Leaving Las Vegas - Sunday/Monday, March 13 & 14, 2016

Sunday: Somewhere in the night, the time changed and we lost an hour after we did our laundry. Morning came way too soon. On the way to Kristin's house for more food and family time, we needed to stop at Lowe's for a bolt and nut to fix our 5th wheel stairs, which had lost a rivet, making the top step dangerous.

At Kristin's, family members kept arriving to keep pace with all the food that kept appearing on the counter: chips, dip, fruit, veggies, sandwiches, lasagne, cookies, green salads, and potato salad (leftovers from last night's party.) We went, we ate, but we couldn't conquer the mountain of food.

The party today allowed everyone to say their good-byes. We had to leave at 11:15 a.m. in time to return to the RV park, pack up, fix the step, and check out by noon. Here are photos of our site at The Oasis RV Resort just off the Las Vegas Strip at Windmill/Blue Diamond Rd. We had to position our 5th wheel so the big palm fronds wouldn't attack us when we opened the door and wouldn't be in the way of any slides. As it was, the palm fronds brushed our side window. At night, it made big scary shadows on the window blinds that the cats thought they had to conquer. In the middle of the night, our Siamese climbed behind our pull-down blinds. (He was between the blinds and the window so he could see what was causing the noise and shadows.)

View of Silverado Lodge Casino next to the RV park.

Packing them in!

Here's  our site from the back

We left The Oasis RV Resort at high noon. Destination today: Benson, Arizona. The traffic was AWFUL. There was smooth sailing from Las Vegas to Henderson, but just after Henderson, it was stop-and-go traffic all the way to the traffic light in Boulder City. Yikes! Note to self: DO NOT head toward Phoenix, Arizona on a Sunday afternoon. Everyone who went to Vegas for the weekend is heading home.

From Henderson, Nevada, to Kingman, Arizona, we had pretty smooth sailing. At the top of the hill leading down into Kingman, the line of vehicles came to a screeching halt. Again, we had stop-and-go traffic all the way to I-40. Once we got on I-40 to US 95 south toward Wickenburg, Arizona, it was again smooth sailing until we reached the first traffic light before Wickenburg. We then had heavy traffic through the traffic circles in Wickenburg, and then we were finally free from obstacles again.

Traffic through Phoenix on Sunday night was very light; however, once we got into the Tucson area, we had slow traffic for quite a while because of a traffic accident causing rubberneckers to stop and look. When all was said and done, we left Las Vegas at noon, and arrived at our campsite in Benson, Arizona at 10:40 p.m. That trip should normally take about 7-8 hours. We do have to take into account that we lost another hour because Arizona does not do Daylight Savings Time. Still, it was a long day no matter how you look at it.

At San Pedro Resort Community, we found a pull-through site on our first pass through the daily/weekly area of the park. They honored Passport America, so our PT site was $20.08 with tax. The park is south of the city, so when we got out of the truck and looked at the stars, it was awesome. We didn't unhitch because we planned to leave by 9 the next morning.

Monday: Bob got up early because he had work to do. I slept until 7:30 a.m. and we made it on the road by 9 a.m. Today's goal: Ft. Stockton, Texas. As we drove east on I-10, we had a tail wind most of the way so our speed was very good as was our gas mileage.

Every time we're on I-10 in New Mexico Bob and I are fascinated because we cross the Continental Divide, but it's not like other places we've crossed the Continental Divide in the Rockies (Yellowstone). No big mountain passes here; no, sir. It's like a high plain. The freeway goes up and up gradually, but towing our 5th wheel it's obvious that it's a long uphill.

On long driving days Bob and I take turns at the wheel of the truck. I love long stretches of freeway, but dread big city freeway driving. We try to stop every couple of hours to trade places and stretch. One of my favorite rest areas heading east on I-10 is just above Las Cruces, NM. The view of Las Cruces is so awesome from this rest area. And, since the last time we stopped there two years ago, they have added a great big roadrunner sculpture.

Roadrunner sculpture at Rest Area on I-10 east
near Las Cruces

View of Las Cruces from the Rest Area

Quite a breeze today

The Beast and Rigamarole at the Rest Area

Roadrunner close up

On the way to Ft. Stockton, I called two of the nicer RV parks for a one-night reservation. We've stayed at Hilltop RV Park a couple of times and loved it. Also tried to stay at Ft. Stockton RV Park. Both were completely full. I called Comanche Land RV Park (the one with big arrows sticking out of the ground...you know what I'm talking about if you've ever driven by there).

Comanche Land RV had RV sites available. The gentleman I spoke to on the phone asked if we needed 30 or 50 amp (told him 50). When he found out we'd be in late, he told us to take Site B4 as it's 50 amp. When we got there, guess what, there was already someone in B4. So I went to the office and saw site B3 (30 amp) was available. We took it since we were already at that site.

The RV park was just a gravel lot, nothing special. It's what we refer to as a man camp. I didn't take a photo of the park. By morning, Ft. Stockton was in the rear-view mirror.

Travel Bug out.

Lake Pleasant to Las Vegas and Dinner Out - Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Another travel day today...we had some beautiful scenery along the way.

Saguaro cacti dot the hillsides at Lake Pleasant Regional Park

Joshua Tree Scenic Parkway

Joshua Trees

Joshua trees with mesas in the background

We arrived to Las Vegas in the late afternoon, set up, showered, then went on a date to dinner. Bob took me to Peppermill on Las Vegas Blvd. Before we were seated at our table, we walked back to check out the lounge. It's awesome. Next time we'll have to eat dinner in there!

