Saturday, July 6: When we thought it couldn't get any hotter, we traveled from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada. It was 90 degrees when we left Phoenix on Saturday am. We had 295 miles to Las Vegas. Our route was on I-17 N, AZ-74 W (the Carefree Highway), US-60 W, US-93 N, I-40 W, US-93 N, and I-11 N to Las Vegas. Our fuel-up cost was $3.58/gallon.
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| Scenery along I-11 north of Wickiup, Arizona. |
On arrival in Las Vegas, it was 114 degrees. After we settled into our site at the Las Vegas RV Resort on Nellis Blvd. in Henderson, we rested. We planned to visit Bob's mom, Louise, and Bob's sister, Laura, and take them to the Pinball Hall of Fame on The Strip (near the airport). I put a load of laundry in their washer.
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| A cool place to be on a scorching hot afternoon! |
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| Bob, Louise, and Laura at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Nevada. |
We all had fun trying out the different pinball machines. The games are 25¢ to $2.00 each.
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| Laura is playing Star Trek pinball. |
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| There are lots of pinball machines to choose from. |
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| Laura and Bob are playing Tetris as Louise looks on. |
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| Bob and Laura at the Tetris game. |
All of us like playing pinball. Here's a video of Laura and Louise playing Air Hockey.
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| Laura and Louise play Air Hockey while Bob watches. |
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| So many machines to choose from! |
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| This is a private club and we are expected to follow their rules. No problem. |
After a couple of hours in the Pinball Hall of Fame, we ate supper at Zupa! I had one-half of a berry and nut salad and a turkey and avocado sandwich. It was good.
Back at Laura and Louise's, I worked on a jigsaw puzzle while everyone else talked and played with the six dogs who live there. [Laura has three dogs; Louise has two dogs, and one was a standard poodle Aunt Sally was thinking about adopting.]
Two loads of our laundry got done. The temperature this afternoon was 117 F.
Before we left for Laura and Louise's place this afternoon, I had turned off one of our two A/C units so I could wash the filter. We had another A/C unit that cooled the bedroom and part of the living room. I thought that would keep our 5th wheel cool. Nope!
When we returned to the 5th wheel five hours later, the inside temperature of the rig was 102 F. JoJo was sleeping in the bathroom sink. Both of them were panting. We turned on the other AC and turned on the overhead and box fans. It took a while, but we finally got the temp down to 80 F. This heat is no joke!
Sunday, July 7: Bob and I had breakfast at Blueberry Hill Restaurant in Las Vegas and then went to Bob's mom's house.
Bob and Louise are going to church and then brunch. I am staying at their house with Laura where I will do chores, and help with a jigsaw puzzle.
Laura is a dog trainer. A client came over this morning for two hours. The client had bought a Canaan puppy from Laura and Laura is helping her train and socialize Emmett (the puppy). He is adorable!
One of Laura's Canaan dogs, Freya, is the puppy's mother. It was a happy reunion when six-month-old Emmett reunited with his mother.
Needless to say, six dogs in one house causes chaos. When Emmett was here, Laura let out four dogs to interact with Emmett.
I worked on my blog, washed three more loads of laundry, and printed vacation paperwork. Plus, I took photos of the pups.
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| Jennifer is on the left, Sunny is on the couch; Emmett is standing with his paws on the couch. Laura is on the right with Maggie. |
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| Jennifer is holding Maggie while Emmett looks on. |
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| Freya, Sunny, Emmett, and Maggie. |
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| Emmett, the six-month-old Canaan puppy. |
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| Emmett, the six-month-old Canaan puppy. |
The laundry was finished by the time Bob returned with Louise. Our itinerary and the remainder of our reservations for this trip were printed. I had a few minutes to work on the jigsaw puzzle before we left.
We went home and got ready for dinner at Bootlegger's Bistro Italian Restaurant with our friends Kevin and Pat Larko. We met them at 5 pm. There was plenty of wonderful camaraderie and food to go around.
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| Kevin and Pat Larko, me, and Bob at Bootlegger's Bistro Italian Restaurant in Las Vegas. |
Today, Las Vegas has record heat: 119 F. The temperature broke all records since record-keeping began 100 years ago.
When we returned to the 5th wheel, the inside temperature was 90 F. The cats were panting and JoJo was in the bathroom sink again.
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| JoJo keeping cool in the bathroom sink. |
Monday, July 8: It's 6:20 am and we are heading to Bakersfield, California. To leave Las Vegas, we took I-11 North to I-15 South. The traffic wasn't bad. We passed Alligiant Stadium where the Las Vegas Raiders play.
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| Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada. |
Before we crossed into California, we saw vast photovoltaic fields. There were three towers with huge lights at the top. I am going to look them up; they're surreal!
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| Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) is carving up desert tortoise habitat. |
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| Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) is carving up desert tortoise habitat. |
This project is on the border of California and Nevada. It is a concentrated solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert Preserve near Primm. Over 170,000 heliostats (devices with small mirrors) reflect sunlight onto three giant solar power towers. Inside each tower is a boiler which, heated by intense light, turns water into steam, which in turn powers turbines that generate electricity.
Once in California, we stopped at a rest area. The restrooms here are the worst I have ever seen in the Interstate Freeway System. Most of the sinks were out of order with bright orange plastic bags wrapped around them. Many toilet stalls were Out of Order. The open toilet stalls were a MESS. Toilet paper was piled in the corners, and the toilet paper rolls were empty. (It was obvious why!) The floors were dirty and most of the soap dispensers were empty.!
Outside was a Desert Discovery Trail with informational signs on this part of California. Here are photos of the signs.
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| Mojave Desert Preserve. |
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| A sundial. |
The rest of our trip to Bakersfield on CA-58 West reminded us that there are steep mountains in this part of California. There were slow truck lanes in a few places and we had to use a lower gear going down the long hills. The roads are in terrible shape, especially the slow lane, with huge holes, and bumpy pavement.
We made it to Orange Grove RV Resort safely. The temperature here this afternoon was 113 F.
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| JoJo relaxing this afternoon. |
Today we traveled 284 miles. Diesel fuel in Bakersfield, CA is $5.19/gallon.
Tomorrow, we travel to Stockton, California to visit with my Aunt Genie, cousin Kristin, and her husband, Rudy. We're looking forward to visiting them. It has been a few years since we were there.
That's all for now.
Super interesting travelogue and photos. I've often traveled from Utah to Los Angeles but never on those side roads. Well, once we did but I don't remember which one it was, only that it was rough and bumpy. I had to view a close up of your bistro meal to see what you all were eating. It looked amazing, and then a pizza to share too. Made me hungry!
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