We Awoke to Horrendous News - Mon., Oct. 2 and Tues., Oct. 3, 2017

We went to bed last night not knowing exactly what happened with the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. This morning's news was awful. A man (Stephen Paddock), apparently working alone, had killed 58 people and wounded 546. This is the worst mass shooting in United States' history.

Being in town when it happened, and having family there, made it very personal to us. Thankfully, our family all reported in safe. Our hearts go out to other families whose news was not good. 

Las Vegans responded rapidly. Lines formed at blood banks with people donating their blood. Some airlines offered free flights to loved ones whose relatives were in the hospital. Donations of food and money poured in. 

Memorials and vigils sprang up around the music venue and other places in Las Vegas. On Monday night, October 2, all shows on The Strip went dark (closed for the night).

Monday morning, Bob and I went over to Bob's mom's house. Bob wanted to install her new sliding glass screen door and hang some art. We had a healthy lunch at "Lyfe." Bob spent time running errands with his mom and helping her with her budget. 

At night, we had a date to go see "Zumanity," but because the shows were all shut down, we went to Peppermill for dinner instead. We love the Peppermill restaurant. They have a lovely lounge with sunken firepit. Their food is excellent and you get a lot for your money. We both enjoyed "Blue Hawaii" cocktails as well. 

Tuesday, I slept in and Bob went back to his mom's to finish installing the screen door and to hang more art. We had to check out of our site by noon. I got the inside of the 5th wheel ready to roll. When Bob got back he helped me finish up inside, then hooked up outside. We were out of the park at 11:50 a.m.

Las Vegas RV Resort - hooked up, ready to roll

It was a good time of day to travel because most people were working. We drove to Phoenix and were buffeted around by the wind a little between Hoover Dam and Kingman, Arizona. Thankfully, the wind wasn't gusting more than 30 mph. The drive along Joshua Tree Scenic Parkway was lovely.

My road warrior

Dramatic scenes

Joshua Tree Scenic Parkway

Joshua trees along the highway

Cave Creek Regional Park near Carefree, Arizona, was our destination. We arrived about 5:00 p.m. No one was at the check-in booth. There was no paperwork for us, either. Luckily, I had the confirmation email with our site number. However, there were no maps posted around the park for us to find the site. We drove around a couple of times and were a bit stymied. Someone who worked in the park tracked us down (because we must have looked lost) and pointed us in the right direction. It was the last place we were going to look!

We set up in our site. I stepped out the door of the 5th wheel after we were settled and saw the moon coming up over a hill to the left of us, and the sun setting to the right. Lovely time of evening!

Site #33 at Cave Creek Regional Park, Arizona

Looking left from the 5th wheel in our site

Looking right from our 5th wheel

We then called Bob's Aunt Sally and Uncle Skip. They had invited us for dinner tonight. At 6:00 p.m., we arrived at their house, chatted and had hard cider before we had chicken enchiladas for dinner. They are so gracious...we love visiting them. Aunt Sally is my inspiration for how to treat guests.


After dinner, we sat and chatted. I was so tired, I kept falling asleep. How embarrassing! We headed back to the 5th wheel for a good night's sleep.