Fireside Lounge at the Peppermill in Las Vegas

Date night

Decor in the Peppermill restaurant

Wonderful evening with my honey

Our dinner was very good and the portions were awesome. I had enough left over for another meal.

We drove back to The Oasis RV Resort on The Strip. Got some cool night-time pics...

Bellagio

Statue of Liberty at New York New York

Where we stayed

This photo was way cooler in black and white!

So ended another long, but fun day.

Plans Made in Jello - Sun., Mar. 2

As RVers we know plans are only a suggestion. For months, my cousins and I planned a mini family reunion in Las Vegas. It had been mentioned that Sunday was going to be the day we would spend together in addition to Saturday night.

Cindy, my cousin from Tennessee, was in Las Vegas for a convention. Turns out, she ended up in a class all day Sunday. We picked her up from Mandalay Bay around 4:30 p.m.

Kristin, my cousin from Stockton, California, was feeling under the weather with a cold and severe back pain. Kristin was game to go to breakfast with us. Bob and I took her to Blueberry Hill Pancake House, one of our favorite breakfast places in Vegas. The wait for a table was about 20 minutes.

After a hearty breakfast, Kristin wanted to go to the M&M Store near the MGM Grand. Bob dropped us off at a bus stop right in front so Kristin wouldn't have to walk far. Shopping in the M&M Store is a colorful experience! Kristin bought some gifts to take home.

Kristin and I

M&Ms wall - $12.99 a pound - serve yourself.

Kristin choosing her flavors carefully.

When we finished shopping, we called our chauffeur/tour guide Bob who drove over to pick us up. Kristin had never been in Bellagio so we HAD to take her there. She loved everything from the Chihuly glass ceiling in the lobby to the dancing fountains in front of the casino. It was fun to people watch and enjoy the fountains as they crescendoed to the music.

New York New York "skyline"

Statue of Liberty at New York New York

Impressions of Bellagio... 

Logo over main entrance door

10' tall orchid floral arrangements in the lobby.
(These were sitting on countertops.)

Chihuly art glass ceiling in lobby

Kristin and I, Bellagio lobby

Opulent Bellagio lobby

Bellagio check-in desk

Then we went outside to watch the fountains. Just beautiful and the waters are timed to the music they play. We happened to be standing in the right place at the right time to capture rainbows in the photos.

Bellagio fountain show.

Looking toward Paris Casino's Eiffel Tower

Looking toward the new wheel behind the Flamingo.

Fantastic sky to go with the scene

Spectacular finale.

Booming finale.

The new wheel - set to open in 2014.

When we finished showing Kristin around Bellagio she wanted to go back to her room to lie down before we met up with Cindy, John and Rich to have dinner, drinks and gamble. Meanwhile, Bob and I drove back to Lake Mead to feed the kitties and change clothes for the upcoming night out. Bob took me on a little detour through the old downtown of Boulder City.

Art deco sculpture at entrance to Boulder City

At 4:00 p.m. we picked up Kristin and John from the timeshare, then picked up Rich and Cindy from their convention at Mandalay Bay. New York New York Casino was the dinner destination choice. Two restaurants caught our eye: Gallagher's Steak House and Nine Fine Irishmen. The thick-cut steaks we could see in Gallagher's made me drool until I saw the menu in the window. $35-$50 per entree. Skid to a stop, back away, and look elsewhere!

Off we headed to Nine Fine Irishmen Restaurant which was a little more moderately priced and decided to eat there. We were told there was a 20-minute wait. That seemed unusual because it was 4:50 p.m. Hardly the dinner rush hour in Las Vegas.

Anyway, we took our buzzer and waited for it to summon us to be seated. Bob has a theory about the wait time. He thinks it is a ruse by the casinos to get people to gamble while they wait. Me, I think it's because they didn't have enough wait staff until 5:00 p.m.

While we were waiting, the six of us scattered in different directions to see the gambling options for after dinner. When our buzzer finally went off, we had to search for two people in our party as they weren't in the immediate vicinity. Once they were found, we were seated.

I must say, the restaurant had an elegant ambiance. Plenty of excellent choices were on the menu. Bob ordered Chicken Pot Pie which looked like the winner for best dinner. "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" Bob said.  I had Lamb Stew which was good, but more like broth with lamb chunks, root vegetables and potatoes, Cindy had a salad, John had Irish Bangers, Kristin chose Fish and Chips and I don't remember what Rich ordered.

John, Rich, Cindy being goofy and Kristin

Kristin, Susan, Cindy (cousins)

Our room at Nine Fine Irishmen - left to right:
John, Cindy, Kristin, Rich, Bob

Bob ready to devour Chicken Pot Pie

My Lamb Soup Stew

After our repast, we headed into the casino. Bob and I chose slot machines. He played blackjack. I played Goldfish...put in a $20 bill and cashed out with $43.75. Then I played a different slot game and lost $20 - BOOM - just like that. All in all, I came out $3.75 ahead. That's better than a lot of people.

Cindy and Rich played craps. Cindy ended up $190 ahead by the time we said our good-nights around 9:00 p.m. When we left, Kristin and Rich were hot and heavy into the craps game. They all decided to keep gambling and catch a taxi back to their timeshare. We, on the other hand, had an obligation to pick up some items at Bob's sister's house and drop off a coat Bob's mom loaned to me. We didn't want to arrive there too late. We also wanted to get some sleep as we planned an early departure for Phoenix on Monday morning.

We returned to the 5er at 11:00 p.m.

Travel Bug out.