bagan's The Haunted Museum. Purported to be the scariest place in Las Vegas, we found the the first fright was the $44 per ticket admission fee. Zak, of course, has been a television host of paranormal investigative programs for some time, and has collected many frightening objects that are claimed to possess extra powers not "normally" seen....hence "paranormal".

Bill and Diane seems perfectly ok with the skeleton seemingly growing out of Dianes head, but Donna had another reaction when that same skeleton attacked us!

A leisurely lunch downtown at a small restaurant in The Strat and a slow drive home completed our day. This morning, Monday, we prepared to leave for points in Arizona. We've decided that the KOA at Sam's Town in Las Vegas is a reasonably priced, clean, and very acceptable place to stay while in the area.

We crossed the Colorado River near Hoover Dam and while we couldn't see the dam from the highway, we did notice how low the water level is. That white band in the distance along the mountains is roughly 30 to 40 feet tall. Considering the area of Lake Mead, that's a huge amount of water!

155 miles south of Las Vegas, we find ourselves set up for the night in Wikieup, AZ. The hamlet is named for a lodge made from a wooden frame and covered with matting or brush used by American Indians in the southwestern United States. I believe that all 305 residents here are using modern versions of a wikieup...known as mobile homes...We've tucked into Dazzo's Store and RV Park, site number 1. The rest of the handful of sites are taken with long-term residents. One can only wonder what they do out here! The rent is cheap, $200 a month, so that is a big draw, along with the Chicago style hot dogs the store/restaurant is famous for.

The wind is blowing 15 to 20 mph, so we'll stay indoors this afternoon. A meal, a night's sleep, and we're off again tomorrow. New adventures!

After All This Time.....

We've been at home in NorCal since Labor Day '19, and the hitch itch has become unbearable! We celebrated the Holidays with family and friends and even threw in a couple of birthdays. This Christmas was, without a doubt, one of the best that we've enjoyed in many years! For some reason, we managed to eliminate most of the stress and simply enjoyed the company of wonderful people. What a concept!

We had to do a few repairs to the motorhome over the last month or so, but those are complete, and we set about preparing to hit the road. After so long a time, every move had to be thought through with care so that we didn't forget anything! After a couple of days, we had most of the preparations done, and left the homestead on January 16th. One of our New Year's Goals was to relax a bit while traveling and drive shorter distances, having more time to enjoy the scenery. Accordingly, we only drove 155 miles that first day, more to find our sea legs than anything else. We stopped for the night in the quaint little burg of Santa Nella, CA, best known for Anderson's Pea Soup restaurant and the dozen or so truck stops scattered between the two exits to town. Anderson's does indeed sell a lot of pea soup, so if that's your thing.....go head on...

Our second day of travel took us to Bakersfield, CA, and Orange Grove RV Park east of town. This is a great park set in an ancient orange grove (duh). Guests are encouraged to pick as many oranges as they wish, and staff even provides bags and "picking poles" to reach those oranges that are on the top of the tree.

After loading up on fresh water and getting a good nights' sleep, we again found some asphalt that needing pounding. This third days' journey took us over the Sierra Nevada mountains on Highway 58 through the town of Tehatchapi, and then out into the high desert of southeastern California. This pass is famed for the constant winds that are harnessed by hundreds of wind turbines. A bit of snow on the ground added to the interest of the Tehatchapi Valley.

Turning south on US 395 at  Kramers Corner, we bailed off into the even higher desert of San Bernardino County and Interstate 10, heading east into Palm Springs, CA, and finally the town of Indio, CA. This has become one of our frequent stops, being located at just the correct day trip mileage and the Spotlight 29 Casino welcomes us and dozens of other rv'ers to a paved, well lit, and secure parking lot. It ain't pretty, but it's a great value!

Crossing the Colorado River the next day sent us into Arizona.

Where our first stop was at Exit 5 to get fuel at greatly reduced Arizona prices. Needless to say, California fuel prices are sky high, so it's a relief to find a product at a more reasonable price. Our destination this fourth day of travel, was Quartzsite, Arizona, home of what is advertised to be the "largest rv park in the west".





And it is:

Every year, thousands of rv'ers gather in the desert for a few months of "off grid" camping. Dry camping, or "boondocking", is a way of life out here in a town that normally is home to roughly 2500 people. On a good day. Campfires are required, and this year the weather was very co-operative, so we had a fire most every night.

We stayed four nights out in the desert, enjoying sunsets and good company, and trying different views of the same cactus.

Quartzsite in January is home to "The Big Tent" rv show. Vendors come from all over the country to sell items that appeal to campers and off roaders. "Fair food" is abundant, along with dust, dirt, and thousands of people. Oh, yeah, Great Fun!

We eventually left Quartzsite for the bright lights, hot showers, and good tv reception of Las Vegas, Nevada! On US95 near Searchlight, Nevada, we happened on an interesting rock formation.

That was pretty much the only thing of interest we saw on our trip! We slid through Parker, AZ, and Needles, CA, before getting into Las Vegas about 4:00 pm. We're camped at the Sam's Town KOA next to our friends Bill and Diane.

We expect to be here a few days to see a couple of variety shows and eat some good food. It's wonderful to be back in civilization